She kissed him, amused. "It's always like that, silly. You're on
Mercury, remember?"
* * * * *
Farradyne held her close and kissed her again. A minute passed before
he came up for air. He looked down at her, leaning his head back so
that he could see her face without looking cross-eyed. "I'll bet you're
a real mush-face in the dark."
Carolyn laughed, and shook her head. "Like all the rest of the women on
Mercury, I'm scared to pieces of the dark. But it's late, Charles, and
you've just got to go." She hugged his head down so that she could look
at her wrist watch on the arm about his neck. "It's five o'clock and
you're to take off at nine. Charles, please don't crack up just because
of lack of sleep."
"Okay," he said regretfully. "Okay."
She held him close. "It's been a nice evening, Charles. So kiss me good
bye, and remember that it won't be long until I see you on Terra."
"It gets dark on Terra," he told her. He tightened his arms and she
pressed against him.
Against his lips she murmured, "I might not be afraid of the
dark--Charles."
The promise in her last embrace stayed with him. There were only three
hours of sleep between the time he left her and the time of awakening
to prepare for the take-off, but dreams of Carolyn filled all of them.
They were pleasant dreams and unpleasant dreams; he saw Carolyn coming
to him with her past renounced, he saw her coming to him as a secret
agent who was in the hellish business for the same reason as he was.
And he dreamed of her waving him a good-bye with her dark eyes filled
with tears as she was taken off to the Titan Penal Colony. He even
entertained notions of joining them, justifying himself by thinking
that people who fall in with love-lotus addiction were the weaklings
of the human race anyway, and could be eradicated to good advantage of
the general level. This reasoning he recognized as sophistry.
But be it as it may, Carolyn was an attractive woman, and if her
companionship could only be known for a very short time, it was none
the less pleasant. It was a rough game they were playing and many
people were bound to get hurt. But more people--innocent people--would
get hurt if he called it off. So by the time Farradyne and his dreams
came to the conclusion that he could afford to take what pleasure out
of life this situation offered for the moment and let Tomorrow exact
its tribute when Tomorrow came, it was time to get out of his bed and
start the pre-flight check-off.
He had work to do. Schoolmarms to haul to Pluto and some refined
thorium ore to bring to Terra. He would make no signal this trip; he
was still far from being on the inside. Maybe the next. Or the one
after that, depending on his progress. But in the meantime, he would be
seeing Carolyn Niles on Terra.
Farradyne began his check-up, already anticipating the reunion.