He went over to stand beside her and saw that the morning was alight with near-sunrise behind the gray clouds.
"It's out there waiting for us—The Cat," she said.
He saw it, standing silver-white in the gray morning, gleaming in the rain and with its slim, dynamic lines making it look as though it might at any moment hurl itself roaring into the sky.
"It's a beautiful ship," she said. "I wonder what they will do with it when they—"
A sound came from the far end of the corridor; a snapped command in Tharnarian. The command was followed at once by the sound of footsteps approaching their cell; the heavy tread of robots and the lighter, softer steps of the guards.
Virginia turned away from the window and they faced the cell door as they waited.
"This is it," she said.
"Are you afraid, Ginny?"
"Afraid?" She laughed up at him, a laugh that came only a little too quickly. "It's like a play, set a long time ago on Earth. Coffee and pistols at dawn. Only I don't think they're bringing us any coffee and if we get a pistol, it will have to be one of theirs."
"It isn't over with till the end—and maybe we can change the ending of this play for them."