Fred grinned weakly. "What are you complaining about? Did you have to choke me so hard? After three days, I still can't swallow. And I've got a busted toe where I hit that doorway." "Speaking of which," Beth said, "I've got bruises on my arms and legs." "I couldn't be feeling better." Jo delivered the line perfectly, broke them up. "We still have to thank you," Beth said, suddenly serious. "What a nightmare!" "Not thanks, Beth. I couldn't help myself any more than you. I can imagine what you went through; I suspect it was even worse for Jo." The pretty blonde was startled. "I haven't said anything--" "The intensity with which you were attracted," Fred broke in. "I didn't know it at the time, but it was the first clue. Women were bound to be more affected." Charlesworth fingered his jaw again. "Yeah? _I_ thought it was pretty bad." "You got the full treatment, John, but only for a few minutes. Nevertheless, woman's nature is far more intimately bound up in the life force than man's. What you felt for a short time might have been equivalent to what the girls felt all the time." The big man shook his head. "Couldn't take it. I'd break...." His voice trailed away, and he looked guilty at reminding them. "We have to face it," Beth said. "How is he?" Jo asked. "Lodgesen hasn't changed," the captain said gruffly. "He hasn't changed all the time we were in hyper. Just lies in his bunk, crying to go home to mama. It's spooky." "We'll be home in half a day," Joe said hopefully. "Maybe the psychiatrists can help." Beth and John nodded agreement. "Possibly, but I don't think so," Fred said. Then a stray wisp of thought brushed his memory--"The eternal pessimist"--made him shudder and hurry on. "From what I remember of psych, he's withdrawn past the point of return. Like so many guys in the physical sciences, he had a streak of insecurity. That's why the categorizing outlook; all data must be fitted into a neat plan. He ran into a bit of data that wouldn't fit; worse, the data turned on him, gave him a sense of security he'd never known. When I jerked us away from the planet, the shock to him must have been similar to the birth trauma. He slipped away from reality. Chances are he'll never come back." "And the trouble with you guys in the social sciences is too much theorizing on insufficient data!" It was Lodgesen, pale, needing a shave, but otherwise normal. Charlesworth stood firmly on two feet. "You all right?" Lodgesen nodded, folded his thin frame into a chair. "I came out of it. Don't know why. All of a sudden, I was back. Like waking up." "Everything seems to happen suddenly on the USS Taurus," Beth said lightly, "We're glad, Dick." Things _did_ happen suddenly, Fred thought, too suddenly. I'd better mull this one over.... He got painfully to his feet. "I've still got some work to do before we land. Excuse me." Then, to Lodgesen: "Take it easy. You've had a shock."