amed. "Resignation not accepted. You're
_Fired_! Dishonorably discharged--blacklisted everywhere--you'll _never_
get another job--_anywhere_! And here's your slip, too!" Miss Foster was
very fast on the machines.

James 'ported his slip up into the _Pleiades_, just as Garlock and Belle
had done with theirs, and disappeared with it as they had; reappearing
almost instantly.

"Montandon!"

"Chancellor Ferber, are you completely out of your mind? You can't
discharge either Miss Bellamy or me."

"I can't?" he gloated. "Why not?"

"Because neither of us is employed. By anybody."

"That's right, Fatso," Belle said. "We just came along. Just to keep the
boys company. It's lonesome, you know, 'way out in deep space."

Miss Foster ripped a half-filled-out termination form out of her machine
and hurled it into a waste-basket. Ferber's jaw dropped and his eyes
stared glassily, but he rallied quickly.

"I can blacklist her, though, and maybe you think I won't. Belle Bellamy
will never get another job in this whole solar system as long as she
lives, except through me! Maybe I'll hire her some day, for something,
and maybe I won't. Are you listening, Bellamy?"

"Not only listening, I'm reveling in every word." Belle laughed
derisively. "I hate to shatter such wonderful dreams--or do I? You see,
the _Pleiades_ really works, and the Galaxians own her; lock, stock, and
barrel. You wouldn't have any part of her, remember? Insisted on payment
for every nut, wire, and service? Now, they want to hire us four for a
big operation with this starship. Since you only loaned Garlock and
James to them, you might have made some legal trouble on that score, but
now that you've fired them both--and in such _conclusive_
language!--we're all set. So when you blacklist us with the Society,
_please_ let me know--I want to take a tri-di in technicolor of you
doing it. How do you like _them_ parsnips, Your Royal Fatness?"

"I'll see about that!" Ferber stormed. "We'll have an injunction out in
an hour!"

"Go ahead," Garlock said, with a wide grin. "Have fun--the Galaxians
have legal eagles too, you know. One thing Belle forgot. Just in case
you recover consciousness some time and want to steal our termination
papers back--especially Belle's; what a howler _that_ was!--don't try
it. They're in a Gunther-blocked safe."

Then, as comprehension began to dawn on Ferber's face:

"S-u-c-k-e-r," Garlock drawled.

The _Pleiades_ disappeared.