And so Nils took up the matter with Captain Davis. The captain was also surprised. "I can't understand it, Nils. You have thirty thousand dollars in bonuses already, on top of your salary of six thousand for the year. Why do you want to go down again and take all those chances?"
Nils was not a man for making speeches, but he did his best to explain to the Captain that he had seven children, and it took one air lion to get each of them a college education. He had one child unprovided for, little Siegfried, and he didn't want to quit until he had taken care of them all.
"Well, that's very commendable, Nils, and I can appreciate your point. But why are you so certain that it will take exactly five thousand dollars to get each one through college? There are state universities, you know, and they aren't very expensive. And if they ran short, they could make their own way for part of the time, you know. Why don't you just divide the money you have now among the seven kids?"
"I can see I'm not explaining this so good," Nils said. "But they're my kids, Captain, and I want to do it right for each of them in my own way." The image of Eric—the oldest and his favorite—came into his mind, and his eyes grew warm and moist.
"Yes, I understand that, Nils, but—"
"No, Sir, you don't understand. I have a dream, and I'm just about to have it come true. You can't make me stop short now and change the dream." He wanted to go on, but the words would not come to him.
"Well," Captain Davis said, more seriously now, "maybe you are right." He nodded, soberly. "Nils, you've been on Uranus about six Earth months, now. The doctor says you shouldn't take even one more plunge. It's hard work, and it's a strain, and you're wearing out. You're wearing out gradually—but still faster, much faster, than a man would on Earth, no matter what he did. But this isn't something that just happened yesterday, Nils; it's been going on since you got here. You were lucky we let you sign on, close as you were to the age limit. Who can say when you finally crossed the danger line? Maybe a month, maybe two months ago. You've been on borrowed time since then, whenever it was. You shouldn't have taken that plunge yesterday, or perhaps the last fifty plunges. Do you realize that?"
"I guess so."
"And we're doing you a favor. Instead of gambling with your life, you can knock off now, take your thirty thousand dollars, and call yourself the winner."
"Captain, I don't care what you say. It's my dream, and I want to get that seventh lion."