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exactly that, he thought to himself. Aloud, in a lighter tone, he said, Well,
I told you I was older than I looked.
They weren t sure whether to laugh or edge away from him at that, but since he
had the car and the keys, a nervous laugh seemed the most prudent choice.
The captain got a blanket out of the car and spread it on the ground, then
went back and got out a small hamper and a cooler. He then helped Tony get
Anne Marie s wheelchair set up and her into it.
Some light snacks, sinful sweets, the captain told them. And some good
wine, although in case you couldn t or wouldn t drink, some fruit punch as
well.
The stars were out, not as many as would be visible far-ther out from the city
but far more than could be seen in Rio itself. There was a quarter moon at
this season, but it was a late moonrise and had not yet shown itself, nor
would it until almost an hour after the meteor arrived. That much luck was
with them.
The captain amazed them with his knowledge of the stars and constellations.
There didn t seem to be a single one he couldn t name, or tell its distance
from Earth and details about its composition.
You know more than most astronomers could keep in their heads, I think, Tony
noted, unable to see the stars but nonetheless fascinated by the tour. This
is from navigating a ship?
From navigating a lot of ships, and of different types, the captain
responded.
Do you think there is other life out there? Anne Marie asked him. Strange
creatures, alien civilizations, all that sort of thing?
Oh, yes, he answered confidently. A vast number. The hugeness of the cosmos
is beyond anyone s compre-hension. Some of them may already have spaceships
and be in contact or even commerce with one another.
You mean in this solar system? Tony responded. I would doubt it.
No, no, there s nothing else in our solar system worth mentioning. I mean
beyond.
Far beyond.
Thousands and millions of light-years, in this galaxy and many others.
You are a romantic, Captain, Tony said skeptically. What you say about
other creatures and civilizations might well be true, but those same distances
would prohibit con-tact. The speed of light alone says no.
Well, that something of a stopper, Solomon admit-ted, but not as much as
you d think. Gravity is bends space, light, even time itself, and it s but one
of a great many forces at work. If a ship could be built to withstand those
forces and make use of them, both space and time might be bent, reducing a
journey of many centuries to a matter of days or weeks. They once said that
heavier-than-air craft could never fly under their own power, and for many
years it was believed that the sound barrier was so absolute, its vibrations
would tear an airplane apart.
Nothing is im-possible absolutely nothing. It just takes a lot of time, work,
ingenuity, and guts to eventually figure a way to cheat.
Tony shook his head. My education was as an engineer, and I know about
solving such things, but I
believe that practical interstellar flight is just outside the rules of God.
Well said, sir! You sound like a medieval pope!
Oh, stop arguing, you two! Anne Marie scolded. I don t care if it s
possible or not, since even if it is, none of us will live to see it, but it
is fun to imagine. I wonder what sort of creatures there are out there.
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Captain Solomon looked at the stars. Oz, and Olympus, and Fairyland, and a
hundred other lands not quite imag-ined here on Earth. If you like, play a
game. Suppose you could wish yourself up there, become one of those other
creatures what sort of creature might you like to be?
She laughed. I m not much good at imagining crea-tures, and most of the ones
on the telly are pretty slimy.
Well, there ll be slimy ones, of course. But, if you can t think of some
creature out of whole cloth, pick one out of mythology or classical fantasy.
Umph!It s so difficult to do! I suppose I should fall back on the obvious, as
my therapists would say in the old days. Lying there, unable to move for so
long, I used to dream of being a racehorse. Isn t that a silly thought, even
if an obvious fantasy for me? Anne Marie, interplanetary racehorse!
Well, be a centaur, then, or is that centauress ? the captain responded in
a light mood.
Iknew another centauress once, but I can t even remember her name . . .
What about you, Tony? Anne Marie prompted. What sort of creature would you
be? How about an eagle? Flying about, and with remarkable eyesight as well.
Possibly, Tony responded, sounding a bit irritated with the game but
nonetheless going along for Anne
Marie s sake since she was getting such a kick out of it. But, and I am being
fully honest here, if such a thing were possible, then I should like to be
whatever you were. And he meant it, too. The captain could feel the love that
was there and was almost consumed with envy for this unfortunate blind and
crippled pair of mortals.
How sweet, my darling, she said with a smile. But what of you, Captain? We
haven t heard your own choice.
I m afraid I have grave limits on that part of my imag-ination, he answered
seriously. I can think of myself only as Gilgamesh, or the Wandering Jew.
Always the same, never changing, walking through the
world but unable to fully become a part of it.
I believe I d like that, Tony said. Never changing, never aging, and never
beyond repair, as it were.
Watching the ages come and go, empires rise and fall, and great events as they
occur. Yes, I might find that quite enticing.
No, you wouldn t, the captain came back a bit sharply. Suppose you had to
do it without Anne
Marie? Without anybody to share it with? Watching everyone you knew or liked
grow old and sick and then die, watching as many horrors as great things and
being unable to do more than bear witness to them? Always alone, without even
anyone to talk about it with or share experiences with on an equal basis? Is
that a blessing or the worst of curses? You tell me.
Without Anne Marie? Hmmm . . . I think I see what you mean. But I would
insist on Anne Marie as well!
I m not so certain of that myself, she put in. I mean, after centuries
together I d expect even the most loving of people to get rather sick of one
another.
Both men were startled by her comment, Tony because he could not conceive of
such a thing and the captain for far different reasons.
Was that ultimately what it was? Did I need her so much that I failed to
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