Wyatt considered that, uneasily aware that his gun was now largely a bluff. He was not likely to use it on her, unless he wanted to come down a lot faster than he went up, and she would know that. He said, "All right, get up over the obstacles, but don't try anything too clever. I'm a pretty good pilot and I could gamble on flying this thing myself." That was a flat lie, but he thought it might be worth telling. The girl did not seem to be interested one way or another. The craft continued to go straight up, whistling shrilly as it went, and then it swerved around with surprising gentleness and headed east. Wyatt looked out the small double-sealed window beside him. The stars blinded him. They had ceased to twinkle, and they had grown huge, and they had multiplied. The sky was no longer flat but deep and endless, so that even as countless many stars as there were did not crowd it. Far below there was a dark wrinkled rind like the edge of a round cheese, and Wyatt knew that it was the Earth. It was the most magnificent sight he had ever seen, and he wished intensely that he was not seeing it. It was the final touch of insane reality that made the whole wild nightmare consistent. "I was just lying there minding my own business," Wyatt said bitterly, turning away from the window. "Why did you have to pick on me?" "You were obviously a technician, and it would require a technician to grasp what I had to tell you. The others seem not to believe even when they see." "Others?" asked Wyatt startled by a new thought. "Of course. How do you suppose we plan our attacks? How do you suppose we learn the things we must know, including enough of the language to be able to communicate with the people after the invasion? In the normal course of events I would have considered you an especially valuable find. The accessible ones have all been herders of animals or fishermen or primitive tribesmen or poor wanderers, who could not tell us much beyond their own language and their own calling." "You mean," said Wyatt, "that if you hadn't decided to give me the warning instead, you'd have kidnapped me? Taken me--" he nodded at the window, "--out there? Or tried to?" "Of course." "Well," said Wyatt. "I'll be damned." He was enraged, and more alarmed than ever. "Don't forget for a second that I've got this gun in your back." "I'm not likely to," she said in a curiously calm voice. "How are you called?" He told her. "I am Brinna Halphard--Brinna the Dark, I think you would say." It seemed a little ridiculous to say, How do you do? Wyatt grunted uneasily and asked, "Why the sudden friendliness?" "I'm a soldier, and I know it is impossible to win every skirmish. I've learned to make the best of things." "That's fine," said Wyatt, not trusting her for a minute. But he was curious. "Are all women soldiers where you come from?"