When Zip inquired about the offices of Starlight Enterprise, the Starmen were ushered to a small moonbus and driven directly to the site. The complex was a small two-story building set in a row of offices, workshops, and garages not far from the landing field. All buildings on Ceres were made of the gray rock native to the asteroid. Building material was cheap and solid, but plain.
Although the city itself was covered with an atmosphere dome, the SE office was located close to the landing field, not within the city proper. Entrance was through an airlock. Once through the airlock, the Starmen removed their helmets and placed them on the rack.
“Whoopee! This is fun, being famous!” exclaimed Joe, his eyes alight. “I hope it lasts until we get back to the Earth-Moon system! I’d like to enjoy it!”
“I hope so, too, for all our sakes. Your exploits have given all the Starmen a good name!” Joe whirled.
“Kathryn Mullaney!” cried Joe. Mark and Zip smiled widely.
“What are you doing on Ceres, Kathryn?” asked Zip. “I haven’t seen you since your last visit to the Academy at the beginning of our senior year.” Kathryn Mullaney had graduated from Starlight Academy a year before Zip and his partners; her first assignment as a Starman was in the Outer Planets. She was twenty years old, wore her strawberry blond hair short, and had a few freckles spangled across her nose below blue eyes which had a touch of green in them.
“Finished my assignment on Ganymede and I’m coming back home for a leave which I hope will be very long! I spent eight months in the smallest population center in the Solar System, and can’t wait to get back where there are crowds of people! I’m just staying here long enough for a quick once-over on my ship, refueling, and then I’m Earth-bound. In fact, I’m on my way out now.”
There was a little more pleasant conversation, then Kathryn said, “I’ve got to be going, and Sim is waiting for you upstairs. Good luck!”
Zip, Mark, and Joe ascended the stairs and came to the landing. The stairway and corridors were very plain. There was no unnecessary ornamentation of any kind, and lighting was minimal. They found a door with a sign on it that read STARLIGHT ENTERPRISE in bold letters. A second line provided the name of SE’s resident operations officer on Ceres: “Sim Sala Bim.” Joe knocked.
“Come in,” said a voice. The Starmen entered the door. The occupant, a tall, slender man of Indian extraction with black thinning hair, was already coming toward the door to welcome his visitors. “Welcome! So glad to see you! Welcome, please come in!” He ushered them into the room.