"Of course. What I meant was...." But he did not need to ask how
she had gotten passed the emigration officers. Some influential
man--such things could happen, especially when the destination was a
relatively new frontier, such as Helio, where there was little danger
of investigation--had seen to it that certain answers were falsified;
and a little money and a corrupt official had conspired to produce a
passport which read, "Mentally and physically fit for colonization."
The influential man had, in effect, bought and paid for a personal
slave to bring with him to the stars. She would not know of her legal
rights. She would be easily frightened and confused. And then something
had happened, and for some reason she had been abandoned to shift for
herself. Perhaps she had run away.
He looked away from her face. This was none of his affair.
"Never mind," he said. He reached into his pocket and gave her a few
coins and then turned and walked rapidly away, suddenly anxious to see
the bright, remembered face of the young colonist, Doris, Don's friend;
a face that would chase away the memory of this pathetic creature.
After a moment, he heard the pad of her feet hopefully, fearfully
following him.
* * * * *
She was standing beside his cot again, and he concentrated to make the
walls stop spinning.
"It had a blue line."
"Yes, I know. Where?"