knew what he was getting. It was the space yacht he'd used before,
refurbished and fitted with everything the emigrants could provide.

He affected great surprise and expressed unfeigned appreciation. Barely
an hour later he transferred to it with the spaceboat in tow. He watched
the emigrant fleet swing out to emptiness and resume its valiant
journey. But it was not a hopeless journey, now. In fact, the colony on
Thetis ought to start out better-equipped than most settled planets.

And he went to sleep. He'd nothing urgent to do, except allow a certain
amount of time to pass before he did anything. He was exhausted. He
slept the clock around, and waked and ate sluggishly, and went back to
sleep again. On the whole, the cosmos did not notice the difference.
Stars flamed in emptiness, and planets rotated sedately on their axes.
Comets flung out gossamer veils or retracted them, and space liners went
about upon their lawful occasions. And lovers swore by stars and
moons--often quite different stars and moons--and various things
happened which had nothing to do with Hoddan.

But when he waked again he was rested, and he reviewed all his actions
and his situation. It appeared that matters promised fairly well on the
emigrant fleet now gone forever. They would remember Hoddan with
affection for a year or so, and dimly after that. But settling a new
world would be enthralling and important work. Nobody'd think of him at
all, after a certain length of time. But he had to think of an
obligation he'd assumed on their account.

He considered his own affairs. He'd told Fani he was going to marry
Nedda. The way things looked, that was no longer so probable. Of course,
in a year or two, or a few years, he might be out from under the
obligations he now considered due. In time even the Waldenian government
would realize that deathrays don't exist, and a lawyer might be able to
clear things for his return to Walden. But--Nedda was a nice girl.

He frowned. That was it. She was a remarkably nice girl. But Hoddan
suddenly doubted if she were a delightful one. He found himself
questioning that she was exactly and perfectly what his long-cherished
ambitions described. He tried to imagine spending his declining years
with Nedda. He couldn't quite picture it as exciting. She did tend to be
a little insipid--

* * * * *

Presently, gloomy and a trifle dogged about it, he brought the spaceboat
around to th