He turned and headed for the waiting lift.
Haze filled the air as the ship’s drive disturbed the atmosphere and irritated dust particles swirled above the parking lot. Granny held Maggie tight, saying nothing. It wasn’t her place to. No t this time.
Finally Maggie looked anxiously into that weathered face. “Granny?”
The old woman smiled knowingly and ran her fingers through her granddaughter’s hair. Once for luck, and a second time to remember. No reason to cry. Hadn’t Alex said he’d be back to visit? And Alex was a good boy . . . no, not a boy anymore. Alex was a man of his word.
“Be sure to write, darlin’. Or whatever it is that they do out there.”
Maggie broke out in a wide smile, fighting back her own tears. Then she turned and ran for the ship, shouting and waving frantically.
“Alex, wait! Alex!”
The lift was nearly into the belly of the gunstar, but nearly isn’t all the way. It stopped, lowered to the ground a third time. Alex helped her onto the platform and she knew it was all right as he kissed her tenderly, knew that everything was going to be all right from now on. Because they were together.
The residents of the Starlight Starbright Trailer Park knew it was going to be all right, too. They watched and sighed, and Mr. Boone surprised Mrs. Boone with a long kiss. A warm feeling spread over them all as they watched the youngsters. Louis expressed the feelings of the prepubescent contingent by making a face and grumbling under his breath.
The whine from the ship intensified. Otis started shooing the crowd away.
“Everybody back! Keep your distance. These babies really pack a punch.” I think, he added silently to himself.
“Must be an optical illustration,” insisted one still-disbelieving resident.
“Nope,” argued Mrs. Donovan. “It’s a one o’ them UFU’s. I saw one of ’em back in ’58.”
“Ha!” snapped Elvira. “You been seein’ ’em all your life, Bessie.”
“Lord,” mumbled elderly Mr. Franklin, “I swear I’ll never touch another drop as long as I live.” Then he remembered the half-full bottle of Jim Beam back in his trailer and added hastily, “After tonight, that is.”
“I figure we’re a cinch to make the Carson show,” Mrs. Donovan added confidently.
“I can see the headlines,” murmured Elvira. ‘”Martians Land at Trailer Park.’ We’re famous now, eh, Otis?”
“Yessir,” he said proudly, watching the ship. “The whole world’s gonna know about it. Starlight Starbright Trailer Park. The place where Alex and Maggie left for the stars.”
Everyone was staring at the transparent canopy at the forward end of the ship. Alex and Maggie stood there, close against each other, waving and smiling back at them.
“Spaceships . . . spacepeople . . . oh, I’m so confused!” Elvira murmured.
Granny came over and put a comforting arm around her neighbor. “Trouble with you, Elvira, is that you’re laggin’ behind the times. You got to look to the future and quit living in the past.”
“You mean . . . ?” Elvira asked worriedly.
“Yep. No more I Love Lucy reruns.”
“Oh, Granny!”
The gunstar rose skyward more quietly than any of them expected, the humming of its drive a muted thrum instead of the fiery thunder of the rockets they’d seen on television. A small figure pushed its way thr6ugh the rest of the crowd, heading for the mob of kids clustered around the Starfighter video game sitting silently on the general store porch.
“Hey, lemme in, you guys!” Louis demanded, shoving between the small bodies. “He’s my big brother.”
“But it’s my quarter,” David protested.
“I’ll pay you back, Davey.” Louis thumbed the “play” button. A familiar synthesized voice responded immediately.
“GREETINGS, STARFIGHTER. YOU HAVE BEEN RECRUITED BY THE LEAGUE TO PROTECT THE FRONTIER AGAINST XUR AND THE KO-DAN ARMADA.”
“Go get ’em, Louis,” yelled David. Around them the rest of the kids pushed for a better view and cheered Louis Rogan on.
Otis had moved to stand close to Jane Rogan, who was staring silently at the sky while her excited neighbors jabbered behind her.
“Otis, did I do the right thing? Letting him go back out there?”
“Course you did, Jane. Course you did. Time for the young’uns to flee the coop. When it’s that time there’s no way you can hold ’em to the hearth.” He grinned softly and put a reassuring arm around her waist. “No way on Earth.”