The serf's eyes rolled. He nodded vigorously trying to convey his absolute willingness to cooperate.
There was a faint amused gleam in Cosmo's eyes. He paused before the office, then slid the panel back.
Mia and the Blue Venus, still manacled, stumbled to their feet. Llana, the slave woman jerked around from the windows, her jaw dropping. Then she bit her lip, glanced at the button on the glassite desk.
"Stay away from the desk, Llana," Cosmo admonished her. He stood aside, allowed his men to file into the office. They deposited Bemmelman on the sofa. Cosmo saw that Natal was safely inside, shut the door. At his nod, Big Unse unlocked both the girls.
Mia said: "But ... but...." Then a look of fright wiped away the relief on her wide gray eyes. "The Security Patrol! Cosmo, they'll be here any moment! Please Cosmo, don't let them catch you!"
The buzzer on the telecast began to sound.
"It's too late." Cosmo smiled grimly. "I've a hunch that's the Security Patrol now." He turned to the Terran slave girl, said: "Llana, string along with me, and I'll promise that both you and your daughter are provided with passage to Earth."
The telecast continued to buzz impatiently.
"My daughter!" The slave girl clapped her hand to her mouth. "You know."
"I've suspected," he corrected her. "There's a resemblance. So Sofi really is your daughter."