"That's enough, Bush!" snapped Vidac, who had suddenly entered the room.
"Leave your application on the desk and get out!"

Bush turned and looked at Vidac, nodded, and glared at Tom before
stalking from the room. Vidac smiled at Tom's questioning look and
walked over. He sat on the edge of Tom's desk and picked up Bush's
application.

"Funny thing about Bush, Tom," Vidac mused.

"What, sir?" asked Tom.

"Notice the nervous twitch he has on the side of his face?"

"Yes, sir," said Tom.

"I've known Bush a long time. Many years. He used to be the happiest
little space joker in the system, singing all the time, playing a
concertina. And then he lost that credit pouch. It bothered him real
bad."

"I guess it would, sir," said Tom.

"And then he got caught blasting off with false papers and of course
that made him a marked man. He developed the nervous twitch right after
that. He's a good man, Tom. And I think we ought to give him another
chance."

[Illustration]