Chapter Thirty-Two
Maybe Valley Blossom wasn't mad at Sweet Cloud, but she was mad at
North in a playful kind of way. That night as they went to bed, she
beat him briskly with the pillows. "Hey!" he complained, "What are you
doing THAT for?"
2 "Darn you!" snapped his wife, "you made me wait all that time for a
baby, and the first time you know HER you load HER up!"
3 "Well, we didn't intend to," explained North, "we used precautions.
But I guess the stuff she bought from the illegal market wasn't very
good."
4 "I'LL say it wasn't!" agreed Valley Blossom, starting to beat North
again. Having had enough, North struck back. For some reason
Hashons…….MOST Hashons, were extremely ticklish, and North took full
advantage. But finally they stopped playing around and went to sleep.
Just as North was dozing off, his wife nudged him. "What are you going
to do if she gets pregnant again?" she asked.
5 "Marry her off again," answered North, "and arrange another accident
for her husband."
6 Valley Blossom laughed and they went to sleep. The next day North's
ship, and, Morn's pulled out, and headed due west to get an angle for
their first leap.
7 Many days later they sat on the edge of a system on the fringe of The
Holy Godden Empire, lining up for their leap into the Unknown. Each ship carried an observatory
pod, with huge telescopes and every kind of star measuring equipment,
ready to photograph the stars from this new observation point, just a
little bit further than they had gone before.
8 Each ship would visit three unchartered systems then return to their
beginning point. Hopefully each crew thought, with word of a planet
that could be colonized that would support life without special
equipment. Such a