" ... 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--"