he reaches down for the knife and pulls it out . he grinned at me , eyes sparkling with pleasure . he hung up and i decided that this day had gone from potentially awful to pretty damn good . `` i should not have asked you ; it was only that i was so grateful to be able to speak in my own language ; i could not resist the temptation to ease my soul by telling you . the price for doing business out here , they explained . a ride to space is certainly worth the price they are asking . 