Gripping the bars, she stared angrily out at them. She had the small figure of a Mute, but her bare arms were bronzed, and her hair was dark, in long curls.
"They can talk." She shook the bars vigorously. "Release us, you sinners!"
Lodar suddenly scowled. "You're no Venus Mute!" He grabbed her hand and twisted it over. The palm was small and pink, not the bluish white of a Mute.
"Turn us loose, you heathen!" she raged, her large brown eyes aflame. "The Great Zipher will pour his wrath on you!"
"A missionary!" Lodar snorted savagely. He whirled on Jenkins. "Who brought her in here?" he bellowed in sudden fury.
Jenkins backed away, blinking his short-sighted eyes. "I—I don't know. I never seen her before."
The captain turned back to Ray. "Help me get her out," he growled.
Ray silently guarded the door while Lodar entered the cage and dragged the protesting girl outside. She refused to leave without the others, but Lodar grimly hauled her out and threw her clear of the door.
"I ought to throw you off in space!" He eyed the girl viciously.
Ray locked the door uneasily. Kidnaping a missionary would mean plenty of investigation. Earth zealously protected all its numerous and varied religious workers. This one, he knew, belonged to a very small sect—a cult founded in dim antiquity.