"Yes, Men of Earth, we suggest that you try Alpha Centauri."
The men stood silent and numb, like bewildered children, as the implication of those incredible words sifted into their consciousness.
Finally Fong said, "Did—did you hear that? He said..."
Captain Sam Wiley nodded, very slowly. "Yes. Alpha Centauri. Alpha Centauri."
His eyes began to twinkle, and then he smiled....
————
Onward sped the Wanderer, onward through cold, silent infinity, on and on, an insignificant pencil of silver lost in the terrible, brooding blackness.
Yet even greater than the blackness was the flaming hope in the six men who inhabited the silver rocket. They moved in hope as fish move in water. Their lives revolved in hope as planets revolve in space and time. They bore their hope like a jeweled crown, and it was as much a part of them as sight in their eyes. Hope was both their brother and their god.
And there was no loneliness.
THE END