retend."

Ethan pretended and, when the food was gone, wiped his lips and looked
at her.

She nodded. "Now you can tell me--but keep your voice low. Don't wake
anyone up."

Ethan stretched and creaked. "Went down to the Interplanet office and
they wouldn't talk to me. Said there wasn't any ship leaving for the
next ten months and they didn't sell tickets in advance. I kept
pestering them and they got mad. They looked up our records and said we
couldn't go anytime, except on a fast ship, and, considering our age, it
was doubtful they'd let us. Didn't give up, though, and finally they
said we might get a release from the man who'd take us. Maybe they
wanted to get rid of me. Anyway, they sent me down to talk with one of
the pilots."

* * * * *

Amantha approved. Go straight to the man responsible. Persistence could
get you there.

"He talked real nice for a while," Ethan continued. "He explained he
didn't own the ship and didn't have the say-so who he took. I knew you
wanted to go real bad. I offered him the money we'd saved."

"_All_ of it, Ethan?"

"Don't get mad. Figured it was worth it to you."

"Don't believe in paying extra," she mused, "but did you tell him we
could borrow some if it wasn't enough?"

"Didn't get a chance. He started laughing, saying didn't I understand he
got paid not just for each trip, but for all the years after that, when
he was finished and had used up his time and couldn't work at the only
thing he knew? Saying that he wouldn't risk that kind of security for
any money and I was an idiot for believing he might." Ethan trembled.

"Never mind. He's an old fool."

"He's younger than Jimmy."

"Some people get wisdom when they're young."

Ethan sat morosely in the chair. "If Jimmy hadn't made that last trip,
he'd be here and he'd have married a girl here and his kids would be
here. We wouldn't have to worry about them."

"I guess so, but he was lucky anyway. They found out he wasn't as strong
as he was supposed to be and wouldn't let him come back." She began
clearing the dishes. "How'd they know he couldn't come back?"

"They got tests. They give them each trip."

She should have thought of it. They had tests. Because of tests, Jimmy
was safe but distant. She sat down.

"Tired." Ethan yawned. "Let's go to bed."

"You go. I'm thinking."

Amantha went on thinking while he undressed and lay down. Sometimes it
was difficult--things weren't as c