 Why doesn't Laura want to marry Ben?
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] How can I tell you what it's like to be young and a man and to dream of reaching the stars? And yet, at the same time, to be filled with a terrible, gnawing fear—a fear locked in my mind during the day and bursting out like an evil jack-in-the-box at night. 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. And perhaps most important of all, they'll make other men think of the stars and look up at them and feel humility—for mankind needs humility." Mickey Cameron, sitting next to me, dug an elbow into my ribs. 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. But your eyes were the eyes of a woman, glowing like dark stars and reflecting a softness, a gentleness that I'd never seen in eyes before. 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? I looked at you as if you were Everson himself, because you seemed to understand the hunger that could lie in a man's heart. Then your last words came back and jabbed me: "That's what Mickey used to want."
 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.