by M. C. Pease
you got a lucky break, so I can't do a thing. You oughtto be tarred and feathered through every city of the Federation, butbecause a destroyer happened to stumble in here at the right time you'llend up a hero." Her voice caught in a sob.
"Oh, the destroyer," Marc replied. "Ah, yes, that _was_ lucky, wasn'tit? The only hitch is--there wasn't any destroyer. Probably not onewithin a million miles!" He laughed as Lee turned surprise-widened eyestoward him.
"What they thought was a destroyer was the radar system on the side ofthe rock, bouncing a signal off the moon. I gave the radar boys the wordjust before Mantor dropped in on us. The crew did a damned good job ofjuggling the power and frequency and all." He grinned. "Remind me to buythem a beer sometime."
He laughed then at the girl's expression as it changed from bitterdisillusion to something akin to awe, close to hero-worship.
"And this, by the way," Polder said, "is as good a time as any to tellyou that I'd like to see you look like a woman, for a change. How aboutchanging into a dress before we go into town. You know, I've never seenyou out of that uniform?"
She hesitated, unsure of herself now. "That will take a little time,"she said doubtfully.
He put hands on her slim shoulders, gave her a gentle shove toward herquarters. "We've got time," he told her. "Lots of it. But I've beenwaiting quite a while."
Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from _Fantastic Universe_ March 1954. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without note.