John Andrew was wishing that he could swim when Dor smiled, and he began to be interested in living again in spite of himself. The girl, he thought, was somehow radiant--really lovely, in spite of her scales and fins. It was peculiar; he'd never liked women at all, and had certainly never thought he'd like a mermaid, but.... Anyway, he decided, he wasn't going to take sides if the two aliens were going to fight it out. His first interest was in saving his own hide; his second, in getting back to shore to give warning of the invasion. As for Dor--John Andrew had lived this long without going to the aid of a damsel in distress--without, in fact, ever seeing one that he could remember, who wasn't obviously more capable of helping herself than he was. He wasn't going to start rescuing fair maidens now--even if she needed rescuing. Still, there was something awfully attractive.... Damn, but he was confused! Dor's smile didn't really last that long; Farmer's thoughts were going fast now, somehow. He had finished those just described before Dor said, "All right, Garf. Fun's fun; now let's kiss and make up. After all, it's illegal for us to be here--not only our own cops, but the Galactic Federation, would be on our necks if they knew. Let's see if we can close up the gate ourselves or if this needs to be reported. And then let's go home." Garf grinned. "Whatever you say, my dear." He dipped an eyebrow in a wink. Behind Dor, the nonapus stirred sluggishly, extended a tentacle, opened a claw, and nipped Dor neatly on the behind. She screeched. There was an explosion in Farmer's brain. This was too much--Garf had gone too far! The burly editor plunged across the deck, swinging a fist. To his surprise, Garf did nothing to stop him; probably, John Andrew figured later, the fishman expected no further trouble from the humans after the treatment they'd had. Farmer's haymaker connected. Garf staggered across the deck until he brought up against the rail, holding his jaw and shaking his head muzzily. Farmer braced himself for retaliation, hoping it would be something less than a bolt of barbed lightning. But Garf remained unpredictable. He mumbled something that wasn't "Oh the hell with it" but sounded like it, and softly and silently slid overboard. He disappeared under water with scarcely a ripple. "Good!" Dor said, briskly. "Now, I'll just.... Ah!" She strode directly to Ray's invention, and Farmer wondered why both the aliens were so interested in a gadget that didn't work. * * * * * Dor wasted no time. She bent over, picked up the machine, yanking wiring loose carelessly, straightened up, turned a beaming smile on Farmer and Ray, said "Goodbye," and headed for the rail.