"Bruce is good at this."

She said, Bruce is SMOF-Three."

"A what?"

"A SMOF is a Secret Master of Fandom. Fen are a quirky and individual bunch and there aren't many who can handle them. Bruce is one. Benjamin Orange is another. Thank goodness he isn't here. Could you imagine two SMOFs at one con?"

Incredibly enough, he could. My God, he thought. I actually understood her.

"The first order of business," said Bruce for the fourth time in an hour, "is what do we do with the Angels."

Alex seized the opportunity. "Now that we re members of this committee--"

Fang cut him off. "Only of the Convention, not the committee. But of course as guests you can--"

"This is serious," Crazy Eddie protested. His big eyes were nearly filled with tears. "Can't you understand that?"

"You have a suggestion?" Bruce prompted.

Alex looked around helplessly. I guess not. We can't really do anything for ourselves until we can move around better."

"Steve's helping them," Sherrine said. "Teaching them asanas. For older people."

"Appropriate," Alex said. "We feel old."

It is an ancient mariner, he stoppeth one of three--" Gordon said.

"Lousy fielding average," Mike said. "No long gray beards, either."

"You have read it!" Gordon exclaimed. "Coleridge and Pushkin, no one reads any more. You have--"

Bruce bellowed, "QUIET!" For an instant the room was shocked silent.

"What's the problem anyway?" Thor asked. "We just keep them hidden until the other Angels send a ship. Then we whisk them off to the rendezvous."

"Well, sure," said Steve. "But how do we keep them hidden? And where? Here in Minneapolis? What if the pickup ship has to land in Arizona? Can we get them there in time?"

Alex glanced at Gordon, who bit his lip and lowered his eyes. No point putting this off he thought. He took a deep breath-from the stoma and through the left nostril. "There won't be a pickup ship," he told the committee.

Sherrine nodded to herself. Bruce's expression didn't change.

"Why not?" Fang demanded.

"They won't come down the Well."

Everyone spoke at once. "Gravity well, Earth is deep in it." "Niven's Belters called planets 'holes."' "Come off it, they'll come, these are ANGELS'!' "I knew we needed contingency plans--"

Bruce made a whistle of his fingers. Into the silence that followed he asked, "What do you mean? The Angels won't come to get you?"

Alex looked around the circle of faces. Angels. A sulky adolescent stilyagin and a construction worker who can't go Out anymore. Maybe I should have said to hell with it, work EVA until my brains pour out through my nose. Why not?

"It's impossible," he said.

Sherrine nodded again, a tiny movement. "I thought so. Jesus, I'm sorry."

"But you're space pilots," Crazy Eddie said. "They need you--"

Gordon laughed. Everyone looked at him. "What's funny?" Fang demanded.

"Alex is hero. They would come for him, but there is no way."

"They don't need me," Alex said. "And it doesn't matter anyway. There is no way for them to come get us."

"Coming down is no problem," Mike said. His voice lost the bantering tone. "Going back up--"

"Exactly," Alex said. "Going back up. We don't have any ships that will land and take off again. We never did."

Sherrine was looking at him strangely. "You knew it all along."

"There here never was a time to tell you."

"Why is Alex a hero?" Edward Two Bats demanded.

"Eddie--"

"I'm a novelist, damn it! I'm not sure I ever met a hero before. Gordon?"

"Flare time," Gordon said. "Solar flares expand atmosphere. Mir became unstable. Major MacLeod brought a crew from Freedom…" He sensed incomprehension in the background murmur and the twisted frowns. "I start over.

"Flare on the sun. Too much energy floods day side of Earth. Top of air becomes hot. Atmosphere inflates like vast balloon, reaches far into space, wraps ghostly tendrils around Mir. Mir Space Station, made to fall free through vacuum, begins to slow and drift closer to Earth.

"Major MacLeod brought a crew from Freedom. They attached booster rockets to lift Mir to higher orbit without disruption. With Mir safe, he had to return to bolt rockets onto Freedom, because Freedom was dangered, too. His suit blew out. Had to patch it and use it again. Pressure suit, it must fit more closely than wife. Cannot borrow someone else's." Alex choked back a laugh. Gordon never noticed. "Once, twice, five times his suit spewed air. One can live through that, but not many times.

"Now he cannot go outside again. Alex MacLeod cannot live in vacuum, even short time will kill him."

"But you flew the scoopship!"

"Dipping takes a good pilot," Alex said. "I'm that. Paint stripes on a brick, I can fly it." He liked the look that Sherrine gave him. But-- "Dipping wants an expendable pilot. I'm that, too. Look, everyone knew we might not come back."

"So you're here for the duration," Bruce said.

"Looks that way."

Everyone was quiet. Alex looked from face to face. It was beginning to sink in: This wasn't just a short jaunt. These… fans hadn't signed on for a long haul. Pretty soon the novelty would wear off. Some already had second thoughts. And I can't blame them.

Sherrine put her hand on his arm. "So you volunteered knowing it might be one way."

He shook his head. "No, this is the first time like this. Usually nothing happens to dippers."

"Except sometimes they don't come back," Mike said. "Yeah, I can see it."

Sherrine hugged them, first Alex, then Gordon. "Orphans of creation," she said. "At least you're stuck among friends." Steve put a hand on each of their shoulders and squeezed gently but didn't say anything. Alex could feel the impression of Sherrine's ribs an cheekbones where she had pressed against him. Careful, he cautioned himself. Sherri is Bob's girl, like Mary was Lonny's. Like borrowing another man's space suit. Look where it got you.

Bruce looked thoughtful. "This changes things."

"Sure does," Crazy Eddie said.

"Look, I don't blame you," Alex started to say.

Bruce cut him off. "We'll have to find you both a niche here on Earth. Not going to be easy on you. We all read Heinlein's story."

" 'It's Great to Be Back,' " Sherrine said. "Yes. It must be that way. Living among the stars and then stranded on Earth."

Mike said, "First thing you need is Social Security and driver's license."

Gordon looked puzzled. "Driver license? For what, mass driver? Disk drive?"

Mike sighed. "Never mind."

"Identity papers," Alex said.

"Why do we need identity papers?" Gordon asked. "We are all droogs here, no?"

How they knew that "droog" meant "friend," Alex couldn't guess; but Mike actually, smiled. "Sure, we're all droogs," he said. "Illegal droogs."

"You need an ID," said Thor, "because 'the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave' has become 'the Land of the Fee and the Home of the Slave.' "

"Do you have ID?" Alex asked him.

He smiled. "Sure. Three or four."

"Phony?"

"Free enterprise. They're the best kind."

"Sherrine?" Bruce asked.

"Risky. It was easier when I set things up for Thor. Now they have programs to watch for hackers."

"You probably wrote them," Steve said.

"Well, Ted Marshall and I worked on the Bytehound program, and we left a backdoor in, so I can probably manage it--Sure. We can do it, maybe, but it's going to take some time at my terminal and I have to get hold of Ted."

"He's not coming," Bruce said. "Thinks he's being watched."

"It's important we don't give him away," Crazy Eddie said.

"So we make do until then," Fang said.