"Matt, I don't think you have picked the right tack to quiet your mother's fears," his father said dryly. "I suggest we not talk about bombing cities."
"But I didn't- Sorry, Father."
"Catherine, there really is nothing to get worked up over -you might just as well be afraid of the local policeman. Matt, you were going to tell me about inspection. Why do the rockets have to be inspected?"
"I want to know why Mattie got bawled out!"
Matt cocked an eyebrow at his brother. "I might as well start by telling him, Dad-it has to do with inspection. Okay, Bill-I made a poor dive when we started to pick it up and had to come back on my suit jet and try again."
"What do you mean, Matthew?"
"He means-"
"Pipe down, Billie. Dad, you send a man out in a suit to insert the trigger guard and attach a line to the rocket so you can bring her inboard of the ship and work on her. I was the man. I made a bad push-off and missed the rocket entirely. She was about a hundred yards away and I guess I misjudged the distance. I turned over and found I was floating on past her. I had to jet back and try again."
His mother still seemed confused, but did not like what she heard. "Matthew! That sounds dangerous to me."
"Safe as houses, Mother. You can’t fall, any more than the rocket can, or the ship. But it's embarrassing. Anyhow, I finally got a line on her and rode her back into the ship."