“Good morning to you, if it is morning. I suppose it is morning, somewhere.” He glanced at his watch. “I’m not surprised that you got the willies, up here by yourself. How would you like to make this trip by yourself?”
“Not me.”
“Not me, either. The moon will be just about as lonely but it will feel better to have some solid ground underfoot. But I don’t suppose this trip will be really popular until the moon has some nice, noisy night clubs and a bowling alley or two.” He settled himself down in his chair.
“That’s not very likely, is it?”
“Why not? The moon is bound to be a tourists’ stop some day — and have you ever noticed how, when tourists get somewhere new, the first thing they do is to look up the same kind of entertainments they could find just as easily at home?”
Art nodded wisely, while tucking the notion away in his mind. His own experience with tourists and travel was slight — until now! “Say, Uncle, do you suppose I could get a decent picture of the moon through the port?”
Cargraves squinted up at it. “Might. But why waste film? They get better pictures of it from the earth. Wait until we go into a free orbit and swing ship. Then you can get some really unique pics — the earth from space. Or wait until we swing around the moon.”
“That’s what I really want! Pictures of the other side of the moon.”
“That’s what I thought.” Cargraves paused a moment and then added, “But how do you know you can get any?”
“But — Oh, I see’. what you mean. It’ll be dark on that side.”
“That’s not exactly what I meant, although that figures in, too, since the moon will be only about three days past `new moon’ — `new moon,’ that is, for the other side. We’ll try to time it to get all the pics you want on the trip back. But that isn’t what I mean: how do you know there is any back side to the moon? You’ve never seen it. Neither has any one else, for that matter.”
“But- there has to -I mean, you can see . . .”
“Did I hear you say there wasn’t any other side to the moon, Doc?” It was Ross, whose head had suddenly appeared beside Cargraves’.
“Good morning, Ross. No, I did not say, there was no other side to the moon. I had asked Art to tell me what leads him to think there is one.”
Ross smiled. “Don’t let him pull your leg, Art. He’s just trying to rib you.”
Cargraves grinned wickedly. “Okay, Aristotle, you picked it. Suppose you try to prove to me that there is a far side to the moon.”
“It stands to reason.”
“What sort of reason? Have you ever been there? Ever seen it?”
“No, but-”
“Ever met anybody who’s ever seen it? Ever read any accounts by anybody who claimed to have seen it?”
“No, I haven’t, but I’m sure there is one.”
“Why?”
“Because I can see the front of it.”
“What does that prove? Isn’t your experience, up to now, limited to things you’ve seen on earth? For that matter I can name a thing you’ve seen on earth that hasn’t any back side.”
“Huh? What sort of a thing? What are you guys talking about?” It was Morrie this time, climbing up on the other side.
Art said, “Hi, Morrie. Want your seat?”
“No, thanks. I’ll just squat here for the time being.” He settled himself, feet dangling. “What’s the argument?”
“Doc,” Ross answered, “is trying to prove there isn’t any other side to the moon.”
“No, no, no,” Cargraves hastily denied. “And repeat `no.’ I was trying to get you to prove your assertion that there was one. I was saying that there was a phenomenon even on earth which hasn’t any back side, to nail down Ross’s argument from experience with other matters — even allowing that earth experience necessarily applies to the moon, which I don’t.”
“Whoops! Slow up! Take the last one first. Don’t natural laws apply anywhere in the universe?”