Then his mind reeled as a new conviction struck it.
There was a sheet of paper on his bed—a message.
His message!
... SITUATION EXTREMELY CRITICAL ... VAL BORAN ALREADY CONVINCED BY SONIG'S PROPAGANDA ... MUST REPORT ROCKFORD IS UTTERLY INCOMPETENT, HIS MIND AND WILL DESTROYED BY ALCOHOL ... REPEAT: ROCKFORD IS DOING NOTHING, HIS MIND DESTROYED BY ALCOHOL....
The words screamed up at him and he felt the sickness of one who sees the last faint hope shattered and gone. All was lost, now....
He went outside, feeling a savage desire for violence rising above the sickness.
"Rootenant!" Alonzo came bounding to meet him and slid to a halt with his saucer feet scattering gravel and the idiotic grin on his face. "I mair your retter and you owe me six fig cook—"
It occurred to Hunter that it was not Alonzo that should be punished. He, Hunter, was the one who deserved execution for ever entrusting anything so important as the message to an imbecilic animal.
He said with cold distinctness:
"The ... letter ... is ... inside."