Henry Slesar

“ Murchison, the third man, looked grave. "In my opinion," he said judiciously, "we need a better rotation system out here. How long have you been observing on GT-8?"
"One year, five months, two weeks, three days...." ”

“ Towne said wisely. "It's the girl."
Pace looked away.
"Laura was very sorry about not showing up, Pace," Murchison said. "It's this rotten virus stuff that's going around. You know how she looks forward to these visits—"
"You bet," Towne agreed. "There's an outposter on G-70 who'll really cry in his beer when we show up without her."
"The Sweetheart of Space," the man said sardonically.
"Oh, come on," Briggs said. "You like to see her as much as anybody else, Pace. She's a good kid."
"All right," Pace said.
"Everybody likes to look at a pretty girl," Towne said archly. ”