"Oh, just a feeling," Lahoma replied.
"Oh, fine," Mallory groaned. "We should have suspected it was a female the way it started galivanting all over the solar system."
"So that's the way you think of us females, Mallory!" Lahoma exclaimed angrily.
I smiled to myself. A few more remarks like that from Mallory and I would have the field to myself. IF we ever got back to the Earth, which I doubted. Secretly I agreed with Mallory. If the chunk of tellecarbon was a female we had much less of a chance than if it were a male or an it.
Jud went to the telescope and started looking for a stray chunk of silvery looking stuff. An air of semi-hopelessness began to settle over all of us. The chances of finding such a thing were extremely slim.
Almost at once, though, Jud let out an exclamation of triumph. We rushed to his side and took turns looking into the telescope. There, less than a quarter of a mile ahead of us, was something that flashed with silvery brilliance like the belly of a trout in a clear stream. We followed the flashes and soon figured out that Tillie was not searching for her companion, but had found him long ago and was, female like, pursuing him!
When the distance between them shortened, the silvery chunk ahead of us speeded up. When the distance between us increased, it slowed down again. It was obviously enjoying the chase.
"This could go on forever," Mallory groaned, sticking his foot in his mouth again.
Lahoma ignored the opening.