“I don’t know,” Grek said, uneasily.

“That’s it. None,” Proteus went on. His talk was supposed to keep Grek occupied while he went over his own last-minute plans. As the time approached for him to make his move, he was getting more and more nervous. Soon Grek would suggest that they return. As usual they’d be expected home before supper, and they’d been walking about two hours. It was near 6 p.m. Would he miss his father? Grek? Wasn’t there something he could say to Grek without giving the whole thing away? Something that Grek could remember afterward?

“Grek … we’re friends, aren’t we? Look, I like you a lot—”

Grek stopped and stared at him. “What did you need to say that for? Sure we’re friends—”

“I don’t know.” Proteus felt like laughing, like crying. He felt secretive, yet like shouting his secret aloud where everyone could hear it.

He caught himself—he needed the two-hour headstart. He had to get to the ramp that he’d staked out. He said, nonchalantly, “Let’s go back a different way.”

He paused and looked around as if trying to make up his mind which way to take. Actually, he was taking a long last look at the neighborhood in which he’d lived as long as he remembered. The living nodules stretched as far as he could see. Each complex was a duplication of ancient Earth conditions, as perfect as Art and Science could make it. Each city was done in the decor of a particular Earth period. This one was nineteenth-century America. He lived in the Ohio block.

“We always go home the way we came,” Grek said.

“I know, but the lunch race gave me an idea. Let’s each take a different route to my nodule and see who gets there first. I’ll go a block to the left and you go a block to the right. It’s just an idea. If you don’t want to—” Proteus broke off. He knew Grek would agree. Any kind of challenge was always fun.

“All right. Ready, set, go!” Grek shouted. He turned around without looking back, and began to run as fast as he could to the right. Shocked, Proteus just stood there for a moment. He hadn’t realized that Grek would take off so quickly or that there wouldn’t be time to make some gesture, some veiled good-by. Grek disappeared around the corner. Proteus began to run himself, going faster and faster now, stopping only when he had to catch his breath.