"Of course you should help them. I didn't mean anything like that.
Just ... well, you're getting too bound up in your work."
"Why shouldn't I be?" Then the truth, as I thought, dawned on me. "Are
you jealous, Lucy?"
She lowered her eyes. "Not only that, but the war's bound to come to
an end, you know, and--"
It was the first part of her sentence that interested me. "Why, do you
mean--"
And just then a fresh batch of casualties arrived and I had to tend to
them. For the next few days, I was so busy, I didn't get the chance to
have the long talk with Lucy I'd wanted....
Then, after only four months, the war suddenly stopped. It seemed
that the aliens' weapons, despite their undeniable mysteriousness,
were not equal to ours. And they had the added disadvantage of being
light-years away from home base. So the remnant of their fleet took off
and blew itself up just outside of Mars, which we understood to be the
equivalent of unconditional surrender. And it was; we never heard from
the Centaurians again.
Peace once more. I had a little mopping up to do at the hospital; then
I collected my possessions and went back home after a dignitary--only
the Vice President this time--had thanked me on behalf of a grateful
country. I wasn't needed any more.
* * * * *
For a while, I was glad to be back home. I was a celebrity. People
dropped in from all around to see me and talk to me. And my family,
basking in the reflection of glory, was nice to me ... for a while.
"I don't have any trouble making appointments with any firm," my father
boasted, "when I tell 'em I'm the father of Kevin Faraday."
Mother smiled approvingly--Tim, a little sadly. He was the only one
who didn't seem pleased by what had happened to me, even though he'd
prophesied it.
Sylvia slipped her arm through mine. "The agency wondered whether you
wouldn't give them a testimonial for Panacetic Pills, Kev," she said,
squeezing my arm. "They'd pay a lot, and the rest of the family sure
could use the money if you're too high-minded to accept it."
"I couldn't do a thing like that, Sylvia. It wouldn't be ethical."
"Why wouldn't it be?" She dropped my arm. "The pills couldn't possibly
hurt anybody. Maybe take a little business away from Mother, but Mother
doesn't mind, do you, dear?"
Mother frowned.
"But people would think the pills had my healing powers," I explained.
"I would be breaking faith with myself if I shilled for them."