He was thinking with the back part of his brain, now. He needed Maculay; he had here before him a girl that could, if she were willing to admit it, go forth and get Cliff. But not the way she was, with her defensive armor all set up to fight against the Clifford Maculay that had kissed her and then patted her on the head and left to go in search of beer and beauty.
Hanson fiddled with his watch chain, then began to swing the Phi Beta Kappa key around his forefinger, winding it up and then reversing it to unwind and rewind in the opposite direction.
Ava stood there uncertainly, watching him whirl the chain. She could not leave without some explanation regarding her reticence about going to Venus for Maculay. Obviously Hanson was not finished with this conversation, yet he sat there deep in thought. Ava anticipated that he would come out of it with a more practical idea than sending her for Maculay, since that would not work.
"Relax," said Hanson quietly, after some time. "I wouldn't send you after Cliff Maculay; I wouldn't hurt you for the world, Ava."
"I know," she said. "I—"
"You've been dwelling on that subject too long," he told her.
She nodded.
"Probably losing sleep, too."
"I wouldn't say that."
"But you look as though you needed sleep."