Then the pair were at the edge of the camp lights. As they advanced,
they seemed to realize that they had passed a point-of-no-return.
They straightened and came forward steadily, the woman seeming
to be guiding her companion.
"What's happening, Mark?"
It was Lillian; she must have just come out of the soundproof
speech-lab.
"You know them; the pair in the queue, this afternoon. I think
we've annexed a couple of friendly natives."
They all went outside. The two natives, having come into the camp,
had stopped. For a moment, the man in the breechclout seemed undecided
whether he was more afraid to turn and run than advance. The woman,
holding his hand, led him forward. They were both bruised, and both
had minor cuts, and neither of them had any of the things that had
been given to them that afternoon.
"Rest of the gang beat them up and robbed them," Gofredo began angrily.
"See what you did?" Dorver began. "According to their own customs,
they had no right to be ahead of those others, and now you've gotten
them punished for it.
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