Heir Apparent

She stared at him wordlessly. "But they say Dillon's an exploiter, Bart--a madman. He's out for what he can make out of it, and nothing more. You can't trust a man like that...."

Bart shrugged indifferently. "Stories," he said. "Dillon's a pioneer. Those who are afraid of space spread dirty stories, sure, but there's no proof. Anyway, I won't fly with Dillon. He just builds the ships, and his ships are the finest that can be built--"

"But Bart, it's a fool's errand!" The girl's eyes were huge, filling with tears. "You have a good job, a good home--you just can't go--"

He blinked at her, unbelieving. "With a chance like this? To go to space? I couldn't stay home--"

She looked at him, and then at me, with the strangest baffled pain in her eyes. She looked, suddenly, as though the bottom had dropped out of her world. "You--you mean that, Bart?"

The bafflement spread across Bart's face as he looked down at her. "Marny, I--I don't understand this. You know what I've wanted. I've told you time and again--"

"Oh, yes, talk! But I never dreamed you meant it! Everybody talks about going to space."

"But not everyone gets the chance!" His voice was sharp in the still, hot room.

"But only a fool would go!"

"Then I'm a fool." He turned away, and sank down slowly in a chair. "I want it more than anything in the world."

She was shaking her head, and her lower lip trembled. Her voice was weak, and very, very tired. "No, Bart, not just a trip. A dozen trips, or a thousand. It wouldn't make any difference." She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Bart. I couldn't do it. Across the country, across the ocean, yes. But space--no, I couldn't."

"But you aren't being reasonable!" he exploded. "You act as though it's the end of everything, as if a trip to Mars was something to get excited about--look, Marny. We love each other--you know that, and I know it, too. We could be married--this week, right away--I wouldn't be going for at least six or eight months--why, I might not even make it at all! The tests aren't over, this was just the first screening, and I could flunk in a hundred thousand different ways--"

"But you'd pass," she burst out. "You know you would. And then you'd go, and go, and go--what kind of marriage would that be? What about a home, or children? Oh, Bart, you know what happened to the others! You'll die, you'll be killed--think of it! You don't know what you'd find out there, and I couldn't stand it--" She looked up at him, and her eyes were full of tears and bitterness. "It wouldn't be a marriage, Bart. It couldn't be."

Bart looked up at me, his eyes pleading. "Tell her, Ben--oh, tell her, somehow--I can't, I don't know how--" He broke off, and walked to the far side of the room, his whole body trembling--"You're not being reasonable," he broke out hotly. "You've got to see--"

"Take me home, Bart." The girl stood up trembling.

"But Marny--"

Something in her eyes cut him off, and he took her coat, helped her into it almost savagely. "It's stupid," he said angrily. "It's stupid and unreasonable--"

"Please, Bart--"

They left without another word, walking slightly apart, the anger and hurt carving deep lines on Bart's face, Marny's eyes wide, her mouth tight as she wiped her nose, her face white as death. I walked to the window, my mind spinning, and saw them get into Bart's three-wheeler. Then they were gone, down toward the city. For a long time I stood and watched.