"Oh, Timmy and Alice hauled me in for dinner. They're over there."
"Well! Let's join them!"
Maynard swallowed imperceptibly. He wanted Laura to himself. And here was a young man faultlessly attired in evening clothing who came to a place like the Silver Star for dinner.
He nodded dully, and followed to another table where a couple sat waiting. The man known as Timmy handed over a twenty solar bill and said, laughingly: "All right, Mart. You win."
"What was the bet?" asked Laura.
"I bet Mart that he couldn't get you over here."
"That was a foolish bet," said Laura. "I'm always happy to be with friends."
"We know," said Alice. "But your friend has a brand new set of rayed stars on, and I told both of these monkeys that it looked like a celebration to me—and lay off."
"Yeah, but if there's any celebrating to be done, we can do it better," laughed Martin Ingalls.