He stepped out into the trail and faced her. It was Harry Starbuck.
"What kind of a joke is this?" Diane demanded angrily, turning to rejoin the column. "I thought I was coming back here to meet Johnny Hope."
Burwood laughed easily. "I never said that."
"Well, whatever you're planning you can count me out. Of all the nerve, bringing me back here like this—"
"Would you like to see Johnny Hope alive?" Starbuck asked in a conversational tone.
"What do you mean by that?"
"That you had better cooperate with me, Diane. The three of us are leaving the column now, you, Tom and I. If you don't, I can't guarantee anything about Johnny Hope."
Diane did not know whether to believe him or not, but would hardly endanger Johnny Hope's life on a notion. "I'll go with you," she said.
Less than an hour later, they approached the vanguard of the file of Robots. Burwood and Diane saw them at the same time, contempt filling Diane's eyes as she began to understand what had been on Starbuck's mind. Fear was there too, threatening to unnerve her at any moment, but the scorn she felt for Starbuck prevented it from overpowering her. "Of all the cheap tricks," she said. "You—you wanted to join the Robots, but you also wanted me. Johnny Hope was never in any danger. It was all a lie, to get me here. Well, if you think I'm going with you—" Diane crouched abruptly, came up with a handful of dry earth and flung it at Starbuck's face, blinding him. Then she began to run.
"Get her, Burwood!" Starbuck roared. "Don't let her escape."