"All right. All right," Jud said weakly. "Let's see if we can talk Tillie into taking us back home in exchange for her freedom. As an arguing point you might all visualize the smashed ship, with her still imprisoned and all of us dead and unable to help free her." An invisible hand seemed to push us to the back of the ship. We were picking up speed faster than we ever had before. [Illustration: The blob of metal clung to the space ship's trail like a pursuing nemesis.] I slowly climbed to the forward telescope and looked through it. Dead center was a small twinkling Earth with the Moon hovering near it. I informed the rest. They shouted with relief. We were on our way home! The stern telescope showed the other piece of tellecarbon following us--almost sniffing at our heels. It held there, day after day, while the Earth grew larger and larger. * * * * * At the last Jud stood at the telescope and directed us in. After circling about ten thousand miles up until Puget Sound was directly below us, Tillie dipped down in obedience to his unspoken command. The whistling sound of atmosphere on the shell was the sweetest music ever played by gods or men! We landed on Puget Sound opposite the campus. The minute we touched shore I took a wrench and unscrewed the framework that held the tellecarbon in place in the center tube. I could feel a rapid, excited vibration as it waited--I mean she. No sooner was the last bolt loosened than she darted away. She almost reached the open porthole where Mallory had taken his first breath of fresh air when she stopped and returned. Tillie, the silvery blob of matter, came back and touched my cheek softly. Then she did the same to Lahoma. We wasted no time in climbing out of the ship to the shore. There we looked up. Far over our heads were two silver flashes of brilliance that zoomed in ever-widening spirals. I felt someone beside me and glanced down. Lahoma was standing there. Cautiously I put my arm around her waist. With a starry look in her bright eyes as she glanced at me, she twined her arm around me. Then we looked up again. Far above we saw a wonderful sight. The two silver flashes seemed to come together. There was a blinding light as from a tremendous explosion; but unlike an explosion it remained bright. It was like a morning star--a sun, far, far away. It grew smaller and smaller until at last it seemed just another star twinkling in the heavens. There was an aftermath. We sold the space ship to a Ferry Boat company and they transformed it into a streamlined excursion boat with a conventional motor to drive it. But that isn't what I'm talking about. Lahoma and I got married shortly after. I had sense enough to capitalize on the romance of the tellecarbons and proposed right then and there. She accepted, of course.