PART FOUR

Chapter One
‘Homeward Angel, you are now perfectly aligned for docking, 200 meters and closing,’ came the heavily accented voice of Andrei Korolyov. ‘Reduce momentum to ten meters per second and hold your heading… Now one meter… And all stop… And dock. We have hard dock. Homeward Angel, welcome to the International Space Station.’

‘Good to be home,’ Tom replied. ‘Is the vodka cold?’

Andrei laughed, ‘Absolute…ly.’ He made a joke about the cheap plastic bottles of American vodka on board. ‘It is ice-cold but it will warm your bellies. We also have some hamburgers and Coca-Cola for the weary travelers.’

‘Now you’re talking!’ Brandon chimed in, excitedly. ‘We’ll be right in.’

Andrei could hear cheers form the other crew members, as well. He joked with them, “I think you’ll find our prices reasonable: I will swap you a burger for a carat, and I don’t mean vegetables.”

Brandon replied, ‘Got change for a twenty? I think that’s the smallest one we brought back.’

“What? You are not big tipper?” Andrei laughed.

Carl was the one to respond to that, “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday, for a hamburger, today.” Andrei didn’t get the reference to the old Popeye cartoon show, but assumed it was supposed to be funny since the rest of the Homeward Angels were laughing.

Jackie leaned over to Sally, “Is there anything in particular you have been missing and looking forward to?”

Sally got a thoughtful look on her face before replying, “Sam Morgan.”

Tom’s head snapped around, “Who’s Sam Morgan?”

Sally laughed, “Not who, what. You put two ounces of Sambuca and two ounces of Captain Morgan over ice and stir. It has the sweet licorice flavor mixed with the mulling spices of hot cider. The combination comes across as sort of a root beer-cream soda taste, but with a little kick. Sambuca, Captain Morgan… Sam Morgan.”

“I’ve never heard of that one,” Jackie said. “but it sounds great.”

“Me neither,” Tom added. “And I tended bar for a while during college.”

Sally thought for a moment, “Well, I’m pretty sure I created it. One evening I felt like having a drink and couldn’t decide between the two, so I mixed them. Of course, some people like licorice, and some don’t. But the ones I have met that don’t, like this because of the other favors blended in.”

Brandon then added, “I can’t imagine anyone not liking licorice. Now green beans, on the other hand…”