DIMDOOLY—THE MIGHTY, the lordly, who had sneered at the sight of mere Earthmen kowtowing to a mere woman—swelled up fit to blow his gaskets, then all the gas went out of him. His ear beards, however, still had enough zip left to flutter like butterflies. “Yes, Trillium dear. I love only you. Please marry me at your earliest convenience.”
“Well, Grandmamma,” Trillium said with a highly self-satisfied air, “it works. And just like you said, Earthmen meant nothing once I knew we Venus women had our own men in our power.”
“Those crewmen there,” Grandmamma President said, “seem to be proof enough that we Venus women no longer radiate any threat to Earth’s tranquility.”
Yes, ma’am, O’Rielly sure felt like proof of something all of a sudden. Worse than the hangover from that crap game with Ven
