I am so gonna ruin your childhood.

If you ever enjoyed Lucky Starr (love, love, love that SFBC cover art), I am so about to ruin your childhood.

Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus, Chapter 7, Alternative Version, first draft

After the incident with airlock, Lucky and Bigman took a token car back to their hotel room. Bigman was sweaty from his adventures in the ventilation ducts. Lucky looked as cool as a cucumber, but Bigman could tell that Lucky had had a wild time out there with the hopper.

Lucky stripped off his shirt and said, "I'm going to take a shower." Lucky vanished into the bathroom and Bigman could hear the shower and Lucky's muffled gasps under its invigorating jets. Bigman ignored the solid discomfort in his trousers for a while, but finally gave in. There was no denying his needs!

Bigman followed Lucky at last, muttering savagely under his breath. "Hey," he yelled.

Lucky, his muscled body clearly visible through the frosted glass, said, "You couldn't put it off, could you?"

"Space, Lucky, don't be difficult, will you? You know I hate that. Could you?"

"No," Lucky said. "I tried." The door to the shower made a loud latching sound as Lucky pushed it open.

Bigman stripped off his clothes quickly, tossing his precious garish Martian boots like so much jetsam, and joined Lucky under the needle-sharp streams of water...

Alright, that's enough.

PS: This answers the question, "Why is Caprice Starr a girl?" Why that question is a question is a question that will be answered in due time.

Earlier: How bizarre!

Later: IM IN YUR NOSTALGIA, RUININ YUR CHILDHOOD MEMRIES