"Sure. Questions and answers; they question and we answer."
Lura's face was white beneath her tan, but she smiled at Trent. "I hope they hurry with whatever they've got planned; I'm beginning to feel hungry."
They laughed then, laughed with the brightness and hope of youth, amused by the incongruity of worrying about a meal when their lives were probably forfeit for the events that had taken place. They laughed, and the robot moved to the grille, stared with blank telephotic eyes.
"Curious little devil, isn't he?" Trent said, walked toward the bunk.
He watched the grille for a moment, thoughts whirling in his mind, trying to form some plan of escape that could be based on the reactions of the robot to anything out of the ordinary that happened among the prisoners he was set to guard.
The minutes walked by on leaden feet, neither of them speaking, each intent on silent thoughts. There were no sounds, inside or out, and a chill came to the room from the night air.
Then there came the heavy sound of metallic footsteps from the corridor, echoed by the shuffling of bare feet. Hands fumbled at the door, and it swung open, an Earthman entering, the doorway blocked by a single robot.
"I've some questions to ask," the intruder said fearfully.
"Traitor!" Lura spat, turned to Trent. "He gave himself up to the Masters weeks ago, fleeing from a Connet colony he betrayed."