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Late Lessons [Story 3 of the
Loose Ends Saga]
Paul Levinson
A DF Books NERDs Release

Copyright ©1999 by Paul Levinson

First published in Analog, October 1999

Jeff and Laura walked hand in hand past lush Victorian vines, in the Haupt Conservatory of the New
York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx.

“There's a timelessness about this place,” Jeff said. Antique gardens always had a special attraction for
Laura and him—perhaps it because reminded them of that night long ago, in Wave Hill across from the
Palisades, in the 1960s.

Laura just smiled. They entered a room with a skylight dome, slightly cloudy and cracked now with age.
A keen blue sky shone through anyway.

Jeff breathed in the honeysuckle and looked at the dome. “Hard to believe it's finally up there again,” he
said. “They took their time.”

“They had to be careful,” Laura said. “The Discovery has to fly a successful mission. It was worth the
32-month wait. It'll deploy its communications satellite and come back home with its crew safe and
sound. And the space program will slowly recover.”

Jeff shuddered. He recalled the last launch they'd seen—the Challenger. They hadn't the heart to see this
one launch in person. And they had tried to stay far away from the space program after the
Challenger—let the world take its natural course, the course Laura remembered. That was the best way
to get back on track in space.

“There are some nasty things coming up soon that I'd like to stop,” Jeff said. “The Pan Am plane blowing
up over Scotland is the worst, I think—that's due to happen right before Christmas—but I guess we have
no choice but to leave well enough alone for the sake of the space program. At least 1989 looks to be a
pretty good year.”

“Yeah,” Laura said, patting her belly and smiling. “I'd say a very good year.” She was six weeks
pregnant with Jeff's child.

“It'll be a good year to be born,” Jeff said, and pulled Laura close for a gentle hug. “Berlin Wall comes
down, beginning of the end for the Soviet Union. Not the greatest for space—though that should be ok
now with the US program in gear again. But a good year for freedom.”

“Don't be so sure about the Soviet Union,” Laura said. “Andropov's a pretty tough customer.”

****
“Loser,” Laura shut off the television. “His voice is like—what's that numbing stuff the dentist gave me
last year?—novocaine.” Michael Dukakis had just been talking about the economy.

“He's the least of our problems,” Jeff said. He had just returned from a long microfiche session at the