ait the next round of voyages when Earth came
near. They had it soft, while he, the guard, had to stay in cold
discomfort.

"We're going to visit a friend of my son," said Amantha. "They were
pilots together. Do you object?"

He didn't, but there were some who would. The order made sense with
respect to little boys who would otherwise swarm over the field, falling
off ships or getting stuck in rocket tubes.

"What have you got?" he asked, eying Amantha's parcel dubiously.

"I baked something." She opened a corner of the package and the smell
drifted out. "Made it with Martian fruit. Not much of it around these
days."

He sniffed and became hungry. That was queer--he'd eaten before coming
on duty.

"Okay," he said. "You can go. Don't get caught or it's my neck." He
stood closer to the old man and woman, and the package, too, and pointed
out the window. "Act like you're leaving in case anyone's checking up.
When you get near the line of ships, duck behind them and walk along
until you find the right one. No one will see you except me."

Amantha pinched the package together. "I'd give you some, but I can't
cut it before the pilot sees it."

"I guess you can't," said the sentry wistfully. "Maybe he won't eat all
of it."

"May he won't. I'll bring you back what's left--if there _is_ any left."

Long after they were gone, the sentry stood there, trying to analyze the
indefinable odor. He was still standing there when the checkup squad
marched in and arrested him for gross dereliction of duty.

* * * * *

"Go away," said the pilot, disappearing from the viewport. Ethan pounded
on the hull with a rock. The pilot came back, twisting his face. "Stop
it. I'll angle the rocket tubes around and squirt you with them."

Ethan raised the rock.

"Okay," said the pilot. "I'll talk to you, though I know what you want."
Sullenly, he made the hatch swing open. He looked down at them. "All
right, let's hear it."

"Got a present for you," said Ethan.

"Not allowed to take bribes unless it's money."

"Young man, where are your manners?" snapped Amantha.

"Haven't got any. It's the first thing they train out of you." The pilot
started to jerk his head back, saw the rock and decided not to close the
hatch. He glanced at the narrow ladder to the ground. "I'll take your
present. Bring it up."

He stopped smirking as Amantha hitched up her skirts and, holding the
package in one hand, swung up