The sergeant had not said anything about passengers for Mars as yet; Don told himself that the sergeant’s first effort must naturally be to sort out the citizens of the two belligerents. He decided that the thing to do was to keep his mouth shut and wait.
There was an interruption in the queue. Don beard the sergeant say, “You’re in the wrong pew, bud. You go back to Earth.”
The man he was speaking to answered, “No, no! Take a look at my papers; I’m emigrating to Venus.”
“You’re a little bit late to be emigrating. The situation has changed.”
“Why? Sure, I know it has changed. I declare for Venus.”
The sergeant scratched his head. “This one isn’t in the book. Atkinson! Pass this man on through; we’ll let the lieutenant figure it out.”
When he had completed the group that wanted to go to Venus the sergeant went to a speech-only wall phone. “Jim? Mac speaking, from the nursery. They got that dragon out yet? No? Well, let me know when the Road is back at the chute; I want to load.” He turned back to the crowd. “All right, you groundhogs—there’ll be a delay so I’m going to move you into another room until we’re ready to send you hack to Earth.”
“Just a moment, Sergeant!” called out a male passenger.
“Yeah? What do you want?”
“Where do passengers for Luna wait?”
“Huh? Service discontinued. You’re going hack to Earth.”
“Now, Sergeant, let’s be reasonable. I haven’t the slightest interest in politics; it does not matter to me who administers this station. But I have business on the Moon. It is essential that I get to the Moon. A delay would cost millions!”
The sergeant stared at him. “Now isn’t that just too bad! You know, brother, I’ve never had as much as a thousand at one time in my life; the thought of losing millions scares me.” His manner suddenly changed. “You stupid jerk, have you ever thought what a bomb would do to the roof of Tycho City? Now line up, all of you, double file.”
Don listened to this with disquiet. Still, the sergeant had not said anything about Mars. He got into line, but at the very end. When the tail of the line reached the door he stopped. “Get a move on, kid,” said the sergeant.
“I’m not going back to Earth,” Don told him.
“Huh?”
“I’m headed for Mars in the Valkyrie.”
“Oh, I see. You mean you were, now you’re headed back to Earth in the Glory Road.”
Don said stubbornly, “Look, mister, I’ve got to get to Mars. My parents are there; they are expecting me.”
The sergeant shook his head. “Kid I feel sorry for you. I really do. The Valkyrie isn’t going to Mars.”
“What?”
“She’s being recommissioned as a cruiser of the High Guard. She’s going to Venus. So I guess you had better go back to Earth. I’m sorry you won’t be able to join your folks, but war is like that.”
Don breathed slowly and forced himself to count up to ten. “I’m not going back to Earth. I’ll wait right here until a ship does go to Mars.”
The sergeant sighed. “If you do, you’ll have to chin yourself on a star while you wait.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Because,” he said slowly, “a few minutes after we blast off there will be nothing in this neighborhood but a nice, pretty radioactive cloud. Want to play a leading role in a Geiger counter?”
VI – The Sign in the Sky
Don could not answer. His simian ancestors, beset with perils every moment of life, might have taken it calmly; Don’s soft life had not prepared him for such repeated blows. The sergeant went on, “So it had better be the Glory Road for you kid. That’s what your parents would want. Go back and find yourself a nice spot in the country; the cities are likely to be unhealthy for a while.”
Don snapped out of it. “I’m not going back to Earth! I don’t belong there; I’m not a native of Earth.”
“Eh? What is your citizenship? Not that it matters; anybody who isn’t a citizen of Venus goes back in the Glory Road.”