"I won't be going," I said. "I don't want any more of the Stardust Overdrive."
"Too bad. There is much to learn out there."
I laughed at him playing with his cubes. "Yeah, there's a lot to learn—but we've got it right here too, and a better word for it. Dreams."
He looked up at me quizzically. "Dreams?"
"That's right. You know—'the grass is always greener' stuff. When you get tired of facing reality you can sign on the Stardust Overdrive. Treat yourself to a thrill—the biggest in the cosmos. I've found the answer I was looking for, Radwick, the thing you haven't been able to find with all your mathematical cube symbols. Men stay on the Stardust Overdrive and with an Ideal only because they choose a fantasy life to reality. They think they have it better out there on Scolaris. Better? They fight and die just as they would on Earth. The rub comes in when you realize you're only being a sucker for another race—doing what the Scolarians want you to do so they don't have to do it all by themselves. You can have your ideals and deep space thrills. It's a cheap price for your life—just as it was for Kelly."
He kept staring at me and I saw it wasn't sinking in. So I gave him a mock salute. "Think it over, Radwick."
I turned away and he called after me.
"Where are you going?"
I looked back at him and grinned. "I'm going to call up my Ideal—the only one that's real."
I let him chew on that and went to the nearest tele to tell my wife I was home....