Thanks to you guys for everything."
"I'd like to stay too, Nolan," Miller said, smiling. "If they'll haveme. Under Etl's instructions, they might improve my quarters."
* * * * *
So that much was settled. I felt a certain longing myself now. But I'ma family man, with home still in my blood. Klein and Craig weren'ttied as I was, but they had a lot to hold them to Earth. Besides,somebody had to report back.
We were on Mars two days longer, though we didn't go any farther thanback to the neighboring city. We took thousands of photographs. Wewere given samples of common Martian apparatus, pieces of jade thatwere covered with queer, beautiful carvings made millions of yearsbefore, bars of radioactive metal.
Earth was still near enough in its orbit to be reached without toomuch trouble. We jacked our rocket into a vertical position, fromwhich an interplanetary takeoff could best be made. The cabin,swinging on its universal joints, stayed level. Martians watched,interested, but still obviously not quite ready to cast aside theirdeeper suspicions. Yet, when we blasted clear, we knew that a ship oftheirs, halfway around the planet, was doing the same and would followus back to Earth. Ambassadors, of course, and commercial attaches.
I'd lost my picture of Alice, Patty and Ron to some local souvenirhunter. But I knew that I was going to see them....
The friendly contact between Earth and Mars can still be queered bysomebody's silly blunder, of course. Human or Martian. You have to becareful. But a beginning has been made.
--RAYMOND Z. GALLUN
* * * * *
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