She drove him to his place. She did have his keys with her, too. She used the one that opened the gate to the parking under the building. After she pulled into his space, she gave it to him, along with the apartment key and the one that opened his mailbox in the front lobby.

He took his impedimenta out of the trunk. She’d got out with him, so he kissed her again. He thought about trying to steer her upstairs, then thought better of it. Instead, he said, “I’ll see you. We both need to crash.”

“Jesus, do we ever!” The way Anna said that made him realize he’d passed another test.

She slid into the car, backed out of the space, and made for the exit on the far side of the building. He followed; the stairs up to the ground level started from the driveway. He slowly climbed them, and the ones that led up to his apartment.

When he opened the door, the place smelled musty. Nobody’d been in and out much lately: just Anna fetching the mail every couple of days. He turned on a light. What she’d brought in lay on the coffee table. A manila envelope meant he’d had a story rejected. He’d get mad about that later.

Now … Now he opened the suitcase and took out Have Space Suit—Will Travel. They’d flipped through the pages before he left the Glomar Explorer. They hadn’t thought to take off the dust jacket, though. To make sure they didn’t, he’d helpfully held the book while they went through it. He took the jacket off now. He’d taped a photo of Humpty Dumpty inside the front panel, and one of a centaurowl inside the back panel.

They were here. They were safe. He’d made sure. He could relax, as much as he’d ever be able to relax now. He yawned. Relaxed or not, he was exhausted. Everything could wait till the sun came up. He shed his shoes, belt, and the stuff he had in his pockets, collapsed on the bed, and fell asleep.

XI

Jerry woke at half past ten. He still felt beat up and jet-lagged. Anna, of course, had been awake for hours, and was making money at her job. Jerry tried to decide whether he needed breakfast or a shower more. The shower won. It felt great. So did putting on clothes that weren’t the ones he’d been wearing over and over since June.

Breakfast … Breakfast was more complicated. The cupboard and fridge were bare. He didn’t have his car yet. The closest place where he could get food was Pizza Plus, a couple of blocks south and one west from his place. They were good, but in the morning when he didn’t have the munchies?