The Stones of Nomuru

"Nonsense!" cried Firestone. "We've always agreed on the long-term importance of basic knowledge. Without it, we'd be back on Terra, living in caves and eating nuts and worms. You deserve every bit of the acclaim you'll get."

"But I seem to be such a damned hypocrite ..."

"Remember what I said: hypocrisy, like religion and liquor, is one of the lubricants that make it possible for men to live together in vastly greater numbers than the species was designed for."

Salazar sighed and made a small gesture of dismissal. "Good of you to say so, Cabot. Now I shall have to work like a fiend on Nomuru to justify my existence." He paused. "But I'd give the whole thing up if ..."

"If what?"

"If I could have Kara back. I had the best, and like an idiot I threw it away. She even used to correct examination papers and tabulate grades for me."

Firestone: "And greater love hath no professor's wife! Have you tried ..."

Salazar shook his head. "I've tried, but she won't have me at fire-sale prices. I thought there was a chance; but I was kidding myself. It's over."

Firestone frowned in puzzlement. "I'm not sure she made the wise decision. As an old couple watcher, I should think, since you two have knocked around together so much lately, that you'd have reestablished some permanent relationship."

"You think we spent our time screwing? No; not a single poke."

"If it were anyone but you, Keith, I might doubt that. It's almost incredible that a healthy, personable pair like you, who'd been intimate before and then were thrown together that way ..." Firestone shrugged. "Everyone at the university assumes that it's no longer a case of just friends.

"Then everyone's wrong."

"Aren't you giving up too easily? You were never one to abandon a goal you'd set yourself."

"She convinced me, that's all. Some mistakes you have to live with."

"Why is she so dead set? You're a damned good catch."

"My girl has a spine of steel, and when she makes up her mind ... Cabot, tell me, what ought I to have done?"

"It's useless advice at this stage, but I should have told you: When you've got a good marriage but feel an itch for another woman, get the hell out with no ifs, ands, or buts. Break all contacts with the new amorosa, politely but firmly. Back off. The itch will go away." Firestone looked speculatively at his friend. "If Kara's gone for good, how about that tall redhead, Penny something? Wasn't she in your class?"

"Yep. Got an A, and honestly."

"Well, if you wanted a bed warmer—"

Salazar held up a hand. "Diane cured me of playing house with children. As for Penny, I told her I was impotent."