Read To Sail Beyond the Sunset Online
Authors: Robert A Heinlein
“Mrph. I suppose—”
The roof fell in.
It may have been part of a Spitfire, or perhaps a Messerschmitt. I don’t know; I was under it. Gwen Hazel heard it through my mike; her grandsons Cas and Pol got themselves badly burned going back through to rescue us.
Everybody got burned—Castor, Pollux, Woodrow, Father, Dagmar, me—and gasoline burns are nasty. But Hazel got more help through, dressed in fireproofs (planning, not happenstance) and we were all dragged out.
All of this I got from later reports; at the time I was simply clobbered and then I woke up in hospital an unmeasured time later. Unmeasured by me, that is; Dagmar says that I was laid up three weeks longer than she was. Tamara won’t tell me. It does not matter; Lethe keeps one comfortable and unworried as long as necessary to let one get well.
After a while I was allowed to get up and take walks around Beulahland, a beautiful place and one of the few truly civilized places in any world. And then I was transferred back to Boondock…and Woodrow and Father and Dagmar came to call on me.
They all leaned over my bed and kissed me and I cried awhile and then we talked.
It was a big wedding. There was Mycroft and Athene and Minerva of course, and my grandson Richard Colin, who had at last forgiven Lazarus (for being his father). My darling Gwen Hazel had no reason to remain on leave from the family when Richard Colin was willing and eager to join. My daughters Laz and Lor had decided to cancel the indentures of their husbands, Cas and Pol, in recognition of their heroism in diving back into the fire for us four laggards—and to allow them to marry into the family. And there was Xia and Dagmar and Choy-Mu and Father and Gretchen—and the rest of us who had been Longs for years—some more years, some less. Our new family members each had had one reason or another to hesitate, but Galahad and Tamara made it clear: We take just one vow, to safeguard the welfare and happiness of all our children.
That’s our total marriage contract. The rest is just poetic ritual.
Whom you sleep with, whom you make love with, is your private business. Ishtar, as our family geneticist, controls pregnancy and progeny to whatever extent control is needed for the welfare of our children.
So we all joined hands in the presence of our children (of course Pixel was there!) and we pledged ourselves to love and cherish our children—those around us, those still to come, worlds without end.
And we all lived happily ever after.
People in this Memoir
Maureen Johnson Smith Long, July 4, 1882
Pixel, a cat
MAUREEN
’
S ANCESTORS
,
AUNTS
,
UNCLES
,
IN-LAWS
Ira Johnson, M.D., father, August 2, 1852
Adele Pfeiffer Johnson, mother
John Adams Smith, father-in-law
Ethel Graves Smith, mother-in-law
(
Paternal Ancestors
)
Asa Edward Johnson, grandfather, 1813-1918
Rose Altheda McFee Johnson, grandmother, 1814-1918
George Edward Johnson, great-grandfather, 1795-1897
Amanda Lou Fredericks Johnson, great-grandmother, 1798-1899
Terence McFee, great-grandfather, 1796-1900
Rose Wilhelmina Brandt McFee, great-grandmother, 1798-1899
(
Maternal Ancestors
)
Richard Pfeiffer, grandfather, 1830-1932
Kristina Larsen Pfeiffer, grandmother, 1834-1940
Robert Pfeiffer, great-grandfather, 1809-1909
Heidi Schmidt Pfeiffer, great-grandmother, 1810-1913
Ole Larsen, great-grandfather, 1805-1907
Anna Kristina Hansen Larsen, great-grandmother, 1810-1912
IRA JOHNSON
’
S SIBLINGS
Samantha Jane Johnson, 1831-1915
James Ewing Johnson, 1833-1884
(married Carole Pelletier, 1849-1954)
Walter Raleigh Johnson, 1838-1862
Alice Irene Johnson, 1840
Edward McFee Johnson, 1844-1884
Aurora Johnson, 1850
MAUREEN
’
S SIBLINGS
Edward Ray Johnson, 1876
Audrey Adele Johnson, 1878
(married Jerome Bixby, 1896)
Agnes Johnson, 1880
Thomas Jefferson Johnson, 1881
Benjamin Franklin Johnson, 1884
Elizabeth Ann Johnson, 1882
Lucille Johnson, 1894
George Washington Johnson, 1897
Nelson Johnson, cousin, 1884
(son of James Ewing Johnson and Carole Pelletier)
MAUREEN
’
S DESCENDANTS AND THEIR SPOUSES
Nancy Irene Smith, December 1, 1899
(married Jonathan Sperling Weatheral)
Carol Smith, January 1, 1902
(married Roderick Schmidt Jenkins)
Brian Smith Junior, March 12, 1905
George Edward Smith, February 14, 1907
Marie Agnes Smith, April 5, 1909
Woodrow Wilson Smith/Lazarus Long, et al. November 11, 1912
(first wife: Heather Hedrick)
Richard Smith, 1914-1945
(married Marian Hardy)
Ethel Smith, 1916
Theodore Ira Smith, March 4, 1919
Margaret Smith, 1922
Arthur Roy Smith, 1924
Alice Virginia Smith, 1927
(married Ralph Sperling)
Doris Jean Smith, 1930
(married Roderick Briggs)
Patrick Henry Smith (by Justin Weatheral), 1932
Susan Smith, 1934
(married Henry Schultz)
Donald Smith, 1936
Priscilla Smith, 1938
Lapis Lazuli Long, cloned from Lazarus,
A.D.
4273
Lorelei Lee Long, cloned from Lazarus,
A.D.
4273
Richard Colin Campbell Ames, grandson,
A.D.
2133
(son of Lazarus Long and Wendy Campbell)
Roberta Weatheral Barstow, granddaughter, December 25, 1918
Anne Barstow Hardy, great-granddaughter, November 2, 1935
Nancy Jane Hardy, great-great-granddaughter, June 22, 1952
MAUREEN
’
S SPOUSES
,
CO-SPOUSES
,
LOVERS
,
FRIENDS
Charles Perkins, 1881-1898
Brian Smith, husband, 1877-1996
Justin Weatheral, 1875
Eleanor Sperling Weatheral, 1877
James Rumsey, Sr., M.D.
James Rumsey, Jr., M.D.
Velma Briggs Rumsey (Mrs. James Rumsey, Jr.)
Mammy Della
Elizabeth Louise Barstow Johnson (Mrs. Nelson Johnson)
Hal and Jane Andrews
George Strong
Arthur Simmons, 1917
Jubal Harshaw, 1907
Tamara
Ishtar
Galahad
Hilda Mae Corners Burroughs Long
Deety Burroughs Carter Long
Jacob Burroughs Long
Zebadiah John Carter Long
CATS
Pixel
Chargé d’Affaires
Princess Polly Ponderosa Penelope Peachfuzz
Random Numbers
Captain Blood
MORE PEOPLE
Judge Hardacres, a corpse
Eric Ridpath, M.D.
Zenobia Ridpath, a gracious hostess
Adolf Weisskopf, M.D.
Dagmar Dobbs, RN
Major Gretchen Henderson, Time Corps soldier
Jesse F. Bone, DVM—he saved a kitten
Ira Howard—he funded the Howard Foundation, 1825-1873
Jackson Igo and sons
Judge Orville Sperling, Foundation Chairman, 1840
The Reverend Clarence Timberly
Mrs. Ohlschlager, neighbor and friend
The Reverend Dr. Ezekiel “Biblethumper”
Mr. Fones, employer of Brian Smith
Mr. Renwick, driver, Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co.
The Reverend Dr. David C. Draper
Mr. Smaterine, a banker
Deacon Houlihan, a bank president
Mr. Schontz, a butcher
Anita Boles, a stenographer
Arthur J. Chapman, Howard Foundation Trustee
Dr. Bannister, dean of academics, KCU
Alvin Barkley, President, U.S.A., 1941-1949, time line two
George S. Patton, Jr., president, U.S.A., 1949-1961, time line two
Rufus Briggs, Foundation trustee, an oaf
D. D. Harriman
Col. Frisby, Argus Security Patrol
Rick, Argus Security Patrol
Mrs. Barnes, matron, Argus Security Patrol
Mr. Wren, Public Health officer
Mrs. Lantry, Public Health officer
Daniel Dixon, financier
Dr. Macintosh, chancellor, University of New Mexico
Helen Beck, dancer/scholar
Dora Smith (Mrs. W. W. Smith), New Beginnings colony
Helen Smith, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Smith
Freddie, a gunsel
Patty Paiwonski, a priestess with snakes
Wyoming Long, daughter of Gwen Hazel and Lazarus
Castor and Pollux, grandsons of Gwen Hazel
The Reverend Dr. Hendrik Hudson Schultz, Time Corps agent
Gillian Boardman Long, RN, quondam high priestess Church of All Worlds
COMPUTER PEOPLE
Mycroft Holmes IV, chairman Lunar Revolution, time line three
Minerva Long, former executive computer Tellus Secundus, now flesh and blood
Athene, executive computer Tellus Tertius, Minerva’s twin
Shiva, Athene/Mycroft interfaced, led by Minerva
Dora
, sentient ship
Gay Deceiver
, sentient ship
THE FIRST MAN ON THE MOON
Time line one—Captain John Carter of Virginia
Time line two—Leslie LeCroix
Time line three—Neil Armstrong
Time line four—Ballox O’Malley
Time line five—Skylark DuQuesne (
NOT SHOW
)
Time line six—Neil Armstrong (alternate time line)
THE COMMITTEE FOR AESTHETIC DELETIONS
Dr. Frankenstein
Dr. Fu Manchu
Lucrezia Borgia
Hassan the Assassin
Bluebeard
Attila the Hun
Lizzie Borden
Jack the Ripper
Dr. Guillotine
Professor Moriarty
Captain Kidd
Count Dracula
PUBLIC FIGURES
William Gibbs McAdoo
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Josephus Daniels
Woodrow Wilson
Robert Taft
William Jennings Bryan
Al Smith
Paul McNutt
Herbert Hoover
John J. Pershing
Pancho Villa
Patrick Tumulty
William Howard Taft
Leonard Wood
Harry S. Truman
Champ Clark
Theodore Roosevelt
William McKinley
PEOPLE OFF STAGE
Dr. Chadwick
Dr. Ingram
Richard Heiser
Pop Green, druggist
Dr. Phillips
Jonnie Mae Igo
Mrs. Malloy, landlady
The Widow Loomis
Mr. Barnaby, principal
Major General Lew Rawson, target
Bob Coster, ship design
Elijah Madison, driver
Charlene Madison, cook
Anne, a Fair Witness
Sarah Trowbridge, dead
Miss Primrose
“Scrooge” O’Hennessy
Annie Chambers, madam
Mrs. Bunch, gossip
Mr. Davis, see “Fones”
Cowboy Womack, miner
The Jenkins girl
Mr. Wimple, bank teller
Nick Weston
Mr. Watkins
Mr. Hardecker, principal
Granny Bearpaw, cook
Mr. Ferguson, chief engineer
ASSOCIATED STORIES
The Man Who Sold the Moon and Other Stories
Persons in “The Man Who Sold the Moon”—D. D. Harriman, George Strong, Daniel Dixon, Chief Engineer Ferguson, Bob Coster, Leslie LeCroix. In “Requiem”—D. D. Harriman, George Strong.
Revolt in 2100 and Other Stories
In “‘If This Goes On—’”—Nehemiah Scudder. In “Misfit”—(Elizabeth) Andrew Jackson Libby (Long).
Methuselah’s Children
Lazarus Long aka Woodrow Wilson Smith, Andrew Jackson Libby.
Time Enough for Love
Lazarus Long, Ira Weatheral, Hamadryad, Ishtar, Galahad, Tamara, Lapis Lazuli, Lorelei Lee, Justin Foote 45th, “Theodore Bronson,” Dr. Ira Johnson, Maureen Johnson Smith, Brian Smith, Nancy Smith, Carol Smith, Brian Smith, Jr., George Edward Smith, Marie Agnes Smith, Woodrow Wilson Smith, Ethel Smith, Richard Smith, Justin Weatheral, Eleanor Weatheral, Jonathan Sperling Weatheral.
The Rolling Stones
Hazel Stone, Castor Stone, Pollux Stone.
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
Hazel Stone, Mycroft Holmes IV.
Stranger in a Strange Land
Gillian Boardman, Jubal Harshaw, Anne (Fair Witness), Patty Paiwonski.
The Number of the Beast
Deety Burroughs Carter, Zebadiah John Carter, Jacob Burroughs, Hilda Mae Corners Burroughs, Lazarus Long, Elizabeth Andrew Jackson Libby Long, Lapis Lazuli Long, Lorelei Lee Long, Maureen Johnson Long, Hamadryad Long, Tamara Long, Hazel Stone, Castor Stone, Pollux Stone, Minerva Long, Jubal Harshaw, Athene, Anne (Fair Witness), Dr. Jesse F. Bone, Samuel Clemens.
The Cat Who Walks Through Walls
Hazel Stone aka Gwen Novak, Col. Richard Colin Campbell Ames, Gretchen Henderson, The Rev. Dr. Hendrik Hudson Schultz, Tamara, Athene, Dong Xia, Marcy Choy-Mu, Pixel, Lazarus Long, Wendy Campbell Ames, Maureen Johnson Long, Justin Foote 45th, Wyoming Long, Jacob Burroughs Long, Deety Burroughs Carter Long, Jubal Harshaw.
N.B.:
The Past Through Tomorrow is an omnibus volume containing The Man Who Sold the Moon and Other Stories, The Green Hills of Earth and Other Stories, Revolt in 2100 and Other Stories, and Methuselah’s Children.