Alan felt something twitching at his cuff. He looked down and saw a
bluish-purple ball of fur sitting next to his shoe, studying him with a
wry expression.
"Rat!"
"Of course. Is there room for a third passenger on this jaunt of yours?"
"Application accepted," Alan said. Warmth spread over him. The long
quest was over. He was back among the people he loved, and the galaxy
was opening wide before him. A sky full of bright stars, growing
brighter and closer by the moment, was beckoning to him.
He saw the Crewmen coming from their posts now; the rumor had flitted
rapidly around the ship, it seemed. They were all there, Art Kandin and
Dan Kelleher and a gaping Judy Collier and Roger Bond and all the rest
of them.
"You won't be leaving right away, will you?" the Captain asked. "You can
stay with us a while, just to see if you remember the place?"
"Of course I will, Dad. There's no hurry now. But I'll have to go back
to Earth first and let them know I've succeeded, so they can start
production. And then----"
"Deneb first," Steve said. "From there out to Spica, and Altair----"
Grinning, Alan said, "More worlds are waiting than we can see in ten
lifetimes, Steve. But we'll give it a good try. We'll get out there."
A multitude of stars thronged the sky. He and Steve and Rat, together at
last--plunging from star to star, going everywhere, seeing everything.
The little craft grappled to the _Valhalla_ would be the magic wand that
put the universe in their hands.
In this moment of happiness he frowned an instant, thinking of a lean,
pleasantly ugly man who had befriended him and who had died nine years
ago. This had been Max Hawkes' ambition, to see the stars. But Max had
never had the chance.
_We'll do it for you, Max. Steve and I._
He looked at Steve. He and his brother had so much to talk about. They
would have to get to know each other all over again, after the years
that had gone by.
"You know," Steve said, "When I woke up aboard the _Valhalla_ and found
out you'd shanghaied me, I was madder than a hornet. I wanted to break
you apart. But you were too far away."
"You've got your chance now," Alan said.
"Yeah. But now I don't want to," Steve laughed.
Alan punched him goodnaturedly. He felt good about life. He had found
Steve again, and he had given the universe the faster-than-light drive.
It didn't take much more than that to make a man happy.
And now a new and longer quest was beginning for Alan and his brother. A
quest that could have no end, a quest that would send them searching
from world to world, out among the bright infinity of suns that lay
waiting for them.