certain hesitancy in the look she gave Quade.

He halted in front of the girl. She smiled.

“Why, hello, Tony.”

“Just what are you doing here?” Quade asked. “Or should I guess?”

“It’s sweet of you to say so,” Kathleen observed, tilting her nose Saturnward. “As a matter of fact, I got rather tired hanging around—”

“So you thought you’d drop in and say hello,” Quade finished for her. “Now you can turn around and say goodbye and go home.”

“How?”

Quade peered after the departed gyroplane.

“How’d you get here?”

“Took a tramp ship to New Macao and hired a pilot to fly me the rest of the way.”

“Okay,” Quade said. “See that two-man camera ship? You’re going to march into it and I’m going to fly you back to New Macao and put you on a Sunward ship. Catch?”

“Won’t,” Kathleen said, starting to run. Quade deftly caught her, lifted her kicking figure, and carried her to the cruiser. He dumped her in it and turned to Wolfe, who had followed.

“Be back as soon as I can. Keep things moving.”

“Right. Hello, Kathleen,” Wolfe said pleasantly. “Goodbye now.”

He shut the port and departed. Quade silently turned to the controls and lifted the ship. Kathleen, standing beside him, was not silent. She finished by saying that her engagement to Quade was off, and that he was a rat.

“Sure I am,” Quade said. “But this is my job and I think it’s a little dangerous. I’m sure I can handle it. Just the same, I don’t want you around. For one thing you distract me and for another I’m still wondering about that virus disease that killed Udell.”

Kathleen sniffed.

“Ha. Hey! We’re being followed.”

Quade threw a magnifying 

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