arp worry in her eyes
("Got your pills, Dad? Try to sleep. Take it easy. Give me a call
about anything--") (But there aren't any phones, the operator said.
Better not tell her that. Why scare her any more? Damned heart,
anyway). A wobbly takeoff that almost dumped his stomach in his lap,
sent the briefcase flying across the cabin. Then rain, and grey-black
nothing out through the mid-day view ports, heading north. Faster,
faster, why can't you get this crate to move? Sorry, Senator. Nasty
currents up here. Maybe we can try going higher--

Time! Paul had called it more precious than life, and now time flew
screaming by in great deadly sweeps, like a black-winged buzzard. And
through it all, weariness, tiredness that he had never felt before.
Not years, not work. Weary body, yes--and time was running out, he
should have rejuvenated years ago. But now--_what if Paul were right?_

Can't do it now. Not until Paul is wrong, a thousand times wrong. That
was it, of course, that was the weariness that wasn't time-weariness
or body-weariness. Just mind-weariness. Weariness at the thought of
wasted work, the wasted years--a wasted life. Unless Paul is very
wrong.

A snarl of disgust, a toggle switch snapped, a flickering teevie
screen. Wonderful pickup these days. News of the World brought to you
by Atomics International, the fuel to power the Starship--the
President returned to Washington today after three-week vacation
conference in Calcutta with Chinese and Indian dignitaries--full
accord and a cordial ending to the meeting--American medical supplies
to be made available--and on the home front, appropriations renewed
for Antarctica Project, to bring solar energy into every home, Aviado
was quoted as saying--huge Abolitionist rally last night in New
Chicago as John 'Moses' Tyndall returned to that city to celebrate
the fifteenth birthday of the movement that started there back in
2119--no violence reported as Tyndall lashed out at Senator Daniel
Fowler's universal rejuvenation program--twenty-five hour work week
hailed by Senator Rinehart of Alaska as a great progressive step for
the American people--Senator Rinehart, chairman of the policy-making
Criterion Committee held forth hope last night that rejuvenation
techniques may increase the number of candidates to six hundred a year
within five years--and now, news from the entertainment world--

Going down, then, into flurries of Northern snow, peering out at the
whiter gloo