Read the following passage and questions, then choose the right answer from options, the answer should be one of A, B, C, D.

<passage>:
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STALEMATE IN SPACE *** Stalemate In Space By CHARLES L. HARNESS the main battle raged—where a girl swayed sensuously before her conqueror's mocking eyes. the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] At first there was only the voice, a monotonous murmur in her ears. " Die now—die now—die now —" " Die now—die now—die now —" The votron had awakened her with its heart-breaking code message, and it was her duty to carry out its command. Nine years after the great expected nothing else. She had only to find the relay beside her cot, press the key that would set in motion gigantic prime movers in the heart of the great globe, and the conquerors would join the conquered in the wide and nameless grave of space. But life, now doled out by the second, was too delicious to abandon globe, The Invader , sprang out of black space to enslave the budding Terran Confederacy, The Defender was unfinished, half-equipped, and , commanded by her father, Gordon, Lord Kane, hurled itself from its orbit around Procyon and met The Invader with giant fission torpedoes. Defender . and terrible, with the recurrent vision of death. It had taken the Scythians nine years to conquer The Defender's telepathed curtly. "Only one more messenger ship can leave The Defender . Be on it." "No. I shall die here." His fine tired eyes had studied her face in enigmatic appraisal. "Then destroy both globes in the moment of our inevitable defeat. If they are successful, you will have the task of pressing the final button of the battle." "There's an off-chance you may survive," countered a mentor. "We're hard and thinking. She had no means to construct another key. At best, finding the rare tools and parts would take months, and during the She gave herself six weeks to accomplish this stalemate in space. Within that time she must know whether the prime movers were still to come would be her apparent harmlessness. Four hundred yards behind her she detected the mind of a low-born The corporal could not see her green Scythian uniform clearly, and evidently took her for a Terran woman. In his mind was the question: Should he shoot immediately, or should he capture her? It had been two months since he had seen a woman. But then, his orders were to shoot. He had seen her uniform, but that deterred him not a whit. Afterwards, he would call up the squad. Finally, they would kill her and move on. Women auxiliaries had no business here, anyway. For I.Q.'s of 100 and less, telepathic cortical paralysis was quite effective. With cool efficiency and no trace of distaste she stripped a woman. II corporal as well as that of a Scythian woman auxiliary. Incidentally, where is the corporal? Did you kill him?" He was prepared for a last-ditch denial. He would cut it short, have the guards remove her, and execution would follow immediately. In a their custom with recalcitrant prisoners, but she took no notice. She had analyzed the minds of the three men. She could handle the could take the information and then kill her. He nodded curtly to the guards, and they walked out of the hut, exchanging sly winks with one another. would certainly be on hand for the execution. His anticipation was cut short with a horrible realization. Under the paralyzing force of a mind greater than his own, he reached beneath the desk and switched off the recorder. Zone One." When the transport had left, neither inquisitor nor guards had any memory of the woman. However, in the due course of events, the "Where did you want to go?" "To the personnel office." "That way." He pointed to the largest building of the group—two stories high, reasonably intact. She walked off down the gravel path, which was stained here and there S'ria Gerek, here"—he nodded to the other woman, who smiled back—"I wish the field officers would make up their august minds as to whether H.Q.?" She thought quickly. This pompous little ass would have to be given some answer that would keep him from checking with the inquisitor. It simply. "I was told that you , that is, I mean—" working for—working here. So I asked for a transfer." S'ria Gorph beamed. "Splendid. But the occupation isn't over, yet, you know. There'll be hard work here for several weeks yet, before we certain now that the Zone Commandant was high-born and telepathic. The chances were only fifty-fifty that she could delude him for any length of time if he became interested in her. He must be avoided if at all possible. It should not be too difficult. He undoubtedly had a dozen personal secretaries and/or concubines and would take small interest in wing." As she left, she heard all sound in the room stop. The transcribing and balustrade. He gave no immediate notice of her presence. The five hundred and sixth heir of Tharn was of uncertain age, as were twenty Terrans lying about, in pools of their own blood. Only one man, a Terran officer of very high rank—was left standing. His arms were folded somberly across his chest, and he studied the eyes, who sat her on his knee when she was a little girl and read bedtime stories to her from a great book with many pictures. An icy, amused voice came through: "Our orders are to kill all prisoners. It is entertaining to shoot down helpless men, isn't it? It warms me to know that I am cruel and wanton, and worthy of my trust." relegate to his own officers. He must do it himself, but he wanted his underlings to know he loathed them for it. She was merely a symbol of She nodded dumbly. Her palm was so wet that a drop of sweat dropped from it to the floor. She was thinking hard. She could kill the Commandant and save her father for a little while. But then the problem of detonating the pile remained, and it would not be solved more quickly by killing the man who controlled the pile area. On the contrary if she could get him interested in her— "So far as our records indicate," murmured Perat, "the man down there is the last living Terran within The Defender . It occurred to me that our newest clerk would like to start off her duties with a bang. The with amused contempt, then with narrowing, questioning eyes. "Come here," he ordered. "Do you have a son?" "No." terif and following the tiptoe. For the last thirty "nights"—the hours allotted to rest and sleep—it had been thus. By "day" she probed furtively into the minds of the in her plan for destruction. She must make it a known quantity. course." "What did he say about it?" that—well, if I have ever fathered any children, I don't know about them." "Is that all he said?" "That's all, except that he included this ring." He pulled one of the "It's identical to the one he had made for me when I entered on my majority. For a long time it was thought that it was the only stone of its kind on all the planets of the Tharn suns, a mineralogical freak, but I guess he found another. But why should I want two of them?" "Sometimes it seems unfortunate that we must pass through a sentient phase on our way to death. This foolish, foolish war. Maybe the old count was right." "You could be courtmartialed for that." terif . "Some fool inquisitor can't show "The wretch insists that he could remember if we would just let him alone. I suppose he took a bribe. You'll find one now and then who tries for a little extra profit." her. "On the other hand, I may need a clerk. It's way after hours, and the others have gone." Beneath a gesture of wry protest, she swallowed rapidly. the earnest faces of the mentors as they instructed her carefully in

<question>:
Of the characters the reader sees directly in the story, how many would the reader consider to be "honorable?"

<options>:
A Two
B Three
C Zero
D One

<answer>:

A