"I didn't mean to hurt you," he said gently. She snuggled closer in the curve of his arm. "Don't talk about it if you don't want to," Barry urged. She raised her head, "But you must know. "When Komso put his Curse upon my father he could easily have killed me too. I was but a small girl then, and my mother already dead. But he had brought about the death of my father to display his power, and he wanted the people to remember. I was to be a living reminder. "But, he told the people, I shared my father's guilt of blasphemy by being of his blood. Anyone mating with me would be contaminated, and upon him too would fall the curse of the Gods Of The Deeps. "The men of Tana are not cowards despite what the Chosen have done to them. Some have faced and fought even the torvaks of the Outside. But to act contrary to what Komso has declared the will of the Gods--that they will not do. So although several have looked upon me with desire, none have dared take me as mate." There was pity in Barry's heart as he thought of the deep loneliness to which Komso had condemned her from childhood on. More than pity, he thought now. What had started with him as a matter of survival had changed and deepened, become more than friendship. "But I am not a man of Tana," he blurted impulsively. "And I love you." Xintel lowered her eyes. "Barry, do you really like me--that way?" "Yes." "Then it is settled," she declared, and came into his arms. "See, it is simple." Later, still holding her closely, he told her, "Xintel dearest, whatever lies ahead we shall face together." * * * * * But even his newfound happiness could not curb Barry's restless tension. Large as it was, the cavern of Tana was still confining to one accustomed to the open sweeps of Earth, and the threat of Komso hung like a looming storm cloud. And, despite much thinking and long, fruitless conversations, neither Barry nor Xintel could see a way to attack the Chosen's almost invulnerable position. Roaming the great cave, Barry's attention turned one day to the gas filling the upper portion. It gathered from the tiny bubbles given off by the submarine plants, with even the living houses of Tana contributing, and its level was nearly constant. Whenever its volume increased beyond a certain point the excess spilled into the tunnel leading to the open sea. "What's up there?" he asked. Xintel laughed. "It should do no harm to go there." Together they swam high above the town along one insloping wall of the cavern, passing through the thin layer where swarming microscopic life furnished Tana's constant illumination, and reached the surface. "Clear the water from your lungs all at once," Xintel instructed him. "It's easier that way." She exhaled as far as possible, water pouring from her open mouth, and gasped in a breath of gas. He did likewise, and after some choking and coughing, found he could breathe.