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“I am a beast!” said Rhadampsicus penitently. “I’ve kept you here, in boredom, while I enjoyed myself watching this sun do tricks. I’m truly sorry, Nodalictha. We will go on at once. I shouldn’t have asked you to—”

But Nodalictha said unhappily, “It isn’t you, Rhadampsicus. It’s me! While you’ve been watching the star, I’ve amused myself watching those quaint little creatures on the second planet. I’ve thought of them as—well, as pets. I’ve grown fond of them. It was absurd of me—”

“Oh, but it is wonderful of you,” said Rhadampsicus tenderly. “I love you all the more for it, my darling. But why are you unhappy about them? I made sure they had food and energy.”

“They’re going to be burned up!” wailed Nodalictha, “and they’re so cute!”

Rhadampsicus blinked his eyes—all sixteen of them. Then he said self-accusingly, “My dear, I should have thought of that. Of course this is only a flare-up, darling....” Then he made an impatient gesture. “I see! You would rather think of them as happy, in their little way, than as burned to tiny crisps.”