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space, you ran into some dangerous aliens?’
    Lane completed his kiss. He was smiling now, cynically. ‘Now, dear, if I had classified information about that, I couldn’t tell you. But the fact is, the whole story is in the papers. We spent a year in evasive flight, making sure they didn’t trace us back to earth. The fight was very brief, three months - which in space is like three day’s battle on earth. Then the long, tiresome getaway.’ ‘It sounds awful scary,’ said Susan. ‘But 5 - she glanced at the clock - ‘look at the time.’ . She trotted to the door. ‘See you.’
    After she had disappeared down the hallway, there were a few additional noises. The sound of her footsteps. Then her voice from a distance, saying, ‘Oh, my dear little Fuzzy pussycat, good-bye; I’ll see you later.’ Next, the front door opened softly and closed loudly. If there were other Susan noises after that, they were indistinguishable from ordinary street sounds.
    In die breakfast room, no word was spoken by the parents as the girl made her exit. When she was finally gone, Lane pushed the booklet she had presented him away from his plate. Estelle, who had been watching, reached forward and pushed it toward him again. Lane looked down at it somberly and then up at her, ‘I don’t have to read it, do I?’ he said.
    ‘It says in there somewhere,’ stated his wife, ‘that a jabber is old enough to evaluate a parent, but what they’re normally not able to evaluate is what they should do about it, if their judgement is negative. The outfits tell them what to do. I thought you might be interested to know what they say.’
    ‘Why don’t you give it to me in one sentence?’
    The woman shook her head. She was not unfriendly, and her tone was not as critical as were her words. She said, ‘If you can’t give ten minutes to your daughter after ten years, then I also may find myself making a negative judgement of you. Only for me there’s no book of rules that tells me what to do about it.’
    The man sat shaking his head in a puzzled fashion. ‘I guess I’m home again all right, because suddenly the world of logic ha ’ vanished. Suddenly, I can’t count on an agreement being lived up to. We settled all this last night - remember? I agreed to suspend judgement. I have.’
    'You haven’t. Not really,’
    Her husband gazed at her with steady gray eyes. ‘Think, now. with me, to decide is to act. I haven’t acted.’ Pause. “Have I?’
    For a long moment, the woman sat gazing off into some undetectable spaces above his head. Abruptly, she shook her head, and bit her lip. A smile broke through, crinkling her nose. ‘Oh, hell!’ she said. The smile broadened. ‘I keep forgetting, I’m married to a fleet commander. Every night from now on, Susan and I can look forward to you coming home and making exact statements with exact phraseology.’
    Lane said, ‘I never leave people in any doubt as to where I stand.’
    She shook her head. ‘That’s not true, ’ she said. She broke off quickly, as the thunder clouds darkened his face, ‘I’ve seen you do devious scheming to get your own way. And you can be extremely secretive.’
    ‘Oh, that.’ His sudden anger faded, and he smiled grimly. ‘You’re talking about the tactics and strategy of winning.’
    The blonde woman sighed. ‘Just don’t bring your warfare rules into this house,’ she said.
    Her husband glanced at the wall clock beyond her, and stood up. ‘Time I was on my way.’ He bent over her. His lips came down to within inches of hers. ‘Do I get a goodbye kiss?’ he asked.
    Her friendly eyes looked up into his questioning ones. ‘ 1 married you for better or worse,’ she said. ‘ 1 guess a kiss comes somewhere on the better side of the spectrum.’
    It was acceptance. His head came all the way down. Simultaneously, his fingers grasped the wrist of her arm that was partly on the table. Without ceasing to kiss her, he drew her to her feet and into his