"I know you'll
be back, Mr. Shinny. You see, I really mean what I say. And more
important, _you_ know I mean what I say!"
Shinny got up. "Tomorrow, same time, same place," he said, hurrying out
the door.
Roger finished the bottle of Martian fizz, suddenly very depressed. He
didn't really want the false papers. He just wanted to get away from the
deadly humdrum existence on Spaceman's Row. He walked wearily back to
his scrubby little bedroom to wait for night to come. He hated to go
back to the room, because he knew he would think about Tom and Astro and
the Space Academy. Now he couldn't allow himself to think about it any
more. It was past. Finished.
"You got _who_?" asked Loring.
"I said I got the best astrogator in the deep for ya!" snapped Shinny.
Loring looked at Mason and then suddenly burst out laughing, dropping
his head on the table.
"What's the matter with you?" demanded Shinny. "You got space fever or
something?"
Mason, sitting quietly in the dirty hotel room, was grinning from ear to
ear.
"So you got Manning for us, eh?" repeated Loring at last. "I wanta tell
you something, Shinny.
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