When he opened his eyes, the blue-green of Earth filled most of his window. The cloudless sky over the Pacific revealed Australia and New Zealand. Passengers started picking up their belongings and Ryan tucked his tablet into a black satchel.
"Stone," he said, pushing Austin's shoulder, "we should grab a coffee in San Francisco. I didn’t mean to be such a drag. I just have too much on my mind. You need to think about these things now so it’s not such an ordeal when your reenlistment time happens."
"I will,” he said. “Thanks. I thought you had to get back to Montana?"
"I have an old friend in the city I want to see first. See if they remember me. Then I'll head out tomorrow."
Austin thought about traveling back to Georgia. "So do we just take the tubes back to our schools?"
Ryan peered
