t her promise....

Later, how much later he did not know, something soft cushioned his
head. He opened his eyes, stared through swirling, spinning murk. He
focussed, saw Arkalion. No--_two_ Arkalions standing off at a
distance, watching him. He squirmed, knew his head was cushioned in a
woman's lap. He sighed, tried to sit up and failed. Soft hands
caressed his forehead, his cheeks. A face swam into vision, but
mistily. "Sophia," he murmured. His vision cleared.

It was Stephanie.

* * * * *

"It's over," said Arkalion. "We're on our way back to Earth, Kit."

"But the ships--"

"All destroyed. If my people want to come here in ten thousand years,
let them try. I have a hunch you of Earth will be ready for them."

"It took us five thousand to reach Nowhere," Temple mused. "It will
take us five thousand to return. We'll come barely in time to warn
Earth--"

"Wrong," said Arkalion. "I still have my ship. We're in it now, so
you'll reach Earth with almost fifty centuries to spare. Why don't you
forget about it, though? If human progress for the next five thousand
years matches what has been happening for the last five, the parasites
won't stand a chance."

"Earth--five thousand years in the future," Stephanie said dreamily.
"I wonder what it will be like.... Don't be so startled, Kit. I was a
pilot study on the Nowhere Journey. If I made it successfully, other
women would have been sent. But now there won't be any need."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," said the real Alaric Arkalion III.
"I suspect a lot of people are going to feel just like me. Why not go
out and colonize space. We can do it. Wonderful to have a frontier
again.... Why, a dozen billionaires will appear for every one like my
father. Good for the economy."

"So, if we don't like Earth," said Stephanie, "we can always go out."

"I have a strong suspicion you will like it," said Arkalion's double.

Alaric III grinned. "What about you, bud? I don't want a twin brother
hanging around all the time."

Arkalion grinned back at him. "What do you want me to do, young man?
I've forsaken my people. This is now my body. Tell you what, I promise
to be always on a different continent. Earth isn't so small that I'll
get in your hair."

Temple sat up, felt the bandages on his jaw. He smiled at Stephanie,
told her he loved her and meant it. It was exactly as if she had
returned from the grave and in his first exultation he