"But the stars were meant for us. They are our destiny!" Roberto realized he was speaking too loudly.
Mrs. Sanchez looked squarely at her son. Her words were measured and solemn like some solitary, tolling bell. "If God meant us to be on those stars he would have put us there. Roberto, take care. Listen to the word of your mother. I have not the cleverness of my children but I know things here." She touched her hand over her heart. "It may be as you say, all the millions of great stars. But they are God's high places and I tell you, my son, whoever dares violate them will be struck down."
"But, Mama! In ancient times, when man first took to the air, there were those who proclaimed man presumed too much and would be punished. And a thousand years ago there were people who spoke as you do when man first went into space. They too said God gave us the earth and to covet the moon and the planets was a grievous sin."
Mrs. Sanchez shrugged. "There are always the fanatics. Your mama is not one of them. God gave men the sun and the moon and the planets and set them apart from the stars for him to work out his salvation. It is natural and right."
"And he did not give us the stars also?"
"In the sky He put them as a testament to His glory. You have shaken my poor head with the measure of their distance. But it serves to show that they would not have been placed out of reach if they were intended for us to have."
"But Mama, soon they will no longer be out of reach. Your own son will go to the first one in a great new ship."
Mrs. Sanchez turned troubled eyes on her son. "I will pray for you." She averted her face and would no longer look directly at him.
Roberto angrily snatched up the star projector and went to his room.
His father followed. "You must understand," he said, "your mother is a simple woman. She would rather think of the stars as the lamps of the angels than the huge blazing spheres that they are."