ad to contact a doctor."

Amantha handed the child to Ethan. "You hold him." She went into the
kitchen.

Ethan tossed the child up. "Here we go," he bellowed. "Free fall. Got to
start early to make a spaceman out of you." The Sitta stared at them,
puzzled, as the infant shrieked with fear or joy. "Now if only Jimmy was
here to see us," said Ethan, grinning proudly.

Jimmy didn't come back soon enough. The police arrived first.

* * * * *

Ethan wandered to the window. The ground was far below. He didn't want
to think of what was outside the door.

"Don't mind jail myself--been in a few." He looked at Amantha. "Just for
raising hell. Never thought I'd be responsible for putting _you_ behind
bars."

[Illustration]

"It wasn't you," said Amantha, her back straightening. "Curious about it
myself." Wisps of hair straggled over her face. "I mean why didn't we
think of it on Mars? Didn't we know what they'd do?"

"I guess we didn't." Ethan cracked his knuckles contemplatively. "Did it
occur to you?"

"No. I can't understand." She frowned, but it didn't help clarify what
she was thinking about.

"We're criminals," said Ethan soberly. "Thieves."

"I don't mind for us. Jail's not much worse than the home for Retired
Citizens. It's our grandson I'm thinking of."

"Don't worry. They won't do a thing to him." His eyes widened and he
wiped off the sweat. "Oh. I see what you mean."

"Jailbirds," said Amantha. "We'll still be in here when he grows up.
It's a fine way to help your kin. They'll never trust him with us in his
family."

"Jailbirds," repeated Ethan mournfully. By some magic, his face cracked
along the wrinkles and broke into a smile. "But once we flew," he
whispered to himself.

The door opened and an official of some sort came in. Outside, Ethan
caught a brief glimpse of guards.

Marlowe, chief training director of space pilots for Interplanet
Transport, Inc., walked in silence across the room and eased tiredly
into a chair behind the desk. He'd gotten the news late at night, having
been the first one contacted. The ship that had been lost had showed up
in the atmosphere. There couldn't be a mistake. No other flight was
scheduled for months.

"Follow it," he had ordered and the trackers had kept it on the screen,
flashing a message to the police as soon as they located where it
landed. It was logical that it should go where it did, but he didn't
think that anything ab