Oscar Schoenberg and Athena Poulson and Gus De La Torre had hunted again, on the day after Suomi's near-fatal confrontation with the glacier-beast, while Barbara Hurtado and Celeste Servetus had gone through the motions of hunting.  Suomi had chosen to stay with the ship.  Oscar and Athena and Gus, all having had some excitement on their first day's hunt but having returned from it empty handed returned from the second day's effort with their hologram trophies of large predators, safely recorded on little crystal cubes for later reproduction and display.

Athena, sitting in the lounge, rubbing her tired feet, complained it was going to be difficult to find a place to show off her glacier-beast.  "It's all right for you, scar, but I have one small apartment.  I'll have to move half the furniture to make all right for you, Oscar, but I have one small apartment.  I'll have to move half the furniture to make room for this - if I dare display it at all,
that is."

"Because you got it on an off-limits hunting trip?"  Schoenberg laughed.  "If anybody bothers you, just tell 'em I gave it to you.  Let 'em come see me."

"I'll have to leave it turned off most of the time, just bring it out for special occasions.  I suppose it would scare off most of my usual visitors, anyway."  Then she caught herself and started to look apologetically toward Suomi, then hastily looked away.

Yesterday after everyone had returned to the ship they had all listened with some embarrassment to his account of how he had frozen in panic in the field and how Schoenberg had coolly saved his life.  Athena had been more embarrassed, perhaps, than Suomi.  De La Torre had seemed inwardly amused, and Barbara had shown some sympathy.

Suomi wondered if his shipmates - Athena especially - were waiting for him to demand a rifle and a chance to go out and prove himself.  If so they were going to have a long wait.  All right, he had been terrified.  Maybe if he went out again and an animal charged, he wouldn't be terrified.  Or maybe he would.  He wasn't anxious to find out.  He had nothing to prove.  While all the others were out hunting on the second day he sat on the ship's extended landing ramp enjoying the air.  There was a rifle at hand for emergencies but if anything menacing came in sight he planned to simply go inside and close the hatch.