"Listen to me. No one would believe! They would consider, rather, that you were an unusually intelligent Lorayan. Your very presence, Fred, would undermine the whole thesis of my book!"
"You can't leave me," Fred said. "You just can't do that."
Professor Carver still had both revolvers. He stuck one in his belt and leveled the other.
"I am not going to endanger the work of a lifetime. Get out, Fred."
"No!"
"I mean it. Get out, Fred."
"I won't! You'll have to shoot me!"
"I will if I must," Carver assured him. "I'll shoot you and throw you out."
He took aim. Fred backed to the port, undogged it, opened it. The villagers were waiting quietly outside.
"What will they do to me?"