"Did you run into some difficulty?" West asked Nedra. He ignored Zen.
"Sort of," the girl answered. "The fact is, I almost got raped. I was afraid I wasn't going to reach you."
"I was busy and didn't pick you up at first," the craggy man said. His voice was a rumble of sound in the darkness. He did not seem surprised when she mentioned what had almost happened. "The colonel followed you, eh?"
"Yes. I told you he would."
"How did you know I would follow you?" Zen demanded. With the lieutenant's gun in his hands, he felt very secure.
"Any woman would know that," Nedra answered. Her laugh tinkled in the darkness. Finding Zen's arm, she squeezed it. "He is one of the new people," she said, to West.
Zen wished he could have sunk into the ground. The craggy man did not seem surprised. "Hmm," he said again. "That is nice." Reserve seemed to have appeared in the bass tones.
"Let's get inside," Nedra suggested. "It's been a hard day and I'm so tired I feel as if I'm walking on my leg bones instead of my feet."
"Sorry," West said, without moving.
"What's wrong?" Nedra asked. Alarm suddenly appeared in her voice. "Don't you believe he is actually one of us? I told you he was."