* *
Maybe they could have. Maybe. But the government didn't relent. It talked of mercy to the students if they surrendered, but not of giving in to their demands. Government men explained to the foreign crews that this was all a misunderstanding.
"I don't know Lin," Emma told him, sounding exhausted. "Every day more and more students leave. They're tired. They thought it would be easy. Quick. Now . . .." Smudges of tears showed on her face. "I tried to convince them to retreat by May
25. Leave the square, having made our point. I think we could do that."
"And?" he asked.
"Mark," she said. Mark was the guy from the club, the leader of the nationalistic faction that wanted the vote so they could deny it to anyone else. "He says we can't retreat without having won some points."
Lin held her arm. It felt very thin after almost a month here, on the barricades. "Forget this," he said. "Forget all this. Come with me. Come home with me. Marry me."
"Oh,"