"What do you mean?"
"You've been at this long enough and I've got all the money I want. We can see each other sometimes; no reason why I couldn't go into hyperspace just to visit."
The kqyres paled to pearl. "Now that you have Lyddy, you don't want anything else at all?"
"Now that I have Lyddy, what else is there to want?"
The kqyres flickered anxiously. "But the mbretersha has commanded—"
Mattern smiled. "Her commands don't hold good in this universe. You know that. When I was a kid, she could fool me into believing she had a hold over me. But the hold is a psychological one; that's the only thing that could carry over from universe to universe. And I'm strong enough to break it now."
Although he was not quite serious, it might be, he thought, that the hyperspace trade and the trips to Ferr had spoiled him for everyday life, made him too restless for the mundanities of any world. And it was time for him to settle down now.
He let the kqyres win the game, and then he stood up. "I'd better start getting things ready for the trip to Burdon."
"You've definitely decided to go?"
"Yes," Mattern said, pleased with himself, "definitely."