Jack Lewis

“ Claude looked at his wife; watched her nod, and answer his smile. "All right," he said. He raised his arm over the foam-cushion seat-back till it rested on the boy's shoulder.
"You see, Billy, things back on Earth are pretty bad—have been for over a hundred years now. There's too many cities, too many wars, and too many people—it's mostly too many people. They don't have room to move around any more the way they used to....
"To make it worse there are always some people who figure that someone else has a little more room than they have, so they try to take it away from them by starting a war. ”

“ I know it won't, but wouldn't it be nice if it did."
"It will, Claude. It will for as long as we live anyhow, and for as long as Billy lives. That's what's important. We're very lucky, Claude."
"I can't help thinking of the people back on Earth. I feel sorry for them."
"They could do what we did. They could take the tests."
"I know. But even if they did, what would they have? Who'd want to homestead the other side of this planet? Who'd want to live out there anyway?" ”

“ Marshall," he said. "I'll be blunt. It's occurred to me that if the date on your claim were changed, the land would naturally be yours. The difficulty of course lies in the fact that there are duplicate records on Terra and we'd have to take care of the man who handles them. Otherwise the discrepancy would show up eventually. Actually, I want nothing for myself but these people in Washington—"
"Yeah, I know," Claude interrupted. "It's someone else who's getting the money. It's always someone else who's getting the money." ”

“ Claude remained silent, regarding the conversation carefully. A pattern was beginning to form now—a familiar pattern. He walked over to where the Director was standing.
"Perhaps you could make a suggestion, Mr. Stubbs. Surely there must be opportunities on this side of the planet for a man with six-thousand credits?"
"I'm not quite sure what you're getting at," Leon Stubbs said.
"I think you do, Mr. Stubbs," Claude retorted. "I think we're both getting at the same thing. Suppose we dispense with the subtleties and get down to cases."
The Director sat down at the desk pyramiding his fingertips. ”

“ Now that you've passed, I'm driving you out to your homestead site."
Claude looked back at the newly-arrived spaceship and the tiny figures who were huddled at its base.
"All those people," he said. "You mean they still have to go through what we did?"
The driver shook his head.
"No. Those people are going back to Earth. You see, Mr. Marshall, those are the people who offered Leon Stubbs the bribe." ”

“ Claude said. "The ships go back practically empty. A return berth will be no trouble at all. We're returning on the first ship out."
"Perhaps we could make a better deal," Stubbs said. "Perhaps five thousand is too much. Perhaps—"
"No. No deals! Let's go Joan."
They went outside, into the fresh warm sunshine, staring at the torpedo shaped spaceship standing in the clearance area half-a-mile away.
They'd just started toward it, when a jeep squealed up alongside them. Bruce Whiting was at the wheel.
"Hi," he said. "Hop in. I'll give you a lift."
"Thanks," Claude said without bitterness. ”

“ Nor were they alone in their eagerness to begin a new way of life. Other settlers—some of them burdened-down with supplies that almost equalled their own weight—had already started a trek over the virgin landscape. ”

“ Marshall. You can't make the trip after dark. Why don't you and your family camp here for the night.... Alice has supper nearly ready and there's more than enough to go around...."
"We have our own rations," Claude said.
Bruce Whiting spread out his hands. "Look, Mr. Marshall. I know how you feel. I know, because it's the same way I feel. I guess a man can't help the way he feels when something threatens the thing he's been dreaming about all his life. ”

“ And now that you're here you'll all be facing another test.... The test of practical application.
"Some of you are fortunate in the respect that you've been awarded land reasonably close to the spaceport area. Some of you are not so fortunate, and will have to travel several hundred miles. Perhaps those of you in this latter category will find some consolation in the fact that since you left Terra, the government has started a movement to populate the other side of the planet. As a matter of fact, all future applications will be assigned to that area."
Claude looked at his wife. ”

“ Actually the only communication we have with Terra short of space travel, is by short wave radio, and radio waves as you may know travel at approximately the speed of light. Since we are approximately 4.4 light-years away from Earth, a round trip message to Washington would take about nine years. This of course does not take into consideration the time needed to process your case."
Claude kept watching the Director's face while he spoke. He looked like an honest man. ”

“ Marshall. Don't be bitter. It isn't my fault."
Claude got up placing his palms on the edge of the metal desk. He leaned forward till his face was only inches away from the Director's cigar, and said: "Isn't it?"
The Director didn't answer. Instead he got up and walked over to the open window. For ten full seconds he stared out at the lush valley that flanked the spaceport. Then he turned.
"You want my advice, Mr. Marshall?"
Claude shrugged his shoulders.
"Go home," Leon Stubbs said. "You can't bring up a boy on the cold-side. It just wouldn't work." ”

“ That's where we're going to live. And there isn't a better piece of land anywhere.... I know!"
At the gentle urging of the attendant, they moved off the ramp and melted into the group of passengers drifting toward the ranch-type building at the edge of the area. A sign over the building said: RECEPTION CENTER, and a man was standing in front of it. The man wasn't old by Earth standards, but leathery skin, and steel-grey patches of hair around his temples made him look very ancient alongside the composite youth of the newly-arrived settlers. ”

“ When you've been here a while, you'll realize that because of our relatively small numbers, and comparative inexperience in economic matters, we're a tightly-knit group.... We have to be.
"There is one thing however that works in our favor. There are no irrationals or psychological deviants on Centifor. ”