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Chapter 7 After Saturn and his companions had left them alone, Adam felt a pleasant lethargy, then a desire for sleep. “Adam,” Launie said, “go to bed whenever you wish, but go before fifteen minutes are up or you will be asleep wherever you are.” She laughed winsomely, as Vega had laughed during their trip together. She came up to him, put her forefinger on his chin coquettishly, and added, “That is so, Adam. Tomorrow I am your guide, tonight your nursemaid. Now goodnight, you handsome, untamed earthman.” After Adam was in bed he heard Launie singing, and as he drifted off into sleep her voice became a background of smooth velvet. He remembered nothing more until he awoke in the « . » v1 YT 11 wid te “morning” and heard her singing again. He could smell breakfast being prepared by this dainty miss. Never on earth, Adam thought, had such a lovely woman been so attentive to a man and yet belonged so completely to another man. He felt fully awake in a short time and called out, “Good morning, Launie. Have you had any sleep?” “Oh, yes indeed,” she called back. “But not quite as much as you. 1 +4 1 1 rae ace 1 weed Adam washed, dressed, and presented himself in the kitchen. There she was, the human meaning of morning glory, too innocently lovely to look upon by a crude person like himself, he thought. How could she be one of the “retarded” ones among her people? He was indeed learning to love. The next problem was how to forget. At that instant Launie looked at him with a Mona Lisa expression, as though reading his thoughts and conveying the message that teaching him to forget would also be her task. He seated Launie at the table and then he sat down. Before them were eggs, bacon, potatoes, toast, and a pitcher of milk. It could not have been more like home anywhere on earth. 108 ADAM MEETS ANTARES