"Hello, Mary."
"Miss Peterson, I don't know how to begin. But I've got to talk to you. You're a stranger and—Miss Peterson, please. You've got to do something...."
"How can I help you if I don't know what you're talking about?" Jeanne almost felt like saying, sister, I've got problems of my own.
"It's Curt. Captain Curt Macomber. He's—maybe I shouldn't be telling you this. You won't say anything. I mean—"
"For gosh sakes, what do you mean?"
The girl sniffled.
"I'm sorry," said Jeanne. "Go ahead." Maybe she'd feel better herself if she heard someone else's problems.
"Curt is going—up there. To the—the moon. I still can hardly believe it. But they're sending him to join Captain Bentley. Tonight, at midnight."
"That's right, they did say something about sending a man to help Tom with whatever he's doing."
"Establishing a base, that's what. Curt told me. Curt said—he said he was going. He got two weeks of fast training and that's it. He told me the ship—the spaceship—worked automatically, anyway. Captain Bentley will brief him when he reaches the moon. Your Captain, Miss Peterson. But—but I'm so ashamed."