“Hey, Garry, where are you going?” Patch asked interestedly.
Patch was short and towheaded. He was Garry’s best friend, and so Garry did not mind telling him.
“I’m going to the spaceport and watch the Orion blast off for the Von Braun Space Station. Want to go?”
“Sure thing!” Patch said.
“You’ll have to take the same chance that I do,” Garry reminded him.
“That’s okay by me.” Patch grinned. “If we do get caught, we’ll just be restricted to the grounds for two weeks. That won’t keep us out of the science lab where we spend a lot of time anyhow.”
It was a warm April night. The sky was thick with stars as bright as diamond dust.
“I’d give anything to be out there in the deeps among the planets,” Garry said, as they hurried across the newly sprouting lawn of the orphanage a few minutes later. “The life of a spaceman must be the most exciting thing in the world.”
“Yeah,” Patch agreed. “But I guess we’ll never make it, Garry, at least not for many years. And they say you sure have to know science and navigation. That takes a lot of study.”
“I wouldn’t care what it takes,” Garry said. “I’d be willing to study for as long as it would take, because the reward would be worth the effort.”