s.
The work they do is illegal, but it's perfectly justified morally. What
right have men with more money than they know what to do with to own
everything in the Solar System? How can a young fellow get a start any
more, when corporations and rich old fogies own everything?

"Maybe I'll join up with this outfit. After we've sold the ship I'll
see. How does that sound to you?"

"Wonderful, Hugh," Nanlo whispered. "But I don't care about that. All I
want is for us to be together. Always. You and me, and our love,
together for eternity. That's all I want."

"That's all I want, too, darling Nanlo," Hugh Neils told her passionately,
and kissed her. "Together, forever. Just you and me."

Nanlo sighed, with luxuriant happiness, and peered at his radiumite
wrist watch.

"The five minutes are up," she murmured. "Can't we go now?"

Hugh Neils nodded.

"We've waited plenty long enough," he decided. "The guard will be
asleep by now. The crew were that way when I left them, in the
dormitory. I saw that they had plenty of spiked molkai at dinner.
Pretended it was my birthday celebration. And the ship's all ready and
waiting for the take-off. All we have to do is lock the port and close
the rising switch."

The two on the bench by the fountain rose, and for a long minute were
locked in an embrace. Then they turned toward the dark-shadowed trees
and disappeared beneath them, in the direction of the nearby space
port.

* * * * *

Negu Mah silently turned back into the house. Sliss shuffled after him.
The uranium merchant led the way back to the vitrite covered garden and
there, a little wearily, resumed his seat and picked up his mug again.
Sliss climbed back into his tub of water, sighed gratefully at the
comfort it gave him, and then turned his pop-eyes toward his host. He
blinked once, inquiringly, and Negu Mah understood that the intelligent
amphibian was asking if he intended to do nothing to stop the pair who
were running away.

Negu Mah sipped pensively at his drink.

"If she had only told me," he murmured. "If she had only come to me and
said she desired her freedom. If they had only both come together and
faced me, saying that though it meant giving up all they had, they
wanted only each other! I would have been generous. I would have been
indulgent. But they did not. They had not the courage. They were afraid
of me. And they hated me."

Negu Mah was silent for a moment