There was the clanging of metal on metal from the ship, and a man's head came cautiously into view. It stayed that way for a moment, and then a man in the uniform of a Patrol Captain clambered out of the port.
"Good God!" the Earthman heard the Captain say, "It's Val Kenton who was doing the damage outside!"
Val Kenton laughed then, chuckled with a dryness that was rather horrible to hear. Never, had he expected again to find himself a welcome friend of a Space Patrolman. And the fact that he had this Captain owing him gratitude struck him as ironically amusing.
But his laughter stilled almost instantly, when he saw the remembered features of the Captain. And the hate that had lain so deep within him for years flared into a white heat that seemed to cramp the muscles of his body.
"It's Val Kenton," he called. "And you owe me your life, you damned squealer!"
In that one instant, it took every bit of his self-control not to lift the rifle in his lap and blow the other into nothingness.
And then the moment was over, and he was coming to his feet, feeling the thudding of his heart in his chest, as Elise Barber came through the port and dropped lightly to the ground.
"Val!" Elise cried, and the gladness of her tone brought an agony of pain to the emotion he had thought he had stifled forever.
Val Kenton picked up his dropped guns, holstered them. He went forward slowly, the rifle swinging in one relaxed hand. Despite himself, he felt a thrill of companionship at the warmth of Tony Andrews' handshake.
"Hello, Tony," he said quietly.