Astronauts -- Fiction; Science fiction; Short stories; Space flight to the moon -- Fiction
"I know. And I'm wasting time talking with you. I should be looking at
those movies he took."
Wade didn't watch the Secretary leave. He picked up the bottle and
glass and went to the window.
Down on the ramp the P.A. began to crackle. Ackerson was beginning his
speech.
Wade took out the letter that Ackerson had sent to him. He took out
a match and touched the flame to it. It was better that way. He was
finished with Ackerson. He had a job to do now, one that would consume
him. He had to get the _Starfrost II_ underway. He had to get there to
get Tomer.
Suddenly he understood. There were all kinds of heroes. Men like
Ackerson were driven by the lure of fame and money. Tomer became one
because the job had to be done and there was no one else to do it.
Lowe was one, in a way, fighting for peace against a world that was
always in unrest. In a way Wade himself might fall in one category. The
thought made him smile.
The Secretary was right, of course. The public would crucify them if
they knew Tomer had been in the supposedly unmanned test rocket fired
at the Moon with no way home.
Wade lifted his drink high in the air as Ackerson's deep voice carried
into the room from the ramp below. "To a hero," he said. "A lonely
hero." Wade's eyes were on the sky when he said it, on a spot where the
Moon would be some hours later.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account