I said, "What! But, Skipper, we were granted leave to mourn Biggs—"
"I know it! But the Corporation has countermanded our leaves. We're to lift gravs at twelve sharp for Europa. Polarium has just been discovered there, and the whole solar system has gone crazy. Prospectors from every corner of the universe are blasting for Europa as fast as their jets will push them. And since the Saturn is the fastest lugger in the I.P.S. fleet, we've got to get there and stake claims for the Corporation.
"I—I'm sorry it has to be this way, Diane. I don't want to leave you. But the clerk said if I refused to take command, they'd appoint someone else—"
"I know, Daddy," said Diane. She forced a wisp of a smile to her lips. She understood as well as I did what he was trying to tell us. The Old Man was—and is—one of the greatest skippers who ever blasted a rocket. But he's an old man in fact as well as title. Twice before our employers had threatened to remove his command, ground him, give his bridge to a younger officer. A man of action, the Skipper dared not look forward to the day when he had to bid farewell to space. To refuse this emergency command would be to risk everything. And so:
"I understand, Daddy," said Diane Hanson "But you don't have to leave me."
"And, Sparks, tell Todd he'll serve as First Mate," the skipper told me. "Wilson will be Second—hey? What did you say, Diane?"
Diane's voice was gentle, but there was a tightness about her eyes and lips I recognized. I'd seen it before, on her father's face. I knew what it meant. Stubbornness mixed with a dash of determination.
"You won't leave me," she said calmly, "because I'm going with you!"
"You're going with—Oh, no! No, you're not! This isn't any shuttle for a girl. There's danger out there near Jupiter, honey. I won't let you—"
"You can't stop me, Dad. Can't you see I've got to go? Please! I'll go crazy sitting home here by myself. And besides, it was out there—near Jupiter—that he—"