as we pass by."

"Nuts--let's give this sick rat to the Space Force right now." Art Kuzak
hissed. "Here comes their patrol bubb."

The glinting, transparent ring with the barred white star was passing at
a distance.

"All is well with you novices?" The enquiring voice was a gruff drawl,
mingled with crunching sounds of eating--perhaps a candy bar.

"No!" Tiflin whispered, pleading. "I'll watch myself!"

The United Nations patrol was out, too, farther off. Another, darker
bubb, with other markings, passed by, quite close. It had foreign lines,
more than a bit sinister to the Bunch's first, startled view. It was a
Tovie vehicle, representing the other side of the still--for the most
part--passively opposed forces, on Earth, and far beyond. But through
the darkened transparency of stellene, the armored figures--again
somewhat sinister--only raised their hands in greeting.

In a minute, Frank Nelsen emerged from Ramos' ring. Floating free, he
stabilized himself, fussed with the radio antenna of his helmet-phone
for a moment, making its transmission and reception directional. On the
misty, shrinking Earth, North America was visible.

"Frank Nelsen to Paul Hendricks," he said. "Frank Nelsen to Paul
Hendricks..."

Paul was waiting, all right. "Hello, Frankie. Some of the guys talked
already--said you were asleep."

"Hi, Paul--yeah! Terra still looks big and beautiful. We're okay.
Amazing, isn't it, how just a few watts of power, beamed out in a thin
thread, will reach this far, and lots farther? Hey--will you open and
shut your front door? Let's hear the old customer's bell jingle... Best
to you, to J. John, to Nance Codiss, Miss Parks--everybody..."

The squeak of hinges and the jingling came through, clear and
nostalgically.

"Come on, Frank," Two-and-Two urged. "Other guys would like to talk to
Paul... Hey, Paul--maybe you could get my folks down to the store to say
hello to me on your transmitter. And I guess Les would appreciate it if
you got his mother..."

When the talk got private, Frank went to Mitch Storey's bubb.

"I wanted to show you," Mitch said. "I brought seeds, and these little
plastic tubes with holes in them, that you can string around inside a
bubb. The weight is next to nothing. Put the seeds in the tubes, and
water with plant food in solution. The plants come up through the holes.
Hydroponics. Gotta almost do it, if I'm going way out to Mars without
much supplies. Maybe, before I get there