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English class-“
    “Wait a minute!” Daniel interrupted as her words fi-nally penetrated. “I’m in charge of those classes.
    Don’t you think I should have been consulted?” “We wanted to begin-what is the phrase? start the ball rolling?-as soon as possible,” Sha’uri said.
    Daniel knew she was nervous. She didn’t usually stumble over idioms like that. “Father arranged a good rate of pay for the transla-tors, as you may remember,” Sha’uri went on. “The Council thought the quicker we were ready, the better.” “That’s the sooner the better,” Daniel said. “I still want to look over the roster.”
    “Do that,” Sha’uri replied in annoyance. “You complain about overseeing the tasks of others till you have no time to work yourself. But when someone tries to relieve you of that labor, you insist on playing the overseer anyway. You can’t-“ She snapped her fingers. “What is the word?” “Delegate,” Daniel interjected. Then he wished he hadn’t opened his mouth.
    “Always correcting!” Sha’uri flared. “Always you act like an overseer!” Coming from a person just recently up from slav-ery, her choice of words was deliberately provocative. Daniel had seen the overseers at work in the mines of Nagada. Ra’s brutal Horus guards had carried a blast-lance in one hand and a leather lash in the other.
    He held up a hand. “Just because I want to make sure things are done right-“ “You don’t think I could sort through for the best translators?” Sha’uri demanded. “Must I be your stu-dent forever?”
    Daniel sighed. More and more of late, their evenings had been marred by arguments. Usually they were over trivial things, but it meant going to bed angry with each other.
    It seemed that the honeymoon was definitely over. “Sha’uri, I’m tired. I spent the day doing a job I’m not good at, and perhaps missing a job where I could have been useful. If I take what I’m doing too seriously at times, it’s because I’ve never handled so much responsibility.”
    He rubbed a hand over his face. It felt gritty. “All I want is some rest, some food-“ Uh-oh. Bad choice of subject change.
    “Oh, yes, you talk all the time of how we’re part-ners-until you come home and expect me to have a meal all ready for you. My father and mother were better partners. They worked together in the mines-and when he had to, Father could come up with some-thing to eat for Mother, Skaara, and myself.” “I can cook-sort of. But this isn’t the kind of food I’m, used to from back home.”
    “Your splendid planet Earth, where everything comes in little boxes and people have wonderful lives that make us look like savages.” Sha’uri had worked up a good head of steam by now. She went to another section of the kitchen and dug out a pair of packages. Daniel recognized them from the Marine camp-Meals, Ready to Eat.
    “If Earth is so wonderful, why don’t you go back?” Sha’uri demanded. Daniel became exasperated.
    Hadn’t he explained it often enough? “The StarGate on Earth is guarded. If I went for a visit, I might not be able to come back.” “And why should that worry you?”
    Sha’uri’s bitter words brought Daniel up short. “Hey, my life is here now.
    You’re my wife-“
    “Am I? I’ve talked with some of Colonel O’Neil’s Marines. We didn’t marry under the forms of your world. If you’re so committed to me, why do you keep cadging those ugly little cloaks you put on before we make love?” Daniel flushed. It was bad enough, dealing with the military joshing as he begged for condoms. Now to be criticized for his precautions-“Sha’uri, I told you, that’s to protect you. These are crazy times. Neither of us wants to be saddled down with a baby.”
    When he saw the tears trickling down Sha’uri’s face, he wished he’d made his point more gently.
    “We’ve talked about this. You don’t really want a baby right now.” He gulped. “Do you?”
    “Yes-no! You