"Oh, we might find it," Duane said, "but there's no organization any more. It's been blown to hell. If we do find uranium, we'll lose it again. We're all washed up—for the time being, anyway. We'll have to dig in here on old Terra and start from scratch. Personally, I'm glad."
Captain snorted. "Nurts."
"There's uranium aplenty left," little Shafer said stubbornly.
Captain's eyes narrowed. "Know where it is, punk?"
Shafer avoided that steely glance. "Maybe I do and maybe I don't," he evaded.
Belton scraped the last bit of grease from his plate and belched contentedly. "I was rich once," he told the fire.
Captain sneered. "You ain't ever had the price of an extra drink in your pocket."
"I was rich once, just the same." Bill Belton looked from face to face pleadingly. A coal sputtered into the flame and lit the high color on his bulby nose and swollen cheeks. "I was rich once, richer than dirt."
"O. K.," Duane told him. "Maybe you were. Go ahead and tell your tale and get it off your mind. I'm not sleeping tonight, anyway."
"It'll be a rum-soaked, mangy lie that he dreamed up between panhandling and fightin' pink lizards." Captain yawned.