Tommy Sweeney walked smiling into the compartment, his shoulders squared. He came through the pilot-room wall in a blaze of light, and stood between Ned and Helen, his lips quivering in boyish earnestness.
"Take any school," Tommy said. "Some of the pupils are bright. Some are just good students who work hard at their homework. Some are stupid and dull. If you let them stay together the bright ones, the really bright ones, get held back."
Tommy seemed suddenly to realize he was seeing Ned and Cynthia for the first time in ten years. His good friends, Ned and Cynthia. A Cynthia who was as beautiful as ever, though deathly pale now, and a Ned who was just a little older and grayer.
A broad grin overspread his face. "I knew you'd come back!" he said.
"You—you came through a solid metal wall!" Ned said, feeling as though an earthquake had taken place inside of him.
"It's easy when you know how!" Tommy said.
"Who taught you how?" Cynthia asked, in a voice so emotional Ned forgot his own horror in concern for her sanity. "Who taught you, Tommy?"
"The Green People!" Tommy said.
"The Green—People?"
"They live in the forest," Tommy said. "They come out at night and dance around the house. They hold hands and dance and sing. Then they talk to us. To mom, dad and sis—but mostly to me. They taught me how to play, to really have fun."