"We should be there in fourteen hours," the co-pilot said.
"That'll be a relief. This is one job I don't like."
The pilot glanced at them sourly. "I thought you were through with the service," he shot at Heydrick.
"I am—it's my last job. I can't live on any of the inner planets after being exposed to the zero-rays of outer space. It takes six months for a resignation to go through in the Space Patrol. My time is up in two weeks and four days. After that, I'll have to stick to the places outside the asteroid belt or resign myself to a very brief life—18 months, at the outside."
"Too bad. What're you going to do?"
"I don't know. Maybe settle on one of the Moons of Saturn. They aren't too crowded. I'll be glad to be free again. Silly, isn't it—when you think of the way I used to look forward to being in Space Patrol! My folks were refugees from earth—lived in the icy marshes near the northern ice-cap of Mars. I ran away from home to go to Canal City 9 and study for the Patrol. My grades were good enough to impress Tyko. He took me into his home. My folks were proud of me. They're all dead now; Tyko's all I have left. I'll miss the old buzzard."
The co-pilot grunted. "What are you kicking about? I wish somebody'd handcuff me to a kitten like that one of yours. She looks hotter than a rocket tube. If you get tired of your work, I'll take over and spell you awhile."
Heydrick grinned with embarrassment. "You might regret it. She's tried to kill me twice already. She's full of ideas."
"I hope she knocks you off—you can will her to me."
The alarms through the space cruiser began to shrill in great bellows of sound. Heydrick ran along the passageway and tried the door of the stateroom where he had locked his prisoner. It was still locked. He used the key, but something heavy was jammed against the door. He drew his blaster gun and cut down the intensity. The door glowed cherry red, then flowed together. It gave as he crashed against it.