William F. Nolan

“ When the rocket landed, the crowds were there, waving and shouting out Murdock's name as he appeared on the silver ramp. He smiled and raised his hand in salute, standing there tall in the sun, his splendid dress uniform reflecting the light in a thousand glittering patterns.
At the far end of the ramp two figures waited. An old man, bowed and trembling over a cane, and a seamed and wrinkled woman, her hair blowing white, her eyes shining.
When the tall spaceman reached them they embraced him feverishly, clinging tight to his arms. ”

“ You will serve well in my place and my parents will never suspect that their son has not come home to them.
"It must all be perfect," said Murdock.
"Of course," said the machine. "When the month I am to spend with them is over they'll see me board a rocket for space—and they'll understand that I cannot return to them for another twenty years. They will accept the fact that a spaceman must return to the stars, that he cannot leave the service before he is 60. Let me assure you, sir, it will all go well."
Yes, Murdock told himself, it will go well; every detail has been considered. ”

“ He remembered his last night on Earth, twenty long years ago, when he had felt the pressing immensity of the vast and terrible universe surrounding him as he lay in his bed. He remembered the sleepless hours before dawn, when he could feel the tension building within the single room, within himself lying there in the heated stillness of the small, white house. ”