"But, good Lord!" Matt burst out, "I didn't even know you'd moved in. Why ... I mean—what...."
Lynn had the grace to look confused. She said indignantly, "You know what Isaac said yesterday as well as I do."
"What Isaac said?" He stared at her blankly. Then a light broke. "Oh, you mean about childr...."
"Yes," she interrupted. "There are so few women. Not enough to go around, I mean. Obviously, we had to choose." She watched him defiantly, but not without anxiety. "Well, I've chosen. Of course, if you don't want me ... you do, don't you?"
For answer Matt swept her into his arms. This time she came without resistance. "Oh, Matt," she said, "I was so scared that maybe you wouldn't want me. I—I...." She pushed back a little so that she could look into his eyes. "But, if you make any passes at those...."
With a chuckle, Matt put his hand over her mouth. "You malign me, Lynn. I hadn't thought of such a thing. I was only thinking about the future of the colony. That was all."
"I doubt it!" she said and kissed him hard on the mouth.
The trip to Fort Knox, only twenty miles off, was a prolonged crisis. Captain Bascom had been forced to angle the ship up at a slant, until they were miles high above the fort, and then descend perpendicularly. Every moment Matt thought the Argus was going to lose momentum and plunge back to the ground.
When the jets at length fell silent, he wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeve and looked at the bloodless features of Lynn.