"Lewis," Martha whispered softly. "It's very bright tonight, isn't
it?"

"Yes," I said.

"It seems so near."

She sighed and drew the shawl higher about her waist.

"Only three months by rocket ship," she said. "We could be back home
in three months, Lewis, if we went out on this week's run."

I nodded. For years we'd watched the rocket ships streak upward
through the thin Martian atmosphere, and we'd envied the men who so
casually travelled from world to world. But it had been a useless
envy, something of which we rarely spoke.

Inside our veranda the air was cool and slightly moist. Earth air,
perfumed with the scent of Earth roses. Yet we knew it was only
illusion. Outside, just beyond the glass, the cold night air of Mars
lay thin and alien and smelling of alkali. It seemed to me tonight
that I could smell that ever-dry Martian dust, even here. I sighed,
fumbling for my pipe.

"Lewis," Martha said, very softly.

"What is it?" I cupped my hands over the match flame.

"Nothing. It's just that I wish--I wish we _could_ go home, right
away. Home to Earth. I want to see it again, before we die."

"We'll go back," I said. "Next year for sure. We'll have enough money
then."

She sighed. "Next year may be too late."

I looked over at her, startled. She'd never talked like that before. I
started to protest, but the words died away before I could even speak
them. She was right. Next year might indeed be too late.

Her work-coarsened hands were thin, too thin, and they never stopped
shaking any more. Her body was a frail shadow of what it had once
been. Even her voice was frail now.

She was old. We were both old. There wouldn't be many more Martian
summers for us, nor many years of missing Earth.

"Why can't we go back this year, Lewis?"

She smiled at me almost apologetically. She knew the reason as well as
I did.

"We can't," I said. "There's not enough money."

"There's enough for our tickets."

I'd explained all that to her before, too. Perhaps she'd forgotten.
Lately I often had to explain things more than once.

"You can't buy passage unless you have enough extra for insurance, and
travelers' checks, and passport tax. The company has to protect
itself. Unless you're financially responsible, they won't take you on
the ships."

She shook her head. "Sometimes I wonder if we'll ever have enough."

* * * * *

We'd saved our money for years, but it was a pitifully