Edmond Hamilton

“ Fourth of July on the moon?"
"Oh, no. If the experiment is a success the next rocket will carry men instead of a bomb."
Myra went to the kitchen to see about supper. John called, "Where's Bobby? In bed I suppose."
Myra didn't hear and John set his drink down and moved toward the bedroom. Maybe he was still awake.
Bobby rolled over. His eyes popped open. "Dad! I thought you went to—"
John Kendall sat down on the edge of the bed and tousled his son's hair. "No, son. It's the old terra firma for me. Did you see the rocket blast?"
"Uh-huh. It was really something. It went to the moon, didn't it?" ”

“ 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! ”

“ 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. ”