I spend six months in space and then twelve months dirtside while the next guy in the rotation goes up,” Jack said, draining his martini. Elizabeth ...ad another mixed in a flash.“In space? You mean up there?” I pointed heavenward.“Yeah. It’s a little lonely, but Evelyn and I talk several times a day when my orbit crosses her location. But six months of not having to see anyone or talk to anyone except my team if they have a correction to make for my rounds.” Jack tipped the next martini back and. The times she came to visit she'd usually be there before I got home from work and we'd all have dinner together. Then she'd stay until ten or eleven, depending on how long her drive home was. The three of us got along really well. There was something about the women in that family, I reflected years later, that I really liked. As it turned out, there was something about me that the women in that family really liked too, but that story's for a later chapter.The only luxury in my life at the. Bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored. Oh my god, I'm boring you." Uhhh?" All this time together, doing absolutely everything we could together, and you would rather watch TV." Well, um, not everything." Hmm?" We haven't done everything." ?" ?" I don't think I know what you mean." Yes, you do." Wait, what?" Wake up the hamsters. Turn the wheel. Do some math." ?" ?" Are weeee tal?" Uh huh." ?" ?" You've?always?said 'no' to things like that. Firmly." Yeah, well, things change." I. "I was just wondering, Jock," Axel was saying as he studied the long fine ash on the tip of his cigar, "what kind of shape you're in these days; for example, do you think you can still run fast enough to snatch a lady's handbag on a crowded city street and get away with it?" You should know what kind of shape I'm in," Jock reminded his friend pleasantly. "What was the score the last time we played?" He knew better than to ask the reason for this odd question, which had come completely out of.