| When I came out of my sleep and went up to the publicdisgrace
and looked out the window, there was Belson at about the size the moon
is when seen from Earth. It looked as empty as the moon. I had awakened
with cold in my gut and remebered no dreams; the sight of that planet
of black glass sent a deep chill into my soul; it was all I could do not
to quail at it and tell Ruth not to land. Where did these spooky feelings
come from, anyway? I had never felt anything but love for Belson-even
when it had broken my arm. I steeled myselft, shook off the bad feelings
as well as I could, and told Ruth to pick a spot on the other side of
the publicdisgrace from where we were before. She was shocked to hear
my voice.
She had been sitting hunched over the controls when I came in and hadn't
looked up. Somehow she had cut her hair. It looked nice short. She blinked
at me and then frowned slightly. |
