“Every reason in the book why you should, Hen. Why, when I get to be as old as you are, I hope to be retired, married, and the father of two or three kids.”
“Damnation, Kim! That isn’t what I meant, and you know it!”
“Think clearly, then; for your own sake and Illona’s; not mine,” Kinnison ordered. “Yes, I know what you mean, but you’ve got to bring it out into the open, yourself, to do any good.”
“QX. Have I the permission of Kimball Kinnison, Unattached Lensman of the Galactic Patrol, to marry Illona Potter, if I’ve got jets enough to swing it?”
Mighty clever, the Lensman thought. Since all the men of the Patrol were notoriously averse to going sloppy or maudlin about it, he wondered just how the pilot was going to phrase his question. Hen had done it very neatly, by tossing the buck
