* * * * *
The ship was fast, but space is big. I had a week to plan my next moves
while we worked our way through the area between Earth and Mars' orbit
where the TSN kept the raiders down.
But the week went by, and I didn't think of anything. I'd be working
over the control board, and then I'd look up, and she'd be smiling at
me. I'd raise an eyebrow, and she'd stick her tongue out. We shared
cigarettes. I'd take a drag, hand her the butt, and she'd cuff me when
I blew smoke in her face.
"Hey, Goon," she'd say from behind the plotting board, "d'ja hear the
one about the lady sociologist who wandered into Bessie's place on
Venus?"
I taught her original verses to _The Song of the Wandering Spacemen_.
Then she taught me the verses she knew.
We crossed Mars' orbit. I couldn't think of any way to find out what
I'd been killing myself over except to ask.
"Ever hear of the D.O.'s?" I asked quietly.
"Will chewing chlorophyl tablets cure 'em?" she asked.