it was kevin mcgann who showed him around the gordak after brennschluss. newton's second law of motion carried the ship forward through the near-vacuum of space now, and it would continue that way, plowing ahead at seven miles per second until it was caught and slowed by the space-station's gravity. there the bunkers would be reloaded with slow-fission plutonium for the long dash sunward to mercury.

" ... and through there you'll find the fission-room," kevin was saying. "that's about the size of it, boy. but i warn you to keep away from the fission-room as long as that red light is blinking. everything inside gets pretty hot, and there's enough radiation to kill an army unless the shields are up. even then, i'd recommend a vac-suit."

"i'll remember that," steve said, lighting a cigarette.

"word gets around a ship like the gordak pretty fast. i didn't see your fight with leclarc, but i sure heard enough about it. there's only one man aboard ship who can beat the frenchman in a fair fight, and—"

"you?" steve wanted to know. but it was hardly a question. it looked to him like kevin could take on two leclarcs with no trouble at all.

"yes, boy. me. but now there are two of us, and you've made yourself an enemy. leclarc doesn't forget easy, so you'd better be on your guard."

"i'll remember that, too," said steve, laughing. "but it looks like you keep warning me about something all the time, kevin. why?"

"you're charlie stedman's kid brother, aren't you?"

"yeah. yeah, but how did—"

"how did i know, boy? it's written all over your face, and charlie may have been with barling interplanetary, but a lot of us knew him. charlie was the best, boy."

"thanks. kevin, how did charlie die?"

the giant shrugged eloquently. "i don't know. it was t. j. who found him out on ganymede. she was out tracking an anthrovac, and you don't track anthrovacs in crowds. well, it seems charlie had landed for barling, and charlie had the same idea."

"he never told me teejay was a woman, but he said once she must have been reared in hell."

again, kevin shrugged. "it's open to question, boy. i don't like t. j., but i like working for her. you take a man like leclarc, he'll die for t. j. all she'd have to do is ask him, and he'd die. you see, boy, big game hunters don't come any smarter. trouble is, t. j. knows it and flaunts it. also, she's a woman but she's strong as a man and knows that, too. she dares you to fight her every step of the way, and it takes a big man to—"

"i thought you said charlie was the best!"

"and i still do. but a man's got to have some flaws. maybe he couldn't take t. j. and had to let her know. the same thing happened to you, after only five minutes. the gals have won their spurs in every field which was strictly masculine a hundred years ago. men tend to resent that, especially when a talented woman like t. j. let's them know it, and no bones about it. so, that's t. j."

"yeah," said steve, frowning. "that's teejay."

"what's the trouble, boy?"

"i've got to find out what happened to charlie, that's all. but teejay's going to be a problem."

"the grandmother of all problems, you mean. with all of that, though, she can still be all female when she wants to be. maybe charlie fell for her—"

"charlie falling for that cheap, no good—"

"careful, boy. she's my captain, and a good one. i wouldn't ship out on the gordak if i didn't think so. careful." then kevin smiled. "you'll learn, in time. anyway, charlie was a good-looker and attractive to the girls, he was romantic—so maybe t. j. fell for him, too. then they had a parting of the ways and—"

"sure!" steve exploded. "sure, they fell in love or something only charlie forgot to mention in any of his letters she was a woman. you're barking up the wrong tree, kevin."

"maybe. maybe not. i'm only talking off the top of my head, boy. but it's worth considering." kevin jabbed a thick finger against his calloused palm. "what i'm getting at is this, whether they made love or not, i don't think t. j. would kill anyone out of cold blood."

"i'll think about it," said steve, and then a whistle shrilled through the length of the ship. they were nearing the space-station, half as far from earth as luna, and deceleration came upon them gradually and would continue to increase until they all had to bed down in the accel-hammocks for landing.

unexpectedly, teejay herself was checking in the members of the expedition as their two-hour stop over at the station drew to an end. as he approached her along the gangplank, steve looked down and saw the station-men wheeling the small but tremendously heavy plutonium bunkers under the ship, each compact unit weighing a couple of tons with its concrete shielding.

"well, stedman," said the woman, the broad black sand-cape wrapped around her completely now, as if only the members of her crew had the right to see what lay beneath it, "i see you've never watched a ship getting ready for blast off."

"that's right," steve admitted. "first trip out."

"you want some pretty sound advice? i'd suggest you stay here at the station and wait for the first earthbound ship."

"thanks," said steve. "but mr. carmical hired me at least as far as mercury, so that's where i'm going."

teejay grinned. "you're a plucky kid, stedman. all right, mercury it is—but leclarc can do the honors when it's time to see you off the gordak for good. he doesn't exactly like you, stedman."

"i've been told that."

"all right, move along. there's a whole line of men i've got to check in behind you."

a plucky kid, steve thought, and laughed. she'd called him that, although he knew she'd probably have a hard time matching his twenty-five years. well, she'd spent her life in space and on the frontier worlds. maybe that did make a difference.

five minutes later, they blasted clear of the space-station on an orbit that would intersect the mercurian ellipse at perihelion. from there, the gordak would visit venus, mars, the planetoid ceres, the four large jovian moons, titan and uranus. ten worlds in all the hunters would touch on—and each world would offer up its native fauna for the brody carmical circus. steve wondered if there'd be trouble with barling brothers interplanetary. there generally was. but then he smiled without mirth, for the chances were he'd never get beyond the first landing on mercury, anyway.