About This Book
The story follows a young spaceship engineer who plans to secure his retirement by taking multiple wives at different ports, arranging households that will save his pay and produce descendants, while shipmates react with skepticism and amusement. He elaborates a detailed, frugal scheme to marry in several frequent ports, treating unions as pragmatic investments rather than romantic commitments. The narrator observes Garrity’s reasoning, his background motive from his father's wasteful habits, and the crew's doubts, especially about visiting a world whose inhabitants possess an unfamiliar, deeply reflective culture that might frustrate the plan. The narrative blends dry humor and social satire to examine money, domestic arrangements, and cultural mismatch.
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