It was quite convincing, I admitted.
"Now I am going to make a trip in the translator!"
"You!"
It was the beginning of a long argument. There was danger in the trip, I told her, and Trella had come to mean a great deal to me. She scoffed at my fears and told me that if I didn't care to witness the first translation of man to another planet in another star system she would do it when I wasn't there.
Of course, no man can win an argument with a woman.
Trella climbed into the translator.
I closed the opening. Her hand rose to the switch that operated the mechanism from inside the tube. She smiled and her lips moved in a cheerful good-by. Then she touched the switch.
The indicator on the dial crept upward toward the gold star.
Suddenly the unexpected occurred.
The door of the laboratory opened. Trella had forgotten to lock the door when we entered the room.