cigarette and exhaled a mixture of smoke and relief. On the way to meet her folks. So it was just an ordinary secret society after all. And here he'd been thinking that she was the key figure in a Martian plot to blow up Earth—

Her folks!

Abruptly the full implication of the words got through to him, and he sat bolt-up-right on the seat. He was starting to climb out of the car when he saw Kay coming down the walk. Anyway, running away wouldn't solve his problem. A complete disappearing act was in order, and a complete disappearing act would take time. Meanwhile he would play along with her.

A station wagon came up behind them, slowed, and matched its speed with theirs. "Someone's following us," Quidley said.

"Probably Jilka."

Five minutes later the station wagon turned down a side street and disappeared. "She's no longer with us," Quidley said.

"She's got to pick someone up. She'll meet us later."

"At your folks'?"

"At the ship."

The city was thinning out around them now, and a few stars were visible in the night sky. Quidley watched them thoughtfully for a while. Then: "What ship?" he said.

"The one we're going to Fieu Dayol on."

"Fieu Dayol?"

"Persei 17 to you. I said I was going to take you home to meet my folks, didn't I?"

"In other words, you're kidnapping me."

She shook her head vehemently. "I most certainly am not! Neither according to interstellar law or your own. When you compromised me, you made yourself liable in the eyes of both."

"But why pick on me? There must be plenty of men on Fieu Dayol. Why don't you marry one of them?"

"For two reasons: one, you're the particular man who compromised me. Two, there are not plenty of men on Fieu Dayol. Our race is identical to yours in everything except population-balance between the sexes. At periodic intervals the women 

 Prev. P 9/11 next