"A man," Ralph said. "God knows how long that ship was in here. Years, maybe. Years, alone in space, here in the sargasso, with dead men and dead ships for company. He used up all the food. His shipmates died. Maybe he killed them. He needed more food--" "Oh, no. You don't mean--" Ralph nodded. "He became a cannibal. Maybe he had a spacesuit and raided some of the other ships too. It doesn't matter. He's dead now." "He must have been insane like that for years, waiting here, never seeing another living thing...." "Don't talk about it," Ralph said, then smiled. "Ship's ready to go, Diane." "Yes," she said. He looked at her. "Mars?" She didn't say anything. "I learned something in there," Ralph said. "We were like that poor insane creature in a way. We were too wrapped up in the asteroid and the mine. We forgot to live from day to day, to scrape up a few bucks every now and then maybe and take in a show on Ceres or have a weekend on Vesta. What the hell, Di, everybody needs it." "Yes," she said. "Di?" "Yes, Ralph?" "I--I want to give it another try, if you do." "The mine?" "The mine eventually. The mine isn't important. Us, I mean." He paused, his hands still over the controls. "Will it be Mars?" "No," she said, and sat up and kissed him. "A weekend on Vesta sounds very nice. Very, very nice, darling." Ralph smiled and punched the controls. Minutes later they had left the sargasso--both sargassos--behind them. THE END