when they came back. Why? Why!

What made them hate it—like Kelly? And what made them have to return? What turned a happy man into a miserable prisoner? Why didn't Kelly quit the Stardust Overdrive?

When I got to the office I had made up my mind. This had been gnawing at me for a long time and it had to be settled. I had to know....

I filled out my request for transfer from planetary runs to deep space. Then I went to the tele and called my wife.

"Honey, you won't like what I've just done," I told her. I could see her face take on a sudden chilled look. As if she knew....

"What is it, Al?" There was tenseness in her voice and I couldn't blame her a bit.

"The Stardust Overdrive." I said it quickly and then felt like a heel. But it was already too late.

"Al—no—you couldn't—"

"I signed the papers a few minutes ago. Honey, you've got to understand—I have to ... I saw Kelly a little while ago. He's changed, and I've got to know why. He was my best friend...."

Her face grew hard then. "Kelly! What about me? Don't I count? I'm your wife—remember? Or would you rather find someone to take my place—an Ideal!"

"You don't understand," I tried to tell her, but knew it was useless. She had never been in space, not even to Luna. A spaceman gets the challenge in his blood, he's got to see more, he's got to know what's beyond the solar system. Out where the Ideals come from. Sooner or later he's got to know.

Her face sobered suddenly and there was a desperateness in her eyes. "Al, did Kelly tell you?"

I looked into the tele at her. "Tell me what?"

Her lips were tight and white. "Kelly's wife committed suicide today. She couldn't take it any longer. It was her or—the Ideal...."

I felt the shock of her words and knew what she was trying to say. It could happen to us!

I shook my head. "I'm sorry to hear that." And then I felt a bitter anger. "She didn't give him a chance to find himself. Now he'll never quit—"

"Chance! What kind of a chance does any woman have against an Ideal? You're blaming her?"

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