FARMER: But suppose they are hostile? And they have the technology to follow the Eiferman back here?

SHAW: That seems unlikely. Let’s go get some answers. I was happy to see they put Hutchins on board to run things. Obviously, that’s good news. If anybody can make the mission work and bring them home safely without being followed, she’s the one.

5.

A brother may not be a friend, but a friend will always be a brother.

—Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1752

Derek left a message: Her copilot would be Hugh Walcott. She knew him but had never been on a mission with him. He had a good reputation, and he’d been on the Eiferman a few months before for a short flight. And of course Blanchard was going. Three others would complete the team. She had no connection with any of them, who were identified as an MD, a technician, and a historian. The historian was Ken Squires, who’d written several bestsellers. So he was on board for obvious reasons.

Maureen was teaching at Westside High School, which stood atop a hill overlooking the Potomac. Hutch had been there before as a guest speaker at a dinner for a retiring teacher who’d served as a technician on the Union Space Station. And she’d handed out diplomas at a graduation ceremony. But on this occasion there was a painful dimension to the experience. Tor would have loved to see the young woman his daughter had become. He’d missed so much.

Hutch was scheduled to talk with Maureen’s first-, second-, and fourth-period classes. She came early, arriving as the students headed toward their homerooms.

She went into the front office and signed in. A staff member escorted her to her daughter’s room. She arrived just as the students were settling in to their seats. Some of them looked from her to Maureen, apparently trying to decide who was their teacher. Hutch’s antiaging treatment had remarkable effects. She would have admitted it to no one, but she loved seeing the confusion. “See?” one of the girls said. “I told you so.”

Her daughter gave her a big smile. “Hi, Mom.” She came over and they embraced.

Then Maureen turned to the class. “Boys and girls, I’d like to introduce you to one of the great women of the space age, Priscilla Hutchins. My mother. She’ll be explaining to us why space travel is so much fun.”

One of the boys said, “Hello, Hutch.” That brought a round of laughs.