"I'm sorry, Mr. Hall," said the Steward crisply. "We are all proud of the spaciousness of our ship, but not even the _Star Lord_ can provide separate tables for everybody who--Oh, _good_ morning, Mr. Jasperson! Glad to see you, sir." Turning his back on Tom, he smiled and bowed to the new arrival "Everything all right, sir?" "Good morning, Dr. Chase. No nightmares last night? 'Morning Davis. Tell that waiter of mine to be more particular about giving me plenty of ice water. I like plenty of water, and I like it cold." "Sorry, sir. I'll speak to him at once." He bowed again as Jasperson strode on. "Then could we--" Tom began. Davis whirled with an impatient frown. "What? Are you still here? Surely I made it clear that there's nothing I can do, Mr. Hall?" "But couldn't you at least move us to another table?" "I regret that you are dissatisfied with our arrangements. All table space was allocated before we took off from Y-port." "But you've put us with such noisy people!" said Tom stubbornly. "They keep talking about how much money they made in deutonium, and they refer to us, right in front of us, as the babes in the woods. They may be rich, but they haven't the manners of a six-year old. We _can't_ stay at that table." "Mr. Hall, I can't waste any more time with you. If all our passengers were to demand special privileges--" He shrugged his shoulders. * * * * * Dorothy Hall whispered shyly, "Ask him, then, what about that man?" and she nodded her head slightly to the right. "Yes," said Tom. "You say there isn't enough room, but what about that table over there? It's made to seat two, and there's just that one man who eats alone." Davis glanced over. "Oh, yes. But that's Mr. Jasperson! He likes to be by himself." "Who's Mr. Jasperson?" "A very important man." "And I'm not?" Alan broke in. "Excuse me, Mr. Hall. I am Dr. Chase. Won't you join my table? Three of the people assigned places there are Almazanians, a diplomatic mission, I think, and they naturally prefer to have their own cuisine in their own cabins, so we have room for three more." "How about it, Steward," said Tom. "Any objections?" Shrugging his shoulders, Davis strolled away. Tom glared at the retreating back. "That guy has the face of a murderer. He can't be decent to anybody with less than a million credits." Dorothy laughed. "Never mind, Tom. Someday you'll be the most famous lawyer in the Interstellar courts, and maybe you'll get a chance to prosecute him for arson or treason." Alan led them to the rear of the dining room, where his two table companions were finishing the last sips of their coffee, and lighting the first cigarette of the morning. "Miss Taganova, may I present Tom and Dorothy Hall, who would like to share our table." Tanya lifted her beautiful auburn head and smiled a welcome. Professor Larrabee stood up, his pink cheeks crinkling with pleasure as he shook hands with Tom.