more, and you'll make hamburg of your escort. You've outdistanced us, to understate, and if you get sighted by anti-nationals, serve you both right.'

     Dorren shrugged. 'Flame the anti-nationals. We haven't seen any in months, and they'd have to catch us, first.'

    The Sabre captain sighed into his mike. 'Right. Wait up, will you?' ,

    They passed the remainder of the assignment with more decorum. But upon their return to Station, even their disgruntled escort boasted over the territory they had covered.

    'Two claims, and a twelve beacon mark-off,' said the $abre's captain in admiration as Dorren stepped through the Prospector's chipped hatch. 'You and that greenie did a helluva day's work.'

    Ataine followed the second lieutenant out, tired but content. She slipped off her helmet, and smiled, freed hair tumbling in slow motion over her shoulders in the flight deck's low gravity. Yet as she met Dorren's eyes, she watched his pleasure die, pinched deliberately from a face still flushed from happiness.

      She felt as though he'd struck her. Warily interpreting his mood,

she said, 'You're going to insist on re-assignment.'Dorren frowned. 'Especially after this.'

'Why?' Her outburst escaped before she thought to quell it.

    But Dorren strode off without reply, leaving her desolate with uncertainty.

'What's with him?' said the puzzled captain at her shoulder.

    Ataine shook her head angrily. 'Blast if I know.' She left abruptly for her quarters and hoped for a better partner next shift.

But three weeks brought no change in the roster. Inured to Dorren's uncertain temperament, Ataine avoided conversation. By barring her heart against feeling, she learned to anticipate his mercurial shifts of mood, and respond only during those moments when the rigors of their profession drove him to reciprocate the gift they possessed between them.

    When things went well, his supply of banter seemed endless. 'Don't bring home any strays,' he said as she hauled out the tools to take a core sample. Dorren usually handled the task. But lately Ataine had grown restless waiting for him in the cockpit.

'You're kidding. No anti-national hardware has turned up for

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