“No,” said Mark. “That was destroyed when Lather melted the Vigilant Warrior. This is just part of our standard library. Beautiful piece. But I sure wish we hadn’t lost that disk Montezuma gave us. What a tragedy!”
“Yes, well, Vly did say that we could visit him again. Maybe he’ll give us another.”
“I’d like to see him again, but not for a while. I don’t want to leave home for a long time!”
At the end of their journey, the Star Ranger touched down gently on the tarmac at Amundsen Base, near the south pole of the Moon on the edge of the largest city in the Earth-Moon system—Amundsen City, with over eight million inhabitants. The Starmen debarked from their ship, crossed the field and entered the airlock that led into the receiving area. Through the second door, they could see an enormous crowd.
“Man! This place is jammed!” said Joe. “I’ve never seen so many people here!” As air filled the airlock, the Starmen removed their helmets and tucked them under their arms. Moments later they entered the public terminal. A roar went up from hundreds of voices.
“What’s this?” yelled Mark to Zip and Joe. He could barely make himself heard above the clamor.
“Look!” cried out Zip. “Our families!” With a big smile on his face, he pointed to the front of the crowd. There were the boys’ parents—Allen and Elizabeth Foster with Zip’s eight-year old sister, Kathy; Keith and Barbara Seaton; and Charlie and Laura Taylor. All were smiling hugely.
“Wow!” exclaimed Mark. “All these people are here for us!”
Although the crowd was being kept behind a light barrier of stanchions and ribbons, as soon as the Starmen came through the airlock, Zip’s sister Kathy ducked under the ribbon and ran toward them.
“David, David!” she yelled. When she was still a few feet away from her brother, she leaped and flew into his welcoming arms. “David, I missed you!” she cried, snuggling her head into his shoulder. “I was so worried!”