Luna Escapade Part 2

"We brought along a new arrival to keep you company," said Fisher. "She works in one of the film libraries or something like that."

[Ill.u.s.tration]

_Which means that's as good an excuse as any for having her at Ericsson_, thought Dudley. _Anyway, I'm glad Jack is the sort to be realistic about things like bars and other ... recreation. There'd be more guys turning a little variable from too much time in s.p.a.ce without some outlet._

"Here she comes with Myra," said his host. "Name's Eileen."

Dudley smiled at Mrs. Fisher and was introduced to the red-haired girl with her. Eileen eyed him speculatively, then donned her best air of friendliness. The evening pa.s.sed rapidly.

For the next few days, besides seeing the Fishers and looking up the men who were to be his crew, Dudley spent a lot of time with Eileen. There seemed to be little difficulty about her getting time off from whatever her official duties were. She showed him all the bars and movie theatres and other amus.e.m.e.nts that the underground city could boast, and Dudley made the most of them in spite of his recent visit to Terra. On the Mars-bound rocket, they would be lucky, if allowed one deck of cards and half a dozen books for the entertainment of the four of them.

It was on the "evening" of his third day that the specter haunting the back of his mind pushed forward to confront him. He had listened for gossip, but there had been no word of the discovery of an unauthorized arrival. Then, as he was taking Eileen to her underground apartment, he heard his name called.

There she was, with an escort of three young men he guessed to be operators of the machinery that still drilled out new corridors in the rock around the city. Somehow she had exchanged the black slack suit for a bright red dress that was even more daring than Eileen's. In the regulated temperature, clothing was generally light, but Dudley's first thought was that this was overdoing a good thing.

"May I have a word with you, Dudley?" Kathi asked, coming across the corridor while her young men waited with shifting feet and displeased looks.

Dudley glanced helplessly at Eileen, wondering about an introduction. He had never bothered to learn her last name, and he had no idea of what name Kathi was using. The redhead had pity on him.

"My door's only a few yards down," she said. "I'll wait."

She swept Kathi with a glance of amused confidence and walked away. It seemed to Dudley that she made sure the three young men followed her with their eyes; but then he was kicking off for Mars within twenty-four hours, so he could hardly object to that.

"Have you changed your mind?" demanded Kathi with a fierce eagerness.

"Not so loud!" hushed Dudley. "About what? And how did you get that rig?"

Had he been less dismayed at her presence, he might have remarked that the tight dress only emphasized her immaturity, but she gave him no time to say more.

"About Mars, Dudley. Can't you take me? I'm afraid those illegitimate blood-suckers are going to send after me. They could sniff out which way a nickel rolled in a coal-bin."

"Aren't you just a shade young for that kind of talk?"

"I guess I'm a little frightened," she admitted.

"You frighten me, too," he retorted. "How are you ... I mean, what do you--?"

She tossed her blonde hair.

"There are ways to get along here, I found out. I didn't get arrested this time, did I? So why can't you take a chance with me to Mars?"

"Take an eclipse on that," said Dudley with a flat sweep of his hand.

"It's just out of the question. For one thing, there are four of us going, and you can't hide for the whole trip without _somebody_ catching on."

"All right," she said quietly. "Why not?"

"What do you mean, 'Why not?'"

"I'm willing to earn my pa.s.sage. What if there _are_ four of you?"

For a long moment, Dudley discovered things about himself, with the sudden realization that the idea appealed to some suppressed part of his mind. He had never kidded himself about being a saint. The thing had possibilities. _Maybe one of the others can be talked into restraint into her._

He snapped out of it. "Don't be a little fool!" he grated. "If you want my advice, you'll--."

"Well, I _don't_ want your G.o.ddam advice! If you're too yellow to try it, I'll find somebody else. There'll be another rocket after yours, you know. Maybe they'll have a _man_ on it!"

He felt his face go white and then flush as he stared at her. He did not know what to say. She looked like a child, but the outburst was more than a mere tantrum.

_Sounds as if she's never been crossed before_, he thought. _I ought to haul off and slap a little self-restraint into her._

Instead, he beckoned to the three men, who had been edging closer with aggrieved expressions.

"How about taking your girl friend along?" he said flatly.

One of them took her by the elbow and tried to murmur something in her ear, but Kathi shook him off.

"If you are afraid for your license, Dudley, I'll say I hid without your knowing it. I'll say one of the others let me in. Please, Dudley. I'm sorry I talked to you like that."

She was making a fool of him, and of herself, he decided. And in another minute, she would spill the whole thing, the way she was sounding off. And her friends were beginning to look hostile as it was.

"What's the trouble?" asked one of them.

"Nothing that won't clear up if you pour a couple of drinks into her,"

said Dudley disgustedly.

He walked away, and they held her from following.

"_Dudley!_" she yelled after him. "They'll send me back! Please, Dudley.

I won't go. You remember what I said about going back--."

Her voice was getting too shrill. Someone in the group must have put his hand over her mouth, for when Dudley looked back, they were rounding a corner of the corridor more or less silently.

Eileen waited in the half-open door, watching him quizzically. "Friend of yours?" she drawled.

"After a fashion," admitted Dudley, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe his forehead. "Spoiled brat!"

He fumbled in a pocket of his jacket, and withdrew a small package.

"Here's the bracelet that matches that necklace," he said. "I knew I had it in my locker somewhere."

Her thanks were very adequate.

"Aren't you coming in?" Eileen asked after the pause.

"No ... I don't ... I have to get a good night's sleep, you know. We kick off tomorrow."

She pursed her lips in a small pout, but shrugged. "Then look me up when you get back, Pete."

"Yeah. Sure."