"Hell,” he said, “my tobacco's all gone."
Greg grinned. “You won't have to wait long. We'll be back on Earth in a few more hours."
Russ put the stem between his teeth, bit down on it savagely. “I guess that's right. I can dry smoke her until we get there."
Earth was larger now. Mars had swung astern.
Suddenly a winking light stabbed out into space from the night side of Earth. Signaling… signaling… clearing the spacelanes for a greater future than any human prophet had ever predicted.