Metafire

Erisa looked into the video display and said, "Sporkin. Jack, here, is with the Federal Cyberspace Research Center. He's a genius in finding things on the Net. We'll check that out." She proudly looked at Jack and reached out her hand to him. It was strangely cold and clammy. He was just looking into the display at the Metafire group. He didn't look back at her.

"Yes. Yes. We can check that out," he said quietly. "Is there no one on Metafire that wishes to return?"

No response.

Scooter then interjected, "We have a narrow window. You have one minute. By then I will have initiated the burn to return to Earth."

No response. Metafire in the video monitor was still. Like a family picture. A minute passed. Finally, in a characteristically complex maneuver, Scooter's tug altered its direction and fired its main rockets. A moment later George reached out and terminated the video conference.