She regarded him dubiously, said: "They picked up the cage then and began to run down the trail. They carried us over the most impossible places, always down. I died with fright. Just a little while ago we came out into the forest."
"I know the trail," he said. "Nothing but Jovian primitives could have managed it. I wonder why Bemmelman didn't have me killed outright."
"Bemmelman?" Mia looked puzzled.
"Sure. They're his slaves. You saw the fern leaf brand on their shoulders. We walked straight into a trap."
"But that's impossible. How could they have found your hideout?"
Cosmo shook his head and immediately regretted it. "One of my men must be a spy. Bemmelman's shrewder than I've given him credit for being."
"A spy?" Mia's eyes grew round as saucers. "But why?"
"I don't know. Unless he's after that fifty thousand monad reward on my head!" He frowned. "Bemmelman said something odd last night when he caught me in his house. He said he'd been trying to get in touch with me."
The blue giants swung effortlessly through the incredible forest. The trees were like cathedral columns disappearing in the swirling cloud blanket.
"You said we'd walked into a trap," insisted Mia. "How could Bemmelman know when you'd get back. I don't understand."