ses of getting out of step with a mere recollection,
like himself. Nelsen had some achy emotions. Should he ask for her
picture? Should he send one of himself?

He just scribbled on, ramblingly, as usual. Yep, in a new Archer Seven,
you could undo a few clamps, pull a foot up out of a boot, and actually
change your socks... Inconsequential nonsense like that. He ended by
telling her not to worry about any knicknacks he might send--that they
came easy, out here. He microposted the letter, and mailed a square of
soft glass-silk of many colors.

Then he pronounced a few cuss words, laughed at himself for getting so
serious, shrugged, and with the casualness of hopper with his pockets
loaded, moved toward the rec area, which was some distance off.

It was night over this part of rapidly growing Pallastown. Moving along
a lighted causeway, he saw the man with the shovel teeth. Glory, had
_he_ managed to survive so long? His mere presence, here, seemed like a
signal of the end of peace. Nelsen and Ramos used to practice
close-contact tactics at zero-G, in space. So Nelsen didn't even wait
for the man to notice him. He leaped, and sped like an arrow, thudding
into the guy's stomach with both of his boot heels. Shovel Teeth was
hurled fifty yards backward, Nelsen hurtling with him all the way.
Unless Nelsen wanted to kill him, there wasn't any more to do. Partial
revenge.

He wasn't worried about anybody except the guy's Jolly Lad henchmen.
There was nobody close by. Now he did a quick fade, sure that nobody had
seen who he was, during the entire episode. No use to call the
cops--there were too many uncertainties about the setup in wild,
polyglot Pallastown. Nelsen moved on to the rec area.

He didn't go into a garishly splendid place, named _The Second Stop_.
Thus, he didn't see its owner, whose identity he had already heard
about, of course. Not that he wouldn't have liked to. But there wasn't
any time to get involved in a long chat with a woman... Nor did he see
the tall, skinny, horse-faced comic, known only as Igor, go through
slapstick acrobatics that once would have been impossible...

By a round-about route he proceeded to the catapults, where Gimp Hines
was waiting for him. They had been conversing just a short while ago.

"Did you drop in on Eileen?" Gimp asked right away.

"No. There'll be other occasions," Nelsen laughed. "Someday, if we live,
she'll own all the joints in the solar system."

"Uh-huh--I'd b