In the next room, Naomi had just finished dressing. She glared her hostility.
"That was a lousy trick you played on me, Vera."
"I guess it was. I'm sorry."
"You're sorry! Girl, if I had my whip and claws right now I'd make you feel sorry."
I was silent a moment. Then I asked her, almost timidly: "Naomi, you're not going back to the gang now, are you?"
She stared at me peculiarly. "Are you mad? Of course I'm going back. I'm leader of the Callisto girls." She stomped through the outer door, and I had the feeling she would be back more than once.
When I had put my clothes on—a simple brown jerkin with blue long-sleeved shirt—I returned to my interviewer. "Professor Worth, may I propose a third alternative? After all, if this is a universe of infinite possibilities, maybe two is narrowing it down too much.
"Professor, I know I can never go back to the girl-gang way of life. And I understand now why the police left us alone when we ran wild. They were letting us work out our problems.
"And somehow, that's why I feel I have to reject your two alternatives. I'm me, and I can't limit myself in the ways you suggest. You needn't be afraid. I won't break any more of society's rules. I won't try to hurt anybody, deliberately. I'll probably get a job somewhere, on this planet or some other planet. Maybe I'll make myself useful, maybe not.
"But what does the universe have to offer a girl of my experience and energy and," I hesitated, "charismatic personality? I intend to find out. I want the freedom to find out. Do you see? My third alternative, Professor, is to walk out that door with no obligation to anyone."