She looked amused. "Jacob wouldn't have gotten into your situation. He wouldn't have struck Cobb. Jacob is—"
"A man? And I'm still a boy? Is that what you mean?"
"Not exactly. I think you'll be a man after you make your decision."
He frowned, not liking her answer.
"You think the dream of going into space is a boy's dream, that it can't belong to a man, too?"
"Oh, no. Jacob still has the dream. Most of our men do. And in a man, it's even more wonderful than in a boy." Then her face became more serious. "Ben, you've got to decide soon. And it's got to be a complete decision. You can have no doubt in your mind."
He nodded. "On account of Simon, you mean."
She motioned for him to come to the window in his room. He gazed outward, following the line of her finger as she pointed.
He saw a man-sized mound of stones, dimly visible beneath the wind-whipped dust.
A grave.