t have understood my tone; he let Meadows pull him away a few
steps.

"And less of the 'lady' business outa _you_," said Lilac, but low
enough to keep it private. "We both know Mars, so let's take things
the way they are."

"That's why I came, Lilac. Taking things that way means he has to go."

"What're you gonna say? He has a job to do, or some such canal dust?"

"Not exactly. They might pick up another third pilot. They might
manage somehow without any. But he won't like himself much, later, for
missing his chance."

She swung the edge of the door back and forth in impatient little
jerks. Finally, she took her hand off the latch and let it roll free.
She still blocked the opening, however, and I waited.

"Look, Tony," she said after a pause, "what makes you think I couldn't
settle down with him? I never figured to be an ... entertainer ... all
my life. With the stake I already got together, we could start
something. A mine, maybe, or a tractor service like yours. Mars is
growing--"

"Pull your head inside the dome and breathe right!" I snapped at her.
"I don't mind your dreaming, Lilac, but there isn't any more time."

It was light enough now to see her stiffen. She glared at me.

"You tryin' to say I couldn't make a home here? You know better, Tony.
Some of the best known women on Mars didn't exactly come here
first-class!"

I held up my hand. She was beginning to get loud.

"It wouldn't matter if you were a princess. It's not what he'd think
of you; it's what he'd wonder about himself, piloting a sand-buggy
instead of a rocket."

In the alley, one of the spacers shuffled his feet impatiently. I
hurried on, hoping to clinch it before she turned stubborn.

"_You_, at least, ought to understand men better than most, Lilac.
Maybe it doesn't make sense, but it would be smarter to grab him after
he's had his share of space instead of before."

It was hard to breathe without sounding loud in the stillness. Just as
I had to swallow or choke, Lilac's shoulders slumped an inch or two.

"I'll wake him up," she said in a tired voice.

Feeling as if I had struck her, I stepped back into the alley. A few
minutes later, Konnel slipped out and shut the door behind him. No one
said a word. From the set of his shoulders, it seemed that he might be
just as glad the alley was dim; but he simply trailed along behind.

* * * * *

We walked back to Number Four Airlock in a silence that