With the Space Station walkways fully extended and safely attached to the USS Merrimack, Captain John T. Glen left the ship and walked to the office of Commodore Stone. Deep Space K-5 had become familiar to the Captain and his crew as it had mostly worked out from it over the last few years. It wasn’t exactly home, but it did feel like a comfortable old shoe. Some of the lower decks smelled just like an old shoe too. Luckily, Stone’s office was on the higher decks, almost as high as you could reach, so John took a turbolift.

Once outside his office, Glen pressed the door buzzer.

• Glen, CO