Metafire

The inhabitants of the two capsules then exited and met as old acquaintances in the bay area. Floating out and around made it easy to pick out others for hand grasps and hugs. Out of Metafire One came the slight, cute, Janet Davis, a pleasant, rugged faced, Reba Spires, and a sharp looking Kennedy Windfield. The last person out was George Davis. Out of Whitefire came five. First out was Michael Yatchiv and Isolova Kochubel. They were holding hands when they pushed over to Janet. But when Janet saw Andrei show his head, she put her hand on their shoulders, said her apologies, and pushed over passed them.

Andrei Gleba had jet black longish hair with a wave over the front. It was like the wind constantly was blowing it. Behind Andrei was Marie Burak. But Janet called to Andrei as the two were emerging. She wrapped her arms around Andrei and started kissing and hugging him, like a long lost brother.

Finally, Platon Burak emerged. He was married to the pretty Marie. He had a more businesslike approach than the others. He said hello to the Americans individually, telling George Davis that he was happy that they were finally able to join up. English, Russian, and Ukranian talk was liberally mixed. It was as if they all could speak any of the languages equally fluently. There was no strain in their interactions at all.