“Sara who?” the secretary wanted to know, and Deitrich was forced to look up her visiphone code.
He spent another minute of gloomy staring at the capsule packet before he heard the secretary reply, “Sorry. There is no answer.”
“Then get the roofcab.”
He returned immediately to her apartment but she was gone. Although the visiphone had indicated this, her absence was a relief to Deitrich. He had had a few minutes with an unpleasant picture in his mind.
The chronometer blipped the hour in small, melodious chants. Deitrich went back to the roof again.
There was a hope that was almost an assurance that Sara would be at the port. He felt that it would be consistent with what he knew of her. But when he looked around, he could not see her anywhere. His search was interrupted by Tsuroak just outside the ship that was scheduled to take him out to his fleet.
This time the merchant had had his wife with him. She had been crying, and was making an effort to control her voice. “Would you tell him if you see him up there that… that—”
Tsuroak comforted her. Deitrich gloomily nodded, gazing about the field. “Sure,” he said. “If I run into him, I’ll give him the whole story.”
“We appreciate that,” Tsuroak said humbly. “Just so he understands.”
Gently and gravely, Deitrich shook hands with both of them. He said, “I’m sure he will understand. And he’ll be a better man for all your trouble.”