Mia shuddered, clung tighter to Cosmo.
"Keep your head, Mia." He gently disengaged her hand. "If you don't go, they'll drag you off willy-nilly."
Dispiritedly she followed the slave girl from the guardroom. She was so woebegone that Cosmo felt a wrench at his heart. He faced the planter, said in a hard voice, "What did you want with me?"
Bemmelman's eyelids drooped. He turned on his heel, said shortly, "Come along, Cosmo," and started for the door. "I want to have a talk with you. Yes sir, a very interesting talk."
V
Flanked by the two blue giants Cosmo followed his host down a long corridor, up a flight of steps and into a sumptuously furnished apartment. A yellow grass mat carpeted the floor from wall to wall. The furniture was covered with a coarse, woven fabric, barbaric in its color.
With a sigh, Bemmelman lowered himself into a lounge chair, indicated another for Cosmo.
"You're tired. You've had an uncomfortable journey. I won't keep you up long." He rang a bell.
With amazing promptness, a wizened Mercurian scurried through a sliding wall panel.