"Check. Can you send out a hospital ship somewhere, so as to get rid of her for two or three weeks?"
"Can do. Three weeks be enough? We can't send him anywhere, you know."
"Plenty. He'll be gone in two." Then, as Lacy glanced at him questioningly, Haynes continued: "Ready for a shock? He's going to Lundmark's Nebula."
"But he can't! That would take years! Nobody has ever got back from there yet, and there's this new job of his. Besides, this separation is only supposed to last until you can spare him for a while!"
"If it takes very long he's coming back. The idea has always been, you know, that intergalactic matter may be so thin—one atom per liter or so—that such a flit won't take one tenth the time supposed. We recognize the danger. He's going well heeled."
"How well?"
"The best that we can give him."
"I hate to clog their jets this way, but it's got to be done. We'll give her a raise when I send her out—make her sector chief. Huh?"
"Did I hear any such words lately as 'spitfire,' 'hussy,' and 'jade,' or did I dream them?" Haynes asked, quizzically.
"She's all of them, and more—but she's one of the best nurses and one of the finest women this side of Hades, too!"