{"product_id":"2940012313799","title":"the lonely ones","description":"The line between noble dreams and madness is thin, and loneliness can push men past it....\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eExcerpt\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOnward sped the Wanderer, onward through cold, silent infinity, on and on, an insignificant pencil of silver lost in the terrible, brooding blackness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut even more awful than the blackness was the loneliness of the six men who inhabited the silver rocket. They moved in loneliness as fish move in water. Their lives revolved in loneliness as planets revolve in space and time. They bore their loneliness like a shroud, and it was as much a part of them as sight in their eyes. Loneliness was both their brother and their god.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYet, like a tiny flame in the darkness, there was hope, a savage, desperate hope that grew with the passing of each day, each month, and each year.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd at last....\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Lord,\" breathed Captain Sam Wiley.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLieutenant Gunderson nodded. \"It's a big one, isn't it?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It's a big one,\" repeated Captain Wiley.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThey stared at the image in the Wanderer's forward visi-screen, at the great, shining gray ball. They stared hard, for it was like an enchanted, God-given fruit handed them on a star-flecked platter of midnight. It was like the answer to a thousand prayers, a shining symbol of hope which could mean the end of loneliness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It's ten times as big as Earth,\" mused Lieutenant Gunderson. \"Do you think this'll be it, Captain?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I'm afraid to think.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA thoughtful silence.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Captain.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Yes?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Do you hear my heart pounding?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCaptain Wiley smiled. \"No. No, of course not.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It seems like everybody should be hearing it. But we shouldn't get excited, should we? We mustn't hope too hard.\" He bit his lip. \"But there should be life there, don't you think, Captain?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"There may be.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Nine years, Captain. Think of it. It's taken us nine years to get here. There's got to be life.\"","brand":"eStar Books LLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47078747504880,"sku":"2940012313799","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012313799_p0.jpg?v=1763567347","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012313799","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}