“ Who was normal?"Geraniums don't smell much anyway," added Gregory in a more conciliatory tone."Yeah," agreed Frankston, "I'd forgotten that. But why does he torture himself like this, and us, too?""Because that's what he wanted to do," answered James."Sure," agreed Gregory, "the whole trip—the last twenty years of it, anyhow—all he could talk about was how, when he got back to Earth, he was going to buy a little place in the country and raise flowers.""Well, we're back," muttered Frankston, with a terrible bitterness. "He's raising flowers, but not in any little place in the country." ”
Lyn Venable
Summary
Quotes from Homesick (Lyn Venable)
“ What thrill is there in going out among the stars if coming back means bitter loneliness? Frankston pushed listlessly at a red checker with his right forefinger. He knew the move would cost him a man, but he lacked enough interest in the game to plot out a safe move. His opponent, James, jumped the red disk with a black king and removed it from the board. Gregory, across the room, flicked rapidly through the pages of a magazine, too rapidly to be reading anything, or even looking at the pictures. Ross lay quietly on his bunk, staring out of the viewport. ”
“ Gregory nodded, "I guess Trippitt was the lucky one.""You didn't see Trippitt die," replied James."What was it?" asked Frankston. "What killed Trippitt? So quickly, too. He was only outside a few minutes like the rest of us, and eight hours later he was dead.""We couldn't be sure," answered James. "Some virus. There are countless varieties. People live in a contaminated atmosphere all their lives, build up a resistance to them. Sometimes a particularly virulent strain will produce an epidemic, but most people, if they're affected, will have a mild case of whatever it is and recover. ”
