"Why break Ordinances," Rasmussen cried, "until must be deported?
Ypsilanti is a fine man. Must go to this extreme? Reconsider the
marriage. Let me try to use any influence may have, to re-instate you."
"No, I'm leaving," Toal said.
"Are you all right, Toal?" I asked. "I apologize for causing you
trouble. If there--"
"No, no, Kinlock. It was deliberate on my part."
Rasmussen said, "Must not change your Maggiese accent. Even if you go,
must remember our ways."
"People out there don't speak Maggiese, and I'm going to stop it. I've
been practicing for a year."
Rasmussen said, "At least, Betty, do not make this hunt. Shot pigs, but
this is the Hog. Must stay."
"I'm going with you."
"Ordinance 36 forbids male aliens and Maggiese females to ride in the
same tractor."
"I no longer obey Ordinances."
Rasmussen puffed out his cheeks and expelled air in an irritated hiss.
He glowered at Toal and me and said, "Cannot insure the safety of
either. Climb aboard, then, Alien Kinlock."
Toal moved over in the back seat. I heaved my weapons and pack to the
platform. Rasmussen took the front seat. I followed him up the short
ladder and sat beside Toal. Her elbows were nude, but leather stockings
concealed her knees and ankles.
"This is a tractor?" I said. "What is it?"
"Steam engine," Toal answered. "Burns crude oil. Water is carried in
this tank around the boiler. The steam pushes the pistons, and the rods
turn the wheels."
I shook my head in amazement and wondered why no one had invented a
steam engine before.
The red-headed man, who wore a Farmer brooch, walked alongside.
"Dominant, the tractor has full steam," he said. "Fire is on automatic."
Rasmussen sneered at the Farmer. "Hope, Yuko, no more failures occur.
Your work has been poor."
Yuko touched his forehead with extended fingers and stepped back.
Rasmussen pulled a lever and gripped the steering wheel. With a slow
chugging noise, the tractor crept forward and, at a rapidly increasing
speed, moved through the gate and a gap in the outer defenses.
"Rather noisy!" I yelled.
"Yes!" Toal screeched. "The Hog will hear us miles away!"
"What are miles?"
"A mile is 5,280 feet!"
"I see!"
Trailing a plume of steam, the tractor puffed somewhat majestically
along a dirt road. Toal began a question and answer game, conducted
in shouts, about things and affairs in the Explored Galaxy. She asked
about tridie, the ultrabrain, astraplanes, and Galactic Government. She
asked for more information about marriage customs and about the reasons
for women's fashions always concealing elbows, knees, and ankles while
often providing scant cover elsewhere. Some of her questions were
difficult to answer.
* * * * *
The tractor now rumbled through a woodland, rank with gnarled trees
crowned by gray-green leaves, and abruptly rolled into open ground with
a small, walled village in the center. Rasmussen stopped the tractor.
The torsos of several men appeared over the top of the wall. They
looked odd, for a moment, since two were bony, and one had black hair.