apprehensive, but my curiosity was getting the better of me. I freed myself from my chair and strained to see all I could, but it wasn’t heartening. In every direction the view was the same, a slightly rolling gray-whiteness that looked soft and bouncy, lit uniformly by the red-orange sun that was low in the sky ahead of us as we traveled, and gradually rose higher. It was the first sun I had seen at close range and I didn’t like the glare it gave off. The automatic polarizer in the dome reduced the brightness until it was bearable to look at the bright disk, but I could see its light was unpleasant. The vision screens showed the same bouncy amorphous whiteness directly beneath us as we moved.
I said, “That isn’t what a planet looks like, is it?”
George laughed and said, “Those are clouds. The planet’s down underneath. It’s like frosting with cake under it.”
He reached to rap at the same switch he’d turned on before and saw it was on. He frowned and then made an announcement to the people below: “We’ll be setting down in about ten minutes.” He hit the switch and it popped up.
“I’m going downstairs,” I said.
“All right,” George said. “I’ll see you later.”
He turned his attention back to his job and we suddenly sliced down into the gray-white clouds and were surrounded by the sick, smothering mass. The lights came up a little in the dome to restore the life that was missing in the grayness outside. It was the most frightening stuff to be lost in that I could imagine and I didn’t want to look at it. I went down the spiral stairs and in the warm haven of the room below I looked for Daddy. He was sitting in an easy chair by himself in the center section. Mr. Tubman, Daddy’s assistant, was watching while the horses were saddled. Men were bustling around doing those last-minute things that people always discover five minutes before it will be too late to do them. Daddy had a book and was reading quite calmly, as I might have expected. Daddy ignores confusion.
I sat down in a heavy brown chair beside him and waited until he looked up. He said, “Hello, Mia. We’re just about there. How are you doing?”
“All right, I guess.” Meaning I was nervous.
“Good. And how are you getting on with George?”
I shrugged. “All right, I guess.”
“I’ve asked him to keep an eye on you today while I’m in conference. He’ll show you around the town. He’s been here before.”
“Are you going to be busy all day long?” I asked.
“I think so. If I wind things up before dark, I’ll find the two of you.”
I had to be satisfied with that. A few moments later we touched down smoothly for a landing. Grainau had heavier gravity than home—that was the first thing I was certain of after all our motion had ceased. I could feel the extra weight as a strain on my calves and arches when I stood up. Something that would take getting used to.
George came downstairs and walked over to us. Daddy stood up and said, “Well, all ready to take over, George?” Meaning me.
George towered over both of us. He nodded.
Daddy smiled and said, “That was a pretty good story, George. You have talents I never suspected you of having.”
“Which story?” I asked.
“The story George was just telling you,” Daddy said. “The speaker was on from the time we left the Ship.”
George grinned. “I didn’t notice that until just a minute ago.”
“It was a fine story,” Daddy said.
I flushed, thoroughly embarrassed. “Oh, no,” I said. To listen to a story like that was one thing, but to have everybody else know it was something else and thoroughly disconcerting.
I shot George an accusing look and then ran for cover, heading for the toilet again. I didn’t want to be seen by anybody.
Daddy was after me and caught me before I got to the separating partition. He grasped my arm and brought me to a stop.
“Hold on, Mia,” he said.
I struggled to get loose. “Let me go.”
“Don’t make a scene, Mia,” he said.
“Let go of me. I don’t want to stay here.”
“Quiet!” he said sharply. “I’m sorry I made the mistake of telling you, but George didn’t do it intentionally. Besides, I enjoyed his story and I’m more than six times your age.”
“That’s different,” I said.
“You may be right, but whether you’re right or not doesn’t make any difference right