efly, to be replaced with an attempt at dawning recognition.
"Duke!" She gasped it, then made a sound that might have been meant for
joy. She stumbled to her knees, reaching out to him. But her eyes
swiveled briefly toward the knife. "Duke, it's you!"

He pushed her back and reached for the knife. He was sure she'd known
who it was--had probably been the one who awakened him by looking in
through the broken window. "Why'd you try to kill me, Ronda? You saw
who it was. If you needed money, you know I'd give you anything I had.
Why?"

"Not for money." She twisted from him and slumped limply against a
broken wall. Tears came into her eyes. This time the catch in her voice
was real. "I know ... I know, Duke. And I wanted to see you, to talk to
you, too." She shook her head slowly. "What can I do with money? I
wanted to wake you up like old times. But Mrs. Kalaufa--she led you
here--she said--"

He waited, but she didn't finish. She traced a pattern on the dust of
the floor, before looking up again. "You've never been really hungry!
Not that hungry! You wouldn't understand."

"Even with the dole, you can't starve that much in the time since
Kordule was bombed," he protested. He gagged as he thought of the
meaning he'd guessed from her words, expecting her to deny it.

* * * * *

She shrugged. "In ten years, you can do anything. Oh, sure, you came
back on leave and we lived high. Everything was fine here, wasn't it?
Sure it was, for you. They briefed me on where I should take you, so
there'd be good food ready. They kept a few places going for the men
who came back on leave. We couldn't ruin your morale!"

She laughed weakly, and let the sound die away slowly. "How do you
think we sent out the food and supplies for the fleet the last three
years, after the blockade on our supplies from friendly worlds? Why do
you think there was no more leave for you? Because they didn't think
you brave soldiers could stand just seeing how the rest of us lived!
And you think you had it tough! Watch the sky for the enemy while your
stomach hopes for the sound that might be a rat. Hide three cans of
food you'll be shot for hoarding--because there is nothing else
important in the world. And then have a man steal them from you when
the raids come! What does a soldier know of war?"

The sickness inside him grew into a knot, but he still couldn't fully
believe what she was saying. "But cannibalism--"