With some misgivings, Brack checked into the hotel. It was a tiny installation--perhaps nine or ten rooms. His own cubicle was a drab affair, with neither entertainment screen nor sleep-inducer. He had just tested the 7/8G-bed with disgust when there was a buzz at the door. It was Esther, holding some linens. "They have you doing everything around here," Brack said with empathy. "What are these?" "Towels. You use them after you wash." "Boy, this sure is ancient!" Esther's eyes betrayed deep torment. "I know. I would do anything to get away from this place." She put the towels in a rack. The trucker was lying on the bed, contemplating the girl's deft, graceful movements. "Listen," he said, "why wait for a passenger ship? Why not arrange secretly with one of the cargo ships that stop here? I know if I was inbound--" "Don't even say it!" she expostulated. "It's very kind of you, but certainly you've heard of the Pledge Act? My father could prosecute any cargo ship, no matter where it landed in the planets. You know, unlicensed transport of people." She paused to look at herself in a mirror above the washstand. Brack's eyes were on her bare, marble-white shoulders, her finely sculptured bosom. She sighed. "No, my only chance is to get away from the Dryodean System altogether. If I go to another star--where the Pledge Act wasn't even heard of--" She brushed back her long blond hair with an unconscious gesture, like a maiden getting out of a degravity pool. Brack said thoughtfully: "Esther, if you're really determined to get away from here, maybe I can help you. I'm taking a cargo to Hesdin. Your old man couldn't reach you there, or prove anything against me, either." The girl's moonstone eyes flared up in hope, but she hesitated. "I don't have very much money. I couldn't make it worth your while, financially." "That part is unimportant. The thing for you to consider is the situation on Hesdin-2. It's a new colony; life there is pretty primitive." Esther waved at the room. "Any more so than here?" Brack grinned. "Not much more. But then also, you've got to remember that it's a three-week trip. Pretty monotonous. Just the two of us." She looked him in the eyes with understanding. "I'd try not to get in the way." * * * * * They met in the middle of the night at Brack's ship. Working slowly, soundlessly, they opened a cargo case and removed enough unit boxes to make room for the girl. Esther settled down in the container. "I'm afraid that isn't too comfortable," Brack apologized, "but you'll only have to put up with it four hours. I take off at seven." "That's all right, Bill. Just so there's no delay. My father expects me to open the dining room at seven." "We'll be ten million miles away before he misses you," said Brack. He put the top on loosely, faking the straps across the cover, so the girl could breathe.