Leo was lifting his pistol out of its holster, inchingly.
"Friends," Kirk rasped.
Leo's thin eyes flickered and the pistol slid back into the holster.
Kirk turned around slowly, and he saw that Loren had stopped just inside the clearing. The animal remained beside him, its head making its slow circles. Loren was staring up at the rocket and the sun reflecting from the bright surface, came down and shown on Loren's face, deepening the lines there.
"Leo," Kirk said slowly, "this is Harry Loren and his friend, Eddie. Harry's been here quite a while, waiting for us."
"Oh, yes?" said Leo, still not moving.
"That's right, Leo," Kirk said. "Quite a while. What year was it, Harry?" he said across the clearing. "What year did you crash?"
Loren blinked and there were tears again in his eyes. He reached out slowly, and the animal shifted so that its head touched Loren's hand. "Twenty-four-nineteen."
Kirk put his teeth together. "Twenty-four-nineteen," he said.
Loren nodded slowly, his eyes still upon the rocket.