of those asteroids."

"All right," she called. She was using the shrew-voice again. "But you hurry right back here, Melvin Draco. I didn't travel six hundred and fifty light years just to sit in a hotel room—"

"Yes, dear," Manning said, closing the door gently but firmly. He walked down the corridor with the guide.

"The lady has—ah—a well-developed voice," Angus McBlla said carefully. His shock of hair seemed to be still quivering.

Manning was about to point out that everything about the lady was well-developed when he realized that was hardly the role for a man who wanted to get rid of his wife. "You can say that again, brother," he said.

"Did you wish to go somewhere?" the guide inquired politely. "Or did you merely wish to get out of the room?"

Manning laughed. "I can see you've had experience with Terrans," he said. "I want to find a second-hand asteroid dealer named Dzanku Dzanku. Know where he's located?"

"The honest Rigelian? It is well that you asked me to guide you. His place is in the center of town and most difficult to find. But Angus McBlla will take you there with ease. Come."

III

The Rigelian's place of business occupied a corner lot in the center of Canopusia. Across two sides of the lot there were huge banners announcing his presence:

"DIZZY" DZANKU, THE HONEST RIGELIAN—KING OF THE SECOND-HAND ASTEROIDS—MY PRICES ARE SO LOW YOU'RE CRAZY IF YOU DON'T TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ME.

A small one-room bungalow snuggled in one corner of the lot. There were, of course, no actual asteroids on the lot, but it was filled with scaled models of the ones he had to rent or sell.

Angus McBlla accompanied Manning to the corner and then went into a sense-lounge[5] to wait until he had concluded his business. Manning entered the office of the Honest Rigelian.

[5] Due to the Anti-Sense League and the McCarrion Space Entry Act of 3159, sense-lounges are unknown on Terra, but they are found in great numbers on most other planets which have considerable inter-galactic traffic. They are primarily for those races with more complex and sensitive sense organs and humans can stay in them any length of time without having any reaction at all. A 

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