He felt very adventurous and masterful. Dialing dinner without aid was fine training in self-reliance. * * * * * Six weeks later, the three of them stood on the bridge of the space freighter _Beautiful Joe_, watching Sugar Plum as the vessel entered an orbit around it. But Charles Edward Button didn't feel at all masterful, or even adventurous. They stood next to Possett, the skipper, a great, hairy man with gold teeth, a bad squint, and an air of gloomy cunning about him. After her first look at Possett, Cousin Aurelia had locked herself in her cabin, allowing no one but Betty to approach her, and threatening to subsist on the half-dozen cases of Dr. Stringfellow's Vegetable Remedy she kept under her berth. Charles, however, had been sure that Possett's heart was both kindly and chivalrous. "Take those tall stories of his," he said more than once. "Betty, they don't mean a thing. Old spacedogs love to kid tenderfeet. Imagine trying to make me believe that it's dangerous out here! And all that malarkey about Captain Burgee being a pirate or something!" They stared at Sugar Plum, at its small polar ice caps, its seas, its continents greener than Earth's, its wandering white clouds. Not many hours before, it had been only a dust mote, a pinpoint of light in the void. Now it filled half the sky. And suddenly Charles understood the immensities, the unspeakable stretches of space in which Boston had vanished. Shivering, he wished he were home, stiffly safe in a curlicued chair, with Solomon dialing his dinner for him. "Nice piece of property," grunted Possett around his cigar. "Too bad about--" He broke off with a shrug. "About what?" asked Charles, alarmed. "I wouldn't want to be in your shoes if Burgee comes around and finds you'd run off with his planet." "Burgee? He was lost out in space!" "His kind don't stay lost. Chances are he's hiding out from the law. But it's none of my business. Just thought I'd warn you." Charles laughed weakly. "You c-can't frighten me. I'm sure there aren't any pirates in space any more." Possett turned to his weasel-faced mate. "Loopy, call the New Texas spaceport. Get Mac on the screen." The mate nodded. He twiddled a dial and punched at a switch. The screen glowed. After some seconds, the face of a red-haired person appeared, looking rather disgusted. "New Texas, New Texas," came a voice. "I hear you, _Beautiful Joe_. What the hell do you want?" "Dude aboard wants some info," said Possett. "Wants to know what Burgee did for a living--Alexander Burgee. Also, are the coppers still trying to find him?" The face frowned. "Possett, you know damn well Burgee was a pirate. You know he's been listed as lost. Now quit wasting my time. New Texas out." The face vanished. The mate snickered nastily. And Charles just stood there gaping. "A real pirate!" squeaked Cousin Aurelia. "Wh-what would he do? Would he _kill_ us?"