They gave us a hero's welcome. After all, we were heroes.

But we were also exhausted. Even a short battle wears you out, and this time the Jumpers had prolonged their retreat, thinking that by doing so they could get some advantage. Of course they didn't, and it would now be at least a day or two before the main force came back for another try, this time with bigger weapons.

But the colony didn't know that. They didn't have the experience with the Jupers that we did, having fought them constantly over the past few months. All they knew was that we had saved him. And so we were heroes.

I was never so grateful to Captain White as I was then. "Ladies and gentlemen, we of the Star Punchers are honoured to be here. We realize that you are grateful to the brave fighters here today, but I ask that you please be patient. They have been through a great deal, and would very much like to have a few hours to compose themselves after their great battle. I understand there will be a celebration tonight, and we hope to see you all there."

If there hadn't been a celebration planned, there was one now, I thought as I tried not to stumble towards the rooms they had given us. I didn't look forward to these sorts of affairs, but if they let me off the hook now, I would pretend to have a good time with the best of them.

The rooms were good ones, by colony standards. Probably some of the staff had used them until today, having moved to somewhat more ordinary barracks until we were gone. The change would do them good, I thought. And the sleep will do me even more good. The bed before me looked inviting enough that I was expecting to be asleep before I hit the pillow.

Which, of course, is the best possible time for a knock on the door, isn't it? Especially when it's a knock you recognize and if you ignore that knock, you'll have more to worry about than being tired.

"S'open," I said, trying to make sure the words formed so that they could be understood. The door was only open a moment as Sarah slipped in, locking it behind her. "You did good up there, love. I was impressed."

"Glad you liked it. But I'm wiped, love. I've got to get some sleep before tonight, or I'll either die or kill someone else."

Sarah laughed. I would have stayed awake for the rest of the week for that laugh. Fortunately, she said the right thing. "That's what I'm here for. You just get into that bed, and I'll slide in right next to you and if anyone tries to wake you up they'll have to go through me first."

I answered by taking her advice. Having her pressed against me made the bed that much sweeter, and my last thoughts as I fell asleep were, just the right thing indeed.

The party itself was the usual colony do, fresh fruits and vegetables to show off how much a man-made paradise they had built here, starting with nothing but rotten chunk of rock that was lucky enough to hold an atmosphere. Same for wines and other delectables, and freshly grown flowers over everything that would hold still.

I wasn't impressed. But then, I had always given a lot more credit to the people who made the land than made use of it. Comes from being a terraformer brat from 'way back, I guess. Either way, it didn't really get me in the mood for partying any more than I was to start with, and the added burden of having to play hero just annoyed me. I really needed more sleep.

Fortunately, I wasn't the only one up for adoration, and they were a little more willing to accept the colony's thanks than I was. So I just sat at the head table while the formalities took place and let the Captain spout nice words about how it was the colonies' support that made the Star Punchers such a great team and assorted other bullshit. I just concentrated on staying awake.

I didn't really enjoy myself until afterwards, when we had a chance to get away from the formalities of head table and being on display as a group, and were allowed to mill about and generally socialize for the rest of the evening. It's the most entertaining part for me, because I can blend into the background for the most part while our more obvious members have their fun. It's a blast watching them sometimes, and this time was pretty much the usual.

From where I was, I could see Sarah, and she had the usual group of local boys in tow. Little did they know how slim their chances were. But I couldn't blame them for trying, Sarah's gorgeous and knows how to show it off. That's why I love the little minx, despite her devious ways.

Not far away was Dandy, of course, exactly her mirror. Except he got all the eligible girls, every one of them hoping for him to take a look her way, and maybe if they were lucky a quick trip to a side room somewhere. They needn't have bothered. Dandy was more interested in the boys lusting after Sarah than he was about any of them, although he'd never let them know it. Dandy was on stage, and there was nothing he liked better than showing off. So he did, and every girl there thought it was for her.

Not that all the girls were around him, of course. I wasn't obvious enough to draw any of Sarah's pack of men, but Sensor was just what some of the girls were after. Not that he gave them the time of day, but that wasn't rudeness. It was just Sensor's way. The day I see that man show any kind of emotion is the day I get checked into the psych ward because I'm obviously seeing things. But the girls go crazy for dark, mysterious men who won't give them the time of day, and the few who were brave enough to leave Dandy for his company kept him busy.

Bridges, of course, drew the curious. Out of the team, he was the most obvious. A heavy-worlder, Bridges was a big, solid man who looked like he could bring down the whole place just by flexing his muscles. And so he had his admirers, just not in the predatory sense that the others did. He drew the curious and the loud. People who wanted to know all about the more extreme colonies and people who thought they knew it already. But Bridges was tolerant, more so than I would be, and dealt with them in the same patient way he dealt with everything.

I couldn't see Virus, so I assumed he'd made it out as soon as he could, retreating to the colony's generating plant. He always hid out there when there was a gathering, being always more comfortable with machines than people. I couldn't blame him, I wasn't too social myself. But I made do, so long as my friends were running interference.

As to the Captain, I had always thought he enjoyed his part in all this. He wasn't one for showing a lot of emotion, but he wasn't nearly as bad as Sensor and the fact that he was always good at dealing with the local officials, sometimes talking well into the night, told me that it wasn't a duty he wanted to avoid. Thats where he was when I looked, deep into some esoteric matter or another, every one of the colony leaders hanging on his every word. Good place for them, I thought, and left them to their own devices.

I pushed myself away from the wall and went toward the buffet, where all the leftovers the others hadn't attracted were. There's only so much antisocial I can take, and by comparison, being a hero beats being bored any day.