"Not exactly like the last one," she smiled, "but it's along the same lines. You said you liked the other." "I did. It was nice to hear your voice. And would you believe I never grew tired of hearing it? It gets lonely out there." "It gets lonely here too. Now, off with you or I'll be tempted to kidnap you for the duration." She kissed him, a cool wifely kiss that was tender but passionless, pushed him gently away, and stood beside the door until his car disappeared around the corner on its way back to the Base. She sighed and turned back to the house. That was all it was now--just a house--but for the past week it had been a home. She wondered when, if ever, it would be a home again. It was starting already--the worry, the hidden fear, the agony of suspenseful waiting. She jumped as the doorbell rang and Anne Albertson's face appeared in the viewplate. "I came back," Anne said as she entered the room. "I thought you might need me, and besides--I forgot something." She looked at the recorder with an odd expression on her pointed face. "Well," she said finally, "I didn't think anyone wanted it worse than I did. I thought it might amuse Ed. He's pretty low. He lost a lot of men." "Wanted what?" Ellen asked curiously. "That recording I made of the first part of our get together. I left it lying on top of the recorder, but it isn't there now." Ellen gasped and put the back of her hand to her mouth. "Oh no!" she said in a strangled voice. Anne looked at her curiously. "I gave it to Alton," Ellen said. "I thought it was the one I made for him." "Oh well, he shouldn't mind. Your voice is on it too." "You don't know Alton," Ellen said miserably.... * * * * * As the "Dauntless" bored through Cth space in the middle blue component, Fiske reviewed his last meeting with Admiral Koenig. It hadn't been too satisfactory. Central Research, it seemed, still wanted a live Eglan trooper. It didn't matter that the Navy hadn't captured one in five years of trying. The requirement still stood. It took no great intelligence to understand why Central wanted a prisoner. A great deal about the aliens could be understood if there was live meat available. The only trouble was that there never had been, and probably never would be a live Eglan prisoner of war. Fiske automatically excluded the Eglan civilians. They were essentially no different than a civilized human.