be over. And then he would be on his way back
home to Earth. Laura would be there on Earth, waiting. Laura.

Laura had silky chestnut hair that glinted with deep, red lights and
fell in thick curls to her shoulders. Her eyes were very brown and level
and filled with dancing motes of laughter. Her nose was short and pert,
and he remembered the tiny mole which lay like a speck of soot just near
the left nostril. Her lips were a little too wide, but they were firm
and full and could quirk up in a smile that was rich and warming. Her
body was small and sweet in the gentle swelling of its curves.

But it was her smile which Nellon thought of now. A bitter pain shot
through him as he recalled it. Though in his thoughts it was all for
him, he knew that its actual warmth was shed upon Tim Austin. Big Tim,
who was so large and happy and tousled that he looked like an overgrown
boy.

It was together that they had met Laura. And it was together that they
had dated her. But as the three-sided friendship deepened, the
inevitable change had occurred.

Strangely enough, it had been Nellon himself who brought it about. It
had happened the evening he had had Laura with him alone for the first
time. The spell of her charm had been concentrated upon him alone, and
he had lost his head to such an extent that he proposed.

Laura had said no, and things had never been the same between them
again. Though Big Tim may have wondered at times, he hadn't been
sensitive enough to realize the change. Nellon had, in fact, concealed
his pain and desire so effectively that Big Tim had never awakened to
the truth.

* * * * *

Nellon remembered almost the exact words Laura used that evening. Even
now the tones of her voice rang in his ears, gentle and sad.

"I'm sorry, Brad," she had said. "Please try to understand. I really do
like you--an awful lot. You're like a rock, solid and strong, something
to cling to. But Tim is like a big, clumsy playful dog--so terribly
lovable. I can't help it. Really, Brad, if it wasn't for Tim, I'd never
hesitate to marry you."

For two and a half years her words had drummed in his mind. "If it
wasn't for Tim--"

At first he had tried to ignore the early thoughts of murder which had
crept insidiously into his brain. But they persisted, grew stronger, and
before long he had been making actual plans. Several times the cold hand
of death had reached for Tim Austin, but each time Nel