Boone could feel his muscles tensing. In spite of him, his voice came edged: "Then that's all that's bothering you? You just don't want to see me get in trouble?" "No, no!--Oh, I don't know!" Eileen's words were suddenly stumbling and uneven. "It's just that--well, you showed me something, Fred, when you tried to stop me. How you feel about me. How my work doesn't really matter to you." "I see." Boone's mood turned raw and savage. "Maybe you even figure like Krobis pretended he did--that I was just jealous of your assignment when I barged into this business." "Fred!" And then: "You're trying to hurt me, Fred. I hurt you, so now you want to pay me back." He didn't answer. A moment of silence. At last Eileen said, "I--I think I'll go to bed. I'm still awfully tired. That fever...." Her voice trailed away. Then, after another moment, her shoes whispered on the cradle-plates. Still Boone stared bleakly out into the darkness. The whispering footsteps faded, died. He stood alone, in utter silence. Even the murmur of the breeze in the trees about the ship was stilled. That stillness--it made him frown a little. It wasn't natural, somehow. As a matter of fact, was anything natural in this weird, ice-shelled wonderland? Even the flowers lacked kinship with those he'd known on Earth. Or did they? It came to him in a flash that what he needed now was action. The night, the silence, the bitter disillusion--they'd rasped his nerves in a raw tension. Unless he cut it loose, something would snap. The flowers, then, could serve as an outlet. First, he'd get a light-rod.... Pivoting, he strode back along the carrier guides to the hatch ... started to step through. From the other side came the hiss of a quick-drawn breath. Boone froze. "Eileen...." A tremulous laugh. "Fred, I came back. I--I was afraid." "Oh." He made it curt. "I'm going out as soon as I can find a light." "I've got one." A beam blazed in the black, half-blinding him. "You're going--out--?" "Yes. Down onto the ground. I want a closer look at some of those flowers." It was a belligerent statement, geared for more trouble. But Eileen's tone stayed almost humble: "Can I come with you?" "If you want to." Boone took the light-rod and, with no further words, led the way down to the sphere-ship's lowest level and out through another carrier-cradle. * * * * * Just short of the mouth, he paused. Lowering himself carefully from the cradle-lip, he tested the ground. It had the slightly spongy feel of thick carpeting, but there was no question but that it would hold his weight. Spraying the light out in a quick arc, he checked for other dangers--of just what sort he wasn't sure--and then helped Eileen down. Already, he felt better; perhaps even a trifle chagrined at the emotions that had brought him here. But it wasn't in him to show that now. Crossing to the nearest flower-clump, he spread the petals of a half-opened bud.