"Sounds a bit like your old friend, the Space Ghost," Channok murmured suspiciously.
"No," Peer grinned. "This was a real light—and we took off the next evening. Santis said it might be as well if we moved somewhere else for a while."
Channok considered a moment. "Look," he said finally, "we can do it like this. I'll jet myself over there and stroll around it a bit in daylight; and if you're worried, you could hang overhead in the Asteroid with a couple of turrets out. Just in case someone gets tough."
"I could, maybe," said Peer, in a tight voice, "but I'm not going to. If you're going to go walking around there, after all Santis said, I'm going to be walking right behind you!"
"Oh, no, you're not," Channok said.
"Oh, yes, I am!" said Peer. "You can't make me stay here!"
He looked at her in surprise. Her eyes were angry, but her lower lip quivered.
"Hey," he said, startled. "Maybe I'm being a pig!"
"You sure are!" Peer said, relieved. The lip stopped quivering. "You're not going over there, then?"
"Not if you feel that way about it," Channok said. He paused. "I guess," he admitted awkwardly, "I just didn't like the idea of Santis flitting around space, Holy Aynstyn knows where, and still putting in his two millicredits worth every so often, through crew-member Peer!"