"Moreover," she continued, "I have organized the whole government of my planet so that it runs itself. And, of course, from time to time, when we make our trips, I shall be able to check into what's going on."
"But we're not going to make any more trips," he said. Although he had not been serious about retiring—he knew that now—he wasn't going to let the hyperspacers push him around. Make her sweat a little, he thought irreverently.
"Will you not give me a chance, Captain?" she asked. "Is the prospect of my company so displeasing to you that it will make you give up the business immediately?"
"You know it's not that. I told the kqyres before you came—"
"But my people won't know it's not that. I shall lose face."
"If only you had a face!" he cried. "I'm sick of sailing with shadows!"
"My form in your universe is truly horrible, Mattern," she said softly, "truly monstrous. The xhindi who have seen themselves in mirrors in your universe have often gone mad."
"Anything is better than emptiness," he told her.
"If I appear in my true form, then will you accept me as your kqyres?"
"Well," he said, enjoying himself, "I'll make a few more trips with you, but that's all I'll promise."