He lit a cigarette and crushed it out with an impatient gesture. "You know, Vail, I've been hoping I'd run into you. This thing that's been boiling inside of me—I haven't been able to tell a soul. No one would have believed me. You may. The three of us kicked around together a lot, in the old days."
"In trouble?" I asked. "Can I help?"
"You can listen," he said. "I came back to Earth thinking I might be able to forget. It hasn't worked. I'm waiting for the airliner to take me to Kansas Spaceport. I'm going to Callisto—Mars—somewhere. Earth isn't the right place any more. But I'm glad we ran into each other, Vail. I want to talk. I want you to answer a question that's been driving me almost insane."
I signalled the waiter and got more drinks. Arnsen was silent till we were alone once more. Then he opened his cupped hands and showed me a small shagreen box. It clicked open. Nestling in blue velvet was a crystal, not large, but lovelier than any gem I had ever seen before.
Light drifted from it like the flow of slow water. The dim shining pulsed and waned. In the heart of the jewel was—
I tore my eyes away, staring at Arnsen. "What is it? Where did you get the thing? Not on Earth!"
He was watching the jewel, sick hopelessness on his face. "No—not on Earth. It came from a little asteroid out there—somewhere." He waved vaguely toward the sky. "It isn't charted. I took no reckonings. So I can never go back. Not that I want to, now. Poor Doug!"
"He's dead, isn't he?" I asked.
Arnsen looked at me strangely as he closed the box and slipped it back into his pocket. "Dead? I wonder. Wait till you know the story, Vail. About Doug's lucky charm, and the dreams, and the Crystal Circe...."