"Ninety thousand is a small fortune," said the man. "Anyone with that kind of money shouldn't need to pull up stakes on Earth and start life all over again on a new planet. Should he?" "I don't imagine so. Who'll take ninety thousand for his place on the _Pericles_?" I repeated over his shoulder. "Unless he has some special, very compelling reason for leaving Earth," the stranger continued. * * * * * A colonizer ran up breathlessly. "Ninety thousand? Let me see it!" I opened the purse, pulled out the wad of bills, and flung the purse on the ground. The colonizer riffed through the wad. "That's for me! I'll take it!" He reached for the money. "Just a minute," I said. "It's yours after you give that lady over there your berth and make it legal with the ship." "Hey," said a companion, "how about all your belongings? Your cattle and equipment? You haven't time any more to take it off." "Heck, my whole outfit isn't worth more than fifteen thousand! I'll give it to the lady." He ran to Celia and the two of them dashed for the passenger ramp. It was eight-thirty-five. Twenty-five minutes before take-off. I put the money in my coat pocket. "I don't think," said the stranger, "that this transaction is going through." He stepped so close we were almost jaw to jaw. "Let me see your identity tag." "Who are you trying to impersonate?" I said. "A common ordinary rancher," he replied, flashing his badge. "Now let's see your identification." "Certainly." I showed him my false wrist tag. "Donald Simpson, I see." He stared at me through narrowed eyes. "Where did you find that, Mr. Sponsor?" "Sponsor? Is that the guy you're looking for? I have about a dozen other documents to prove I'm Simpson. If you have the patience to look at them." I opened the briefcase and handed him the packet. They had cost me thousands and they were awfully good forgeries. They slowed the detective down quite a bit. "Why are you offering that kind of money to get the lady on board?" "Because I'm awfully anxious to get rid of her." "You didn't happen to put a kid aboard that ship too, for the same reason?" "If you think I did, why don't you go look?" "I may do that, mister. You know, we can hold this ship on the field for an hour or more if we think it would prove profitable." I saw Celia waving from the passenger gangway, and the colonizer come sprinting our way. "It's done!" he exclaimed breathlessly. "Let's have the money." I reached into my pocket. The detective laid his hand on my arm. "I said I didn't think this transaction was going through." He turned to the colonizer. "You'd better switch things back to the way they were." "No," I said, pressing the gun through my coat pocket into the belly of the detective, "don't pay any attention to this character." I crossed over with my other hand and withdrew the money. "Take this," I said to the colonizer, "and get out of here. Fast as you can!"