"And, once collected, what of these people? Your party?"
They glanced carelessly about at Iris' sprawled companions.
"They have seen nothing, know nothing," she replied. "Our ransoms will arrive together. We'll go back to Earth together."
"Dallis to join you later, giving up his hazardous merchant trade," agreed Thorne. "And what of me?"
They stared at him. Moment by moment the mirth and exultation died from their faces. As he saw the darkness descend, he knew only too well what would become of himself, what had been in their evil minds from the first. He could not be permitted to survive.
"I see." He was grimly calm. "I knew it all along, of course, but I wanted to see your faces. They're very expressive."
"What could you expect, you fool?" burst out Iris, taking refuge in anger. "Why did you resist the paralysis? Can we leave you at large to reach out and destroy us?"
"Then you may go whistle for your ransom," he snapped. "Shall I buy my own death warrant?"
Her face went hard and the full lips thinned cruelly. The blue eyes turned pale as ice.