"you know," steve told teejay and kevin later, "i think at the last minute my brother understood."

"it looked that way to me, boy," kevin nodded. "so he died happy. but there's a lot of work for earth to do. we'll have to clear the system of anything that remains here of uashalume's power. and then maybe someday we'll have to get up an expedition and clean out that foul place."

"one good thing came from it," steve told them. "we've got sub-space drive now, and the stars are ours." he lit a cigarette, frowning. "but i think we ought to go easy on our game-hunting, and you can tell that to brody carmical or anyone else, teejay. those, creatures out there were hunters too, you know."

"forget about the past, will you?" teejay snapped at him, then grinned when he looked hurt. "i still feel unclean, steve. i'd love to sit in a hot bath for about twenty-four hours straight."

steve grinned back. "if we were married, i could scrub around your shoulder-blades for you."

kevin cleared his throat ominously. "they made me captain of this ship, didn't they. what are we waiting for?"

the ceremony was brief, and after it, steve and teejay hustled back to the recreation rooms and swimming pools with a bar of strong soap, a couple of washcloths, and a lot of pleasant ideas.