"Yes. Yes, I finished it, as far as it ever will be finished."
She dropped her eyes. "We can keep trying." They met his. "We will keep trying, Doug. We've got to—for Terry and Mike...."
He said nothing. He sat heavily on the bed, his features grim.
He took off his shirt and dropped, exhausted, beside her.
He awoke with the idea. "Dot! Dot I think I've found it!" He was instantly on his feet, trying to jam the sleep back from the center of his brain, trying to make sure it was no left-over figment from a nightmare, a wild dream. He heard her foot-steps coming almost at a run.
"What is it? You sound as if you've found a pre-Truman dollar under the bed—"
"I don't know—it may be as half-baked as the kind that came later—worth even less, perhaps, but it's worth a try. They say desperate situations call for desperate action...."
"Take it easy, now. You aren't the blood and thunder type, exactly!" There was a note of cautious anticipation in her voice, but there was hope in it, and it was enough.
"Tomorrow—or more exactly, some sixteen hours from now, we are scheduled to take-off for Venus headquarters to begin the games...."