“Close-mouthed piece, aren’t you?” he said. He threw a scrap of bone at a wiry black girl huddled over the heat, and laughed. “Sada,” he yelled, “get her to give you lessons, will you?”
Everybody enjoyed that. Sada called him a name and turned her back. Samel’s black eyes came back to the yellow girl.
“You won’t tell who you are. That means you’re somebody. An Officer’s daughter, likely. Maybe even the Captain’s.”
Some flicker in the girl’s eyes must have told him he’d hit home. He jumped up and shouted, “Hey! All of you, look here! We’ve got somebody—we’ve got the Captain’s daughter!”
The mob stirred and moved in. People began to shout, to curse and make animal noises of sheer hate. For a minute Kirk thought he and the girl were going to be torn apart. He shivered violently, and the h
