“It’s Great to Be Back!”
“It’s Great to Be Back!”
“HURRY UP, ALLAN!” Home-back to Earth again! Her heart was pounding.
“Just a second.” She fidgeted while her husband checked over a bare apartment. Earth-Moon freight rates made it silly to ship their belongings; except for the bag he carried, they had converted everything to cash. Satisfied, he joined her at the lift; they went on up to the administration level and there to a door marked: LUNA CITY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION-Anna Stone, Service Manager.
Miss Stone accepted their apartment keys grimly. “Mr. and Mrs. MacRae. So you’re actually leaving us?”
Josephine bristled. “Think we’d change our minds?”
The manager shrugged. “No. I knew nearly three years ago that you would go back-from your complaints.”
“From my comp- Miss Stone, I’ve been as patient about the incredible inconveniences of this, this pressurized rabbit warren as anyone. I don’t blame you personally, but-”
“Take it easy, Jo!” her husband cautioned her.
Josephine flushed. “Sorry, Miss Stone.”
“Never mind. We just see things differently. I was here when Luna City was three air-sealed Quonset huts connected by tunnels you crawled through, on your knees.” She stuck out a square hand. “I hope you enjoy being groundhogs again, I honestly do. Hot jets, good luck, and a safe landing.”
Back in the lift, Josephine sputtered. “‘Groundhogs’ indeed! Just because we prefer our native planet, where a person can draw a breath of fresh air-”
“You use the term,” Allan pointed out.
“But I use it about people who’ve never been off Terra.”
“We’ve both said more than once that we wished we had had sense enough never to have left Earth. We’re groundhogs at heart, Jo.”
“Yes, but- Oh, Allan, you’re being obnoxious. This is the happiest day of my life. Aren’t you glad to be going home? Aren’t you?”
“Of course I am. It’ll be great to be back. Horseback riding. Skiing.”
“And opera. Real, live grand opera. Allan, we’ve simply got to have a week or two in Manhattan before we go to the country.”
“I thought you wanted to feel rain on your face.”
“I want that, too. I want it all at once and I can’t wait. Oh, darling, it’s like getting out of jail.” She clung to him.
He unwound her as the lift stopped. “Don’t blubber.”
“Allan, you’re a beast,” she said dreamily. “I’m so happy.” They stopped again, in bankers’ row. The clerk in the National City Bank office had their transfer of account ready. “Going home, eh? Just sign there, and your print. I envy you. Hunting, fishing.”
“Surf bathing is more my style. And sailing.”
“I,” said Jo, “simply want to see green trees and blue sky.” The clerk nodded. “I know what you mean. It’s long ago and far away. Well, have fun. Are you taking three months or six?”
“We’re not coming back,” Allan stated flatly. “Three years of living like a fish in an aquarium is enough.”
“So?” The clerk shoved the papers toward him and added without expression, “Well-hot jets.”
“Thanks.” They went on up to the subsurface level and took the cross-town slidewalk out to the rocket port. The slidewalk tunnel broke the surface at one point, becoming a pressurized shed; a view window on the west looked out on the surface of the Moon-and, beyond the hills, the Earth.
The sight of it, great and green and bountiful, against, the black lunar sky and harsh, unwinking stars, brought quick tears to Jo’s eyes. Home-that lovely planet was hers! Allan looked at it more casually, noting the Greenwich. The sunrise Line had just touched South America-must be about eight twenty; better hurry.
They stepped off the slidewalk into the arms of some of their friends, waiting to see them off. “Hey-where have you Lugs been? The Gremlin blasts off in seven minutes.”
“But we aren’t going in it,” MacRae answered. “No, siree.”
“What? Not going? Did you change your minds?”
Josephine laughed. “Pay no attention to him, Jack. We’re going in the express instead; we swapped reservations. So we’ve got twenty minutes yet.”
“Well! A couple of rich tourists, eh?”
“Oh, the extra fare isn’t so much and I didn’t want to make two changes and spend a week in space when we could be home in two days.” She rubbed her bare middle significantly.