he desk clattered noisily and ejected a packet. Marlowe
looked at it--it was for him. The full medical report; it had been slow
in coming. But this was a small town. The doctor who had looked them
over was good, though. Marlowe made certain of that.

He opened the report and read. When he finished, he knew that though
luck and angels had been with them on takeoff and part of the
passage--along with dimly remembered fragments of unrelated skills that
had somehow coalesced into a working knowledge of how to run a ship--it
wasn't the whole story. When they landed on Earth, it was no miracle.
They had known what they were doing.

"What is it?" asked Ethan. "Habeas corpus?"

"No," said Marlowe. But in one sense it was, though of a kind that no
mere judge could return a verdict on. He read the report again.

"No evidence of mental senility," it said in part. "Micro-samples of
brain cells seem to be taken from someone about forty or fifty. Physical
reactions are slow but firm and consistent. There are puzzling aspects.
Certain obscure functions apparently are those of septuagenarians.
Others are in keeping with the mental age. The weakest organs govern, of
course; they should live another thirty years, as if they really were in
their seventies. However, locomotion and judgment should not be impaired
until the very end. Query: Are you sure these are the people I was
supposed to examine? I couldn't find that deep, inoperable, though
non-malignant tumor the man was supposed to have."

Marlowe folded and refolded the report. Radiation could kill. But it
could also cure. It was a standard treatment. But never so drastic and
not on the aged for this purpose. He had come at once on two monumental
discoveries, both by accident. How many discoveries _were_ accidental?

These two wouldn't live longer, but they would have a better life and in
full possession of their senses.

"Sure, we borrowed--stole the ship," said Ethan abruptly, interrupting
Marlowe's thoughts. "You got it back, but that don't change things.
We've got money. We might have enough to pay for most of the fuel."

"It's not necessary. We'll charge it off as an experiment." Marlowe
tried to frown. Perhaps he succeeded. "In return for not prosecuting, I
want you to abandon your pension and go to work for Interplanet
Transport."

Ethan's joints creaked as he sat up eagerly. "Work it off? Sounds fair."
There were wrinkles on his face and there never would be any less