She was silent. She looked at the square solid face in the screen, and wished ... well, what was there _to_ wish? “The only way I could do it, Lee, would be as Priority Emergency, and I think that might make some--well, some unpleasant publicity.” “It’s all right, Chris,” she said clearly. “Suppose Johnny takes this one, and I’ll go next week, the way we planned.” “Do you think that’s--a good idea?” She smiled. Johnny was not going to think it was a good idea at all. “It looks like the only thing we _can_ do, doesn’t it?” Well, Johnny could think what he liked. “I--frankly, I’d just as lief stay the week, if it won’t--Well, you’re the boss. Just, if you think that’s best, it’s perfectly all right with me.” She waited breathlessly. “Sure,” he said. “I just didn’t think you’d want--I thought you might be uncomfortable staying by yourself.” “No. I’ll tell Johnny when he wakes up,” she said. “You send him to me,” Chris said. “I’ll tell him.” She did not contradict. After she hung up, she went to the outside wall and pulled back the drapes that Johnny had drawn. Light flooded the room. She closed the drapes again, and stood outside them, nose to the window like a kid at a candy store. Instead of being worried, or upset, or angry, or nervous, or anything she _ought_ to be, she kept looking and wondering if people ever got tired of a scene like that. PART SIX _August 25--September 2, 1977_ _Dollars Dome--Thursday, August 25_ “Yeah. Sure. If it’s all right with Lee, it’s okay.” _Sure, what the Hell? Why shouldn’t I leave my girl behind? Give the other boys a chance._... That was idiocy. Or was it? You couldn’t say Chris had failed to _notice_ Lee. _Well, who does? You want a babe nobody else wants, find yourself some old bag. Plenty of girls who’ll be overjoyed to marry the great Wendt._ Plenty of ’em. Sure. For all he knew, this time might have torn it with Lee anyhow. He stood up. “I’ll go see if I can round her up and see what she thinks, okay?” “Right. See you in half an hour? I’ve got to get the changes cleared through soon as possible.” “Right.” He went out of Admin and across the mall to the guest residence. The place had changed since--well, sure it had, he was thinking four years back and more. He hadn’t really _seen_ it when he came through on the way back from-- _All right, leave it lay.... Forget it!_ She wasn’t in the room. He found her finally in the dining room, drinking a glass of milk with a tableful of awed young scientists. If he could laugh today, it would be funny--the way their eyes swiveled after her when she got up to come to him. _Plus_ the double-take when the whispered word went round the table about who it was she’d gone to. _The great Wendt!_ Well, the great Wendt was getting sent home for being bad. And he couldn’t have mama’s hand to hold, this trip.