"The same thing that will become of all of us, George.... I hear that you are surrendering the Pleasure Planet."
"Yes. There it is."
Through the transparent walls of the room they could see in the sky a luminous dot that moved slowly in the direction of the Hop planet.
"After all that it has cost us, George, doesn't it hurt you to give it up?"
He nodded slowly. Whatever else might be returned to them, the Pleasure Planet would be gone forever. He recalled now the years of planning for a vacation spot that would be capable of serving the entire System; he recalled the two decades during which they had swept up asteroids and interplanetary meteor swarms for raw material, and then the decade following, in which the surface of the new planet had first been blasted into shape, and then swept and ordered, landscaped and built upon until it had become the pride of the System. It was Everson's task merely to turn it over to the Hops.
"George." She was biting her lips. "You know that I'm not going to be able to live through this."
"You may change your mind, dear."
"No, darling, I can't live with the horrible thoughts that keep running through my mind. You know how much I've always loved and admired you, and now, after what you've done—" She fumbled in her purse and brought out a tiny metal rod. "I'm going to shoot myself."
He stared at her gravely. "Not now. Wait, dear."
"Through this agony? Why prolong it?"