"We'll leave message capsules. When they call for help we'll dump 'em on Rewbobbin."
"I ... I don't know, captain."
"We can fix everything else, save your career."
"No, sir. The treaty stands."
"You signed falsely and you know it."
"I can say—I hereby do say that I signed second copies afterward. The treaty stands, sir!"
Ensign Welnicki stood up, suddenly feeling good.
Captain Kravitz stood up too, face tautly impersonal.
"All right," he said, shuffling papers on his desk. "I want to lift out as soon as possible." He pulled out a paper and looked coldly at the ensign.
"As you may or may not know, your marriage makes you a citizen of Fishdollar Five," he went on. "As you may or may not know, your precious treaty forbids removal of a citizen to another planet without governmental consent. I doubt the admirals at Prime Reference would choose to come all the way out here just to court-martial one small ensign. But as you certainly know, your marriage means the automatic revocation of your commission. You will save me trouble and delay by signing this resignation."