Karlovic nodded. "You, yes. The girl, no. She was an overzealous
mistake on the part of the darkbird. Yes, I was in on it. I hoped that
finally we could get proof, a witness against whoever in the Embassy
was working with Morrison. Hawtree, is it? I'm glad to know his name."
He pushed open a door. The room beyond it was only half a room, cut
in the middle by a partition of heavy glass. On the other side of the
glass wall was the thick green native air, and three Senyans, one of
whom came forward when Durham and Karlovic came in. A darkbird hovered
close above him. He said to Durham,
"I am Jubb."
There were communicator discs set in the glass. Jubb motioned Durham to
a chair beside one. "First let me offer the apology that is due you.
You were carrying a message which was not true, which would have made
the people of Nanta Dik believe that we were about to come against them
with the Bitter Star. The darkbirds warned me, and I felt that I had no
choice. I could not let that message be delivered."