"You haven't?" I made it a point to chuckle softly. "Have it your way, then. Though you certainly took a different view, that last night in the bunker.—By the way, did that cut heal all right? The skin below your throat was so soft, I was afraid it might scar—"
Celeste's lovely features seemed to stiffen. I couldn't be sure, though, because the scanner-plate went blank in the same instant.
Like an echo, someone began pounding on the door.
Cutting off the voco, I went over and unlocked the heavy portal.
A messenger was waiting with a thrill-mill for me.
I frowned. "How did you get in here? Does Rizal Security let strangers wander through its headquarters in the middle of the night?"
"I dunno." The messenger shrugged stupidly. "That man in Communications—he said it was all right."
"Man? What man?"
"This man, Traynor."
The voice came from behind me. I whirled by reflex.