"No," replied the new owner of Venus Equilateral.
"Then we'll return to duty on Terra," said the officer.
Channing went back to the party and spent ten minutes telling his
friends what had happened. Then he forgot about it and joined in
the merrymaking, which was growing more boisterous and uninhibited
by the moment. It was in the wee small hours of the clock--though
not necessarily the night, for there is no such thing on Venus
Equilateral--when the party broke up and people bundled up and braved
the howling blizzard that raged up and down the halls.
Home to warmth and cheer--and bed.
* * * * *
Arden sat up in bed and looked sleepily around the dark bedroom. "Don,"
she asked with some concern, "you're not sick?"
"Nope," he replied.
Arden pursed her lips. She snapped the light on and saw that Don was
half-dressed.
"What gives?" she demanded, slipping out of bed and reaching for a robe.
"Frankly--"
"You've been stewing over that blown-out fuse."
He nodded sheepishly.
"I knew it. Why?"
"Those tubes have been running on a maintenance load for days. They
shouldn't blow out."
"Critter of habit, aren't you?" grinned Arden.