When Barrow called them to the main cabin, they came grudgingly, then slowly the expressions changed. Smiles appeared on their faces, and their heads moved with sheepish nods of a.s.sent.

"We're fools, and you all know it. We were happy in the domes, happier than we ever were in our lives before. We didn't appreciate it and longed to return to the earth. We wanted to leave, yet had everything there to live for. We had comfort, every pleasure, and more friends than we can possibly have on our own world. _I feel ashamed!_

"Right now we _wish_ that we were back in our own apartments, and might as well admit it. The earth is not what we want, _we want the domes_!

They are _home_!!!

"The best thing for us to do, now that we are on the way to the earth, is establish commerce.

"We can create friendship between the planets, but we are natives of Jupiter! Our interests will always be with the dome people. We have almost become part of that race, and they have given us everything in return. They even gave us our freedom when we wanted it. _We belong there!_"

Ten years more pa.s.sed, and John Barrow was beginning to help with his father's work. Vacationing in Jupiter's domes had become so popular on the earth that they were building another city to accommodate the tourist trade. It was the third to be added to the original six.

Merchant ships were constantly discharging goods from the earth, and carrying back rare metals.

s.p.a.ce ships from the earth, designed after the original Jupiter ship, were searching the little known planets for minerals. Domes were being built on three of the smaller globes, and pioneering humans migrated to new worlds. There was danger, yes, but also fame and fortune for the hardy people who would inhabit them.

The earth had changed a lot, since the visit of the s.p.a.ce ship. They had adopted the principle of controlling gravity, and tremendous structures were the result. New buildings were several times as large as the greatest structure of ten years before. Both planets had benefited from the friendship, and both were happier as a result.

As d.i.c.k Barrow's mind ran over these facts, he smiled and spoke aloud to himself. "And all of this in twenty years--it seems incredible!"

"What did you say, dear?" asked Dolores.

d.i.c.k smiled as he glanced at her. "It's nothing. I was just thinking.

Remember the night you fell in front of my table in the hotel? And I thought it was _accidental_--you scheming gold-digger!"

The ruler of the domes ducked when his wife threw her book--but she didn't throw it very hard.

THE END

FOOTNOTES:

[1] This gravity power was derived from huge weights swung on an axis that could be faced toward any point in the universe, and the slightest pull resulted in force that was exerted on the fuel. The explosive mixture remained at constant pressure, creating a smooth driving medium.

Discharge of the fuel under high compression resulted in greater power than could be obtained in any other way.

When the fuel shot through the tubes, it exerted force on the gas cloud that was far above the actual speed of the explosion. The heat of combustion was reduced, and the ship operated without effect from the blasts. The tubes were small, yet the power expended was beyond anything ever accomplished on earth.--Author.