"You're going to marry Raff Belmy."

"I said probably. Skip it. It was a fool stunt. So tell me this. Does Clave own you? Your Chairman?"

". . . Maybe."

"So ask him whether you're going."

"I want to talk to Jeffer too. And one other."

"You keep hinting-"

"You'll see for yourself. You too, Debby. I am treefeeding tired of keeping secrets."

A random comet had impacted Levoy's Star. It had reached the surface as a stream of gas moving at thousands of miles per second. The neutron star had rung like a bell. There were two hot spots on the rapidly spinning body, at the impact point and the point opposite, where the shock waves had converged. The violet ion streams that normally rose from the magnetic poles of Voy, which natives called the Blue Ghost and Ghost Child, were brighter than Kendy had ever seen them. Radiation was beginning to sleet against Discipline's hull.

But Kendy spared instruments for the CARM.

He ran the record as it came in. Jeffer had been idle: not much there. The house had been empty most of the time. Ah, here was something-

The motley collection of metal and plant tissue the savages called Logbearer bumped the wall nozzle-first. Rather, Debby, and Carlot emerged. They tethered the steam rocket to the door, close enough to block the sky. Rather said, "Jeffer. Come in, Jeffer."

Jeffer had been reviewing records from the cassettes. He set up the link. "I'm here. Hello, Debby, Carlot, Rather."

"I'm in trouble," Rather said.

"Tell me."

"Petty Wheeler interviewed me for the Navy."

"How did it go?"

The depth of Smoke Ring atmosphere was blocking most of the radiation and X-rays, and Kendy's instruments too. He could still watch events on the star itself via neudar. A plasma cloud hovered over the impact site, several centimeters high and spreading at terrific speed along lines of magnetic force-

Rather said, "Scientist, I did everything right except only two things. I did what Booce told me. I slept in the silver suit with the humidity turned low, and got there sniffling and crying. Debby came with me, and I really did need supervision. I could hardly see where I was flying. I asked for Sectry Murphy: all seeds and no brain, stet? But Booce didn't tell me not to show off my muscles, so I did."

"You're strong but sickly."

"And I'm a dwarf. If enough dwarves get into the Navy, a certain Captain-Guardian Mickl gets to act like an officer. I'm quoting Sectry. Mickl was there to watch the interview."

"Two mistakes. Did you suggest marriage to Bosun Murphy?"

Laughter, chopped off. "We got high on fringe tea. Then we dived into a puff jungle and-" Quick sidewise glance at Carlot, whose face was like stone. "Jeffer, none of us ever thought she might take me up on it. Now she thinks I'm joining the Navy and making plans to marry her. Maybe she can hold me to it!"