Shandy blinked his eyes and clapped his paws.
Holman's left heel jammed hard against the ground as he shot up. "God damn, Nancy, will you knock off all this maudlin, banal, boy and his dog stuff. We're not taking that monster away anywhere."
"I know, I know, Ken. Don't talk about it now." She kept patting the teddy bear gently. "Nice Shandy."
"And you, Shandy," Holman shouted. "I'm doing the courting around here. Go hibernate or something, dammit."
Shandy's eyes stopped blinking. Nancy's hand slipped from his head and trailed down his woolly back as he rolled over and away. Without turning Shandy started off for the ship, slowly, on all fours.
Finally Nancy looked at Holman. "That wasn't nice, Ken."
Holman knew that. He could find nothing to say back to Nancy. He frowned and went into his tent, slamming the flap behind him.
After closing the storeroom door, Holman carried the two old suitcases down the bright corridor to Nancy's kitchen.
Nancy smiled at him and then at the brown, scuffed luggage. "Oh, sure, those will do," she said. "I guess the movers will be able to take care of the heavy stuff."