 Why doesn't Laura want to marry Ben?
How can I tell you what it's like to be young and a man and to dream of reaching the stars? For it was June in this year of 1995, and we were the graduating class of the U. S. Academy of Interplanetary Flight. They're going to bring us the metals and minerals that we desperately need. They're going to find new land for our colonists, good rich land that will bear food and be a home for our children. My parents had died in a strato-jet crash when I was four, so I hadn't needed many of those "You are cordially invited" cards. Just one, which I'd sent to Charlie Taggart. I remembered how, as a kid, I'd pestered him in the Long Island Spaceport, tagging after him like a puppy, and how he'd grown to like me until he became father, mother, and buddy all in one to me. The Universe was mighty big, but with two of us to face it together, it would be only half as big. They expect us to make a new kind of civilization and a better place out of Earth. And you, Laura, were with him. Charlie gulped helplessly, and Mickey said: "Still going to spend the weekend with us, aren't you, Ben?" "Ben," he called, "don't forget that offer. A moment later Mickey said, frowning, "What was he talking about, Ben? That's what most of you want, isn't it?
 She does want to marry Ben. However, spacemen are gone all the time. She needs a partner who is going to be there for her.
 She does want to marry Ben. However, spacemen are gone all the time. She needs a partner who is going to be there for her.  She does want to marry Ben, but spacemen can't have children.  She doesn't want to marry Ben because they've only known each other for six weeks.  She doesn't want to marry Ben because of the possibility of birth defects caused by space travel.