Clavius Base
- Out on the moon base. The novel thinks the moon base is nifty and revels in details about how the air circulates and how everyone is oh-so-highly-trained.
- It's like reading PR boilerplate for a company that hasn't been invented yet.
- If that sounds fun, this is the novel for you.
- Floyd is met by a couple administrators, they exchange pleasantries.
- He goes with Ralph Halvorsen, and they meet Ralph's daughter, Diana, who has grown a lot in weightlessness.
- Diana looks different than earth kids—more elongated. The novel thinks this evolution is nifty (later on it'll present us with an even more alien space baby.)
- Floyd asks Diana if she'd like to go to earth, but she says no, it's too crowded and the gravity is too heavy.
- Floyd imagines that one day humans will all be like Diana, creatures of space, flying to the stars.
- Like Shmoop says, the novel thinks evolution is cool.
- Diana leaves, Halvorsen and Floyd have manly talks about how morale on the station is low and they need to go talk to somebody about something important, because they are manly bureaucrats.
- The person they'll talk to is Chief Scientist Dr. Roy Michaels.