ded
between any two or more metallic objects. As to his personality, he
was equally magnetic, for wherever Denver took him he attracted
curious stares and comments. Most people have never seen a moondog.
Such creatures, found only on the moons of Saturn, are too rare to be
encountered often as household or personal pets.

But Tod Denver had won Charley in a crap game at Crystal City; and
thereafter found him both an inseparable companion and exasperating
responsibility. He had tried every available means to get rid of
Charley, but without success. Either direct sale or horse-trade proved
useless. Charley liked Denver too well to put up with less interesting
owners so Charley always came back, and nearly always accompanied by
profanity and threats. Charley was spectacular, and a monstrous care
but Denver ended by becoming fond of the nuisance. He would miss the
radiant, stupid and embarrassingly affectionate creature.

Charley had currently burned out a transformer by some careless and
exuberant antic; hence the mutual doghouse. Scolding was wasted
effort, so Denver merely sighed and made a face at Charley.

"Mad dogs and Martians go out in the Lunar sun," he sang as a
punishment. Charley recognized only the word "dog" but he considered
the song a personal insult; as if Denver's singing were not sufficient
punishment for a minor offense. Charley was irritated.

Charley's iridescence flickered evilly, which was enough to
short-circuit two relays and weld an undetermined number of hot
switches. Charley's temper was short, and short-circuiting all
electrical units within range was mere reflex.

Tod Denver swore nobly and fluently, set the controls on
automatic-neutral and tried to localize the damage. But for Charley
and his overloaded peeve, they would have been in Crystal City inside
the hour.

So it was Charley's fault, of course; all of it....

* * * * *

It was beyond mere prank. Denver calculated grimly that his isolated
suit would hold up less than twenty minutes in that noon inferno
outside before the stats fused and the suiting melted and ran off him
in droplets of metal foil and glass cloth. The thermal adjustors were
already working at capacity, transmitting the light and heat that
filtered through the mirror-tone hull into stored, useful energy.
Batteries were already overcharged and the voltage regulators snapped
on and off like a crackling barrage of distant heat-guns.