ior Space Cadet, he was now dressed in black trousers fitting snugly
around the legs, a midnight blue pull-over jersey, and the black-billed
hat of the merchant spaceman. His once close-cropped blond hair was
beginning to grow shaggy around the edges, and with the hat pulled low
over his forehead, he might have been another person entirely.

Leaving the space station on the jet liner had been easy for Roger,
since no one suspected he would violate his trust. But once his absence
was discovered and the warrant issued for his arrest, it had been
necessary for him to assume some sort of disguise to elude the Solar
Guard MP's. Roger had wound up on Spaceman's Row in Venusport as a
matter of course. Luckily, when he left the station, he had the
foresight to take all of his money with him, so he was not yet in need.

On Spaceman's Row, Roger found the new freedom from discipline enjoyable
at first, but now the novelty had worn off. Having visited all of the
interesting places on the Row, existence there had become boring. His
one attempt to leave Spaceman's Row had nearly met with disaster.
Running into a squad of Solar Guard MP's, he had made a hurried escape
into a near-by jet taxi. Back on the Row, Roger had lounged around the
cafes, feeling the loneliness that haunts men wanted by the law. And
only because he was so lonely he had agreed to talk to the little man
who sat and stared at him from across the table.

"You a rocket pusher, astrogator, or skipper?" asked the little man.

"Who wants to know?" asked Roger cautiously.

"Look, sonny boy," was the quick retort. "I'm Mr. Shinny! I'm the fixer
of Spaceman's Row. You want something, come to me and I'll get it for
you. I don't care why you're here. That ain't none of my business. But
the fact remains that you're here, and you don't come down here unless
you're in trouble space deep!"

Roger looked at the little man more closely. "Suppose I am in something
deep? What could you do for me?" he asked.

"What would you want done?" asked Shinny slyly.

"Well," said Roger casually, "I could use a set of papers."

"What happened to your own?"

"Solar Guard picked them up," answered Roger simply.

"For what?" asked Shinny.

"Taking ice cream away from the skipper's pet monkey!" snapped Roger.

Shinny threw back his head and laughed. "That's good--very good!" He
wiped his mouth after spitting at a near-by cuspidor. He reached over
and patted Roger on the arm. "You'll