Mom smiled too and went back to her fashions. "Well, see to it your fuel
mixture is correct."
"I'll check it. And Mom--I might not be home for lunch."
"Where will you be?"
"Oh, I don't know."
"Well, mind your manners and say thank you when you leave."
Mrs. Kendall, still smiling, watched Bobby dash out into the yard.
Living on a restricted government area had one compensation at least.
You didn't have to worry about your children. Four dozen families, all
with offspring, trapped behind ten-foot patrolled fence. Here, nobody
worried about their children. They came and went and at noon a mother
fed whatever number happened to be in the house at the time. Mrs.
Kendall usually drew six or seven. It would be a relief to dodge the
chore for one Saturday....
* * * * *
Out in the backyard, Bobby fussed around his space rocket a little:
tightening a screw here--hammering in a nail there. Just until he could
slip away without Mom noticing his direction.
It wasn't a bad rocket at that, he thought. Six feet long with two seats
and a keen instrument panel. But kid stuff of course. After he found the
way in through the sewer he hadn't paid any more attention to his own
ship.
He could see Mom through the window, back in her book, so he went
casually out through the back gate and turned left, kicking at pebbles
as he sauntered along and trying to look as though he had no place to
go. Had to be careful. Didn't want to bump into any of the other kids
today, either.
The way in through the sewer was at a place behind Laboratory B. There
was a kind of an alley there that nobody ever walked through and then
this round lid you could lift up and look under. And a ladder you could
climb down.
Bobby hadn't dared go down at first. But, after thinking about it
overnight, his curiosity won out and he went back and ducked down
into the lower level. He called it a sewer because of sewers being
underground, but this place was clean and had bunches of wires strung
in every direction and faint little lights you could see by.
Bobby went further and further every trip he took, never telling anybody
because you weren't supposed to talk about things at Buffalo Flats--not
even to the other kids.
Then he found the big drome where they were building the rocket. It was
so sleek and beautiful and shiny that he just stared at it--up through
the grating in the floor that was for air circulation or something.
He didn't know it was the moon rocket at first. Not until he'd gone back
several times to peek up at it and then one day two scientists came
walking along right in front of his nose.
One of them was Dad.
Bobby almost called out but he caught himself and just listened to them
talking. This was the first time his conscience bothered him about going
underneath the drome. He thought about it a lot--whether it was the
right thing to do. And while he was never able to still his conscience
completely, he quieted down by saying he really wasn't doing any harm
because he'd never told anybody what he saw.
He learned the rocket was going to the moon by listening to Dad and the
other scientists talk when they thought they were alone. And it was
funny. Because even there, they spoke in low voices and didn't give too
much away.
He had known now for three days that at four o'clock the roof would open
and the drome would be turned into a blast-pit and the rocket would
shoot out through space to the moon.
That was all he _did_ know for sure. None of the men had said who was
going on the first trip to the moon. Nothing had been said on that
subject at all, but Bobby knew Dad would go. He would have to. After
all, Dad was the second biggest scientist at Buffalo Flats. Second only
to Schleimmer himself and Professor Schleimmer was very old and
certainly wouldn't make the trip. That left Dad. Dad would just have to
go in order to run the rocket. There probably wasn't anybody else smart
enough in the whole place.
The idea of going himself had been born the previous day--when he found
a larger grating in the floor near the rocket and realized if he was
very careful he could climb out of the sewer and duck into the rocket
when nobody was looking. Once inside he was pretty sure he'd find a
place to hide until blast-off.
All the men would probably be strapped in bunks but if he found a place
he could wedge himself in he didn't think he'd get hurt. Then, halfway
to the moon he would come out and find Dad and would he be surprised!
At first, thinking about it, he'd been scared but after he realized how
proud Dad and Mom would be, he made up his mind.
Now, crouched beside the grating near the ship, he waited while two
men--technicians in white overalls--walked by.