The Martian colony was complaining about taxes and threatening to secede; the campaign for Galaxy Manager was in full swing and the network was allotting equal mud-slinging and empty-promise time to each Party; the Solar Congress had doubled the defense budget for next year; and an unconfirmed report had been received that an unidentified space ship had landed on the dark side of Earth's moon. I yawned and switched off the set.
"Why the hell does anybody want to live on Earth?" I said.
Ruth smiled at me, a sympathetic wifely smile. She'd been watching me all evening and she knew something wasn't right. "What's the matter, Harry?"
I sighed. "Tell me about Adam-Two."
"Oh, Him."
"Yeah. Him."
She looked a little embarrassed. "I didn't suppose you knew. Did he tell you?"
Now I was confused. "Did he tell me what?"
She stood up suddenly. "Stop sparring with me, Harry. Did he tell you or not?"
"Tell me what?" I almost shouted it this time.