mall
fry will say to his old man. 'Gimme ten bucks, please, for an ice cream
cone down at the soda bubb?' And his mom'll say to his dad, 'George,
Dear--is the ionocar nice and shiny? I have to go play bridge with the
girls over in Nelsenville...' No, I'm not ribbing you, Frankie. It'll be
kind of nice to hear that type of talk, again--if they only include a
place for a man to be a little bit himself."

Two-and-Two (George) Baines sighed rapturously and continued. "Figure it
out to the end, Frankie. No planets left--all the materials in them used
up to build these bubbtowns. There'll be just big shining, magnificent
rings made up of countless little floating stellene houses all around
the sun. A zillion people, maybe more. Gardens, flowers, everything
beautiful. Everybody free to move anywhere. Uh-uh--I'm not making fun,
Frankie. I'm joining in with all the relief and happiness of my heart.
Only, it'll be kind of sad to see the old planets go--to be replaced by
a wonderful super-suburbia. Or maybe we should say, superbia."

Nelsen burst out laughing, at last. "You sly slob...! Anyhow, _that_
extreme is millenniums off--if it has a chance of happening, at all.
Even so, our descendants, if any, will be going to the stars by then.
There won't be any frustration of their thirst for danger... Just as
there isn't any, now, for us. Except that we can keep our weapons handy,
and hope... Me--I'm a bit bored with adventure, just at present."

"So am I," Two-and-Two affirmed fervently. "Now, have you got me a job,
Frankie?"

"There'll be something," Nelsen answered him. "Meanwhile, to keep from
feeling regimented by civilization, you could take your rocket launcher
and join the perimeter watchers that range out a thousand miles..."

Nance Codiss arrived a week later, with a group of recent Pallastown
convalescents. Bad signs came with her, but that fact got lost as she
hugged Nelsen quickly there in the dwelling he had set up with the
thought it would be their home. At once she went on a feminine exploring
expedition of the prefab's interior, and its new, gleaming appointments.
Kitchen, living room, sundeck. Nelsen's garden was already well along.

"Like the place?" he asked.

"Love it, Frank," she answered quietly.

"It could have been more individual," he commented. "But we were in a
hurry. So they are all identical. That can be fixed, some, soon. You're
thinking about improvements?"

Her eyes twinkled past the shadow i