“Wonderful. I don’t suppose it’s occurred to you that, since nobody knows what’s out there, it could be dangerous?”

“We’ll be careful. In fact, they’re telling us to take no chances. If there’s actually somebody there, we won’t be going anywhere near them. We’ll just take a look and come home.”

“Answer a question for me, Priscilla: Don’t they have any other pilots? Why are they coming to you again?”

“Probably because I have the most experience with the drive unit. You don’t need to worry, Mom. We won’t take any chances.”

“I hope so, Priscilla.”

•  •  •

The kids weren’t exactly excited about the prospect of her leaving again either. Charlie pointed out that she’d miss Left at the Altar, the comedy at Washington University in which he would be playing a supporting character. And Maureen reminded her that she’d promised to talk to a couple of her classes. “When you get out there, you’re probably going to stay awhile, right?”

“Long enough to look around. I doubt we’ll stay much more than that.”

“I wish you wouldn’t do this.”

“I’ll be fine, Maureen.”

“Be careful, okay?”

“Of course.”

“Do you think you could come in next week? Talk about your life in the space program?”

“Sure. Tuesday okay?”

“Good. Let’s go with it.” She did not sound happy.

•  •  •

Hutch’s telomerase treatment, which kept her aging process inactive, was scheduled to happen in two months. It consisted of a single IV therapy given at ten-year intervals. It was a viral vector that delivered a plasmid to specific cells, directing them to reset telomere length, so that molecules were repaired and recycled at the same rate as in young cells. The process took thirty minutes.

It didn’t make her immortal. There were biological parts that eventually would break down regardless of treatment. But in the meantime, life was good.

It was a routine she didn’t want to play around with. She called her doctor’s office. Annie, the desk clerk, answered. “Any problem,” Hutch asked her, “if I miss a treatment by a few months? I’m going to be out of town for a while.”

“Probably be best if you come in before you leave. We can fit you in Monday morning if you like.”

“Good. Thanks, Annie.”

“We’re happy to help, Ms. Hutchins. But please be careful out there.”

Hutch paused. “How’d you find out?”

“About the Calliope? It was on The Morning Show.”

She settled in to watch Zero Sum, a comedy about a pair of physicists who are out of touch with the everyday world. Halfway through it, she got a call, but it was from Tom Axler. Tom was an occasional boyfriend, a police officer she’d met while singing in the church choir.

“Are you ever going to start living a normal existence?” he asked.