Tabor shrugged. "I saw how Firebird twisted your father around her little finger until he got wise. I knew you'd never be able to kill her or resist her. She's a witch. Stay aboard the _Sunbeam_ tonight and we'll start back for Venus in the morning." "I'm not going back. I'm staying aboard the _Corsair_." Tabor's face darkened. "Your father warned you, son. She's poison. Already you are convinced that she didn't kill him, but it'll always be my personal opinion that she is the one who shot Thymar." "I believe so, too, but she has offered to help me find out who did. I'm seeing it through to find out what she knows." "She's a liar and a thief. She'll get the two Jewels your father left you and do the same to you as she did to him." Nathan knew that seemed the obvious conclusion, but it wasn't reasonable in the face of things he had seen. There was something more that was far from obvious. There was the mystery of Firebird herself and the magic pool of Luline. And the mystery of the Jewels themselves. "I'll find out my own way," said Nathan. Tabor's face broke with a deep laugh then. "I might have known what your answer would be. In a lifetime of argument with Thymar I never won yet. I see I'm going to do the same with you. Let's drink. You and Firebird come aboard the _Sunbeam_ for tonight. I'll leave for Venus in the morning and wait for you to come back--which won't be long, I'm predicting." Nathan went over to the table where Firebird still seemed to ignore her surroundings. But there was admiration in her eyes. "That was nice handling," she said. "I knew you could do it." "It could have been done without shooting," said Nathan. "You don't know the 'Orbit'," Firebird replied with a smile. "No man sets foot in here for the first time without being tried by gunfire. I gave you the best possible opening. You took it like a veteran of the spaceways. They'll respect you, now." "Tabor wants us to come aboard the _Sunbeam_ for tonight. He's leaving for Venus in the morning and wants me to go back, but I told him that I wouldn't." "Rather curious--that rumor about our being killed on the way here," said Firebird. "Possibly the Black Warrior was in communication with someone just before the battle and gave word that he was closing in on us." "Possibly--" Firebird's eyes were gazing across the room towards Tabor. "I'll go aboard the _Sunbeam_ on one condition," she said. "What's that?" "Let me have your two Jewels in my possession while we are aboard. I'll return them in the morning." Nathan looked at her, trying to fathom her motives, wondering why he trusted her, why he wanted to trust her-- "Why?" "The Jewels are syncro-responsive," said Firebird. "When several of them are together they indicate the near presence of another one by becoming warm. The more there are together, the warmer they become. When the nearby Jewel is very close the effect disappears." "I don't see--" "Tabor has one of the Jewels, I'm sure. The Pink one."