text: [Themes: Science Fiction, dog, conversation, coming of age]
  
  > go downwards
  The front hall is cool and dark with the wood paneled walls and the dark red rugs. There is a closet in the corner with some of your mother's stuff in there. A staircase leads upstairs, and there are
  open doorways to the kitchen in the west and to the living room to the east.
  
  There are huge muddy bootprints leading upstairs!
  
  Gogol trots after you.
  
  You heard the hiss and the crackle of an untuned radio in the living room.
  
  > open the closet
  You open the front hall closet, revealing a cleaning rag.
  
  You heard the hiss and the crackle of an untuned radio in the living room.
  
  You can already hear the sound of the boat engine outdoors.
  
  > take rag
  Taken.
  
  You heard the hiss and the crackle of an untuned radio in the living room.
  
  > Go up
  The stairs coming from downstairs curve around and lead up to the eastern end of the upstairs hallway, which is dark and shadowy. The only light comes from two small windows on the southern wall. To the north is the door to your bedroom, which is closed,  and the hallway
  to the west leads into your parents" bedroom and father's radio room.
  A very narrow and steep staircase leads up to the attic.
  
  There are dirty and muddy footprints that lead to the attic staircase!
  
  Gogol trots after you.
  
  > Clean footprints
  You wipe the mud and water, or rather just smear it wider. At least
  the big bootprints aren't visible anymore!
  
  > Clean bootprints
  You wipe the floor quickly, smearing the outlines of the big bootprints. Well, at least they aren't recognizable anymore!
  
  You heard the hiss and the crackle of an untuned radio in the living room.
  
  The boat engine growls and purrs, father must be maneuvering it to the dock already!
  
  > Go south
  The porch has two fly-speckled windows, and the benches under them are covered with all kinds of stuff. You never remember having seen them empty, so that someone could actually sit down when putting on or taking off their shoes. The front hall is to the north.
  
  There are huge muddy and wet bootprints on the porch floor!
  
  Gogol trots after you.
  
  You heard the hiss and the crackle of an untuned radio in the living room.
  
  > Clean bootprint
  You mop the floor with the rag, which can't absorb much of the mess, but at least it can obscure the footprints.
  
  That's it! You have the time to return the cleaning rag to the closet and run to meet your parents, before they barge in. You did it!
  
  Your mother comes in first, stops when she hears the radio, and clucks her tongue. "You know your dad doesn't like it if you mess with the radio, go and turn it off before he comes in!" your mother says. You skip obediently to the living room, feeling a weird mix of relief and excitement.
  
  Unloading the supplies from the ship, unpacking them and storing all the items keeps you busy for most of the afternoon, and after that mother asks you to help her with the dinner. You try to sneak a minute or two to go to the attic, but without success - it seems that when
  you get one of your tasks done, the next one is already waiting. Soon the sun kisses the horizon and the evening draws in. Your excitement turns into scared and tense anticipation; there's no telling when the rocket man will wake up, and what will he do when he does.
  
  "The conflict between the Earth Alliance and the rebels of Mars has escalated, and there has been heavy fighting in the low Earth orbit,
  as well as around the Mars orbital stations."
  
  The radio murmurs in the corner of the living room, while you poke at the dinner with your fork. Father is sitting in his chair, smoking his pipe. The smoke curls around the yellow bulbs on the ceiling, making the air hazy. Your mother gives the radio a hostile look, and another to your father. "The news is so horrible these days. Turn it off, you're upsetting the boy."
  
  "Last night there were reports of small one man rockets, classified as shuttles, breaking through the lines of the Earth defense vessels. It is believed that all of them-"
  
  The radio goes silent with a deep clunk. Your dad looks up
  from his newspaper to your mom, who turned it off. "I don't want to hear a single word about the war today!", mother huffs. Your father grunts in displeasure, but lifts up his magazine while mom walks to
  the table. "You, if you are not hungry, go for a wash and then off to bed!" she says.
  
  You try to take every chance to sneak up to the attic, but it's no use - your mother is sorting linen upstairs, and she ushers you directly
  to your room, and turns off the lights after you. You lie down in the bed, staring at the rectangle the moonlight draws on the ceiling, absolutely sure that you just can't fall asleep tonight-
  
  You jolt awake, not sure if if you were just dreamingâ¦ but then you can hear it again. Slight shuffling, a muffled clank, the creak of the boards as someone is moving upstairs. The rocket man is awake! You
  hold your breath and listen for a moment, but the house is otherwise silent. Hopefully Gogol is outside, so he won't start barking. This is your chance!
  
  Your room is small and dark, and now it's illuminated only by the silvery moonlight coming through the window. You can barely make out your bookshelf and your closet.
  
  > go to the south
  (first opening the door to your room)
  
  The eastern end of the upstairs hallway is almost completely dark. To the north is the door to your room, and the hallway to the west leads to your parents' bedroom and the radio room. You can hear your father snoring even here. The main staircase winds down to the front hall,
  and the narrow attic staircase leads up.
  
  > go upwards
  When you start to climb up the narrow attic stairs, almost on all fours, you can see the faint light of the single bulb upstairs. You poke your head out of the hatch on the floor, and see the rocket man
  on the other side of the attic. He has the suitcase on his lap. Something alerts him, you don't know what, and his head snaps up with
  a click. It takes you a moment to realize that the sound was him slamming the case shut.
  
  After a second he smiles, and whispers quite loudly: "Hello, kid, thanks for helping me. Could you sit with me for a while, there's something I'd like to ask you." The rocket man opens the suitcase and starts tinkering with whatever he has in there.
  
  The attic is a cluttered, low space with a slanted roof. It's a scary place with dark nooks and crannies, piles of boxes and all kinds of weird junk. The only light is a lone bulb that has gone dim and yellow with age.
  
  The rocket man is sitting up in the end of the attic, leaning against the wall. The rocket man has peeled off the top part of his suit and his shirt, revealing his upper body. He's really pale and also lean, like a gymnast.
  
  > wait
  Time passes.
  
  > talk to the man
  You don't really know what to say. There is a ton of things you'd like to ask the rocket man about - like the war, Mars, his mission, and a million other things!
  
  > ask the man about the suitcase
  You can think of a million things you would like to ask about from rocket man: his rocket, the martians, his missionâ¦ Before you get any of them out of your mouth, the rocket man looks up from his work and smiles at you.
  
  "So, kid, thanks for not telling your parents about me. I'm on a very very secret mission, and nobody but you and me should know about it." The rocket man shoots you a stern glance, and you find yourself
  nodding vigorously.
  
  "Now, then, this is an island if I'm not mistaken. Is there any way
  out here? Like a ship or such? I need to get to Astro City One in a hurry!"
  
  > ask man about the mars
  "I bet you have been to Mars!" you say to the rocket man. "What kind
  of a place is it?" The rocket man pauses his work with the suitcase
  for a moment, and looks up. He has a weird expression on his face,
  like he was sad.
  
  "There's lots of empty space in Mars, these red fields of rock and sand. In the seas and the lakes the waves are tens of meters high, and much slower than in here. The sky is reddish gray on the daytime, and blazes red and violet in the mornings and eveningsâ¦" He falls quiet for a moment, and resumes working with the suitcase.
  
  > examine the suitcase
  The rocket man is hunched over the open suitcase. You try to peer around the open lid, but you can't see much, only some wires and weird stuff you can't make out.
  
  > ask the man about the war
  "It's great that we have people like you to fight the vile Martians
  who threaten our freedom!" you say. The rocket man is quiet for a moment and doesn't look up from his work. "How exactly do they do
  that? From Mars?" he asks, quietly. You get a feeling that you said something stupid, but you don't really know why.
  
  > ask the man about Earth
  "Astro City One is certainly the greatest place on Earth, isn't it!" you say enthusiastically. "Well, I've seen bigger bases. They are in zero-G, thoughâ¦" the rocket man mutters while concentrating on tinkering with the suitcase. "Where?" you ask, and he seems to snap
  out of his concentration. "Nowhere, never mind."
  
  > ask the man about Gogol
  "Why were you so afraid of Gogol, he's a nice dog?" you ask. The
  rocket man clears his throat. "Well, I just am, okay?" he replies almost angrily."
  
  > ask the man about the name
  He seems to be really concentrating on the suit case. You wait for his reply, but after a while you start to think that he didn't hear you.
  
  > ask man about yourself
  "Do you think I can ever be a rocket man?" you ask. The rocket man looks at you for a couple of seconds. "I don't see why not, if you are healthy. Just remember to exercise a lot and do what your parents tell you to." he replies.
  
  > ask the man about the mission
  "What is your mission, is it about that suitcase?" you ask, with your heart beating like crazy. The rocket man bites his lips for a moment and glances up at you. "In this suitcase I have some enemy
  intelligence I caught from the... the vile Martians. I need to get these to Astro City one as soon as possible."
  
  > ask man about the rocket
  "How did you end up in the sea? Where's your rocket ship?" you ask. "I gotâ¦ there was an accident, I had to crash land." the rocket man
  said.
  
  "Okay, I'm ready to leave," the rocket man says and closes the
  suitcase with a snap. He gets up, grunting and pressing his hand against his side. You watch as he pulls on his undershirt, which is some kind of thermal space material, and zips up his space suit.
  
  Getting out of the house is nerve wracking, especially in the attic stairs where the clumsy space suit makes all kinds of noise. Luckily your father's snoring covers it all up.
  
  Not even Gogol launches into a barking attack when you go outside.
  
  The Moon is bright and the sea is calm. You watch over the sea towards the glittering towers of the Astro City one.
  
  "Well, that's it then", rocket man says, giving the last evaluating glance to the family ship on the pier. "I guess I'll have to swim for it." He gives you one last smile and a wave, fastens his helmet and lowers himself to the water in the end of the pier.
  
  You stay on the pier, watching his small bobbing form vanish to the glitter of moon light on the sea.
  
  You never told anyone about the weird encounter you had that day. Not even 40 years later, when they make the marine archaeological find of the century just a couple of kilometers away from your childhood's
  home island.
  
  "The one that got away." A find that could have changed the whole history of Earth-Mars relations.
  
  > open closet
  You open the front hall closet, revealing a cleaning rag.
  
  You heard the hiss and the crackle of an untuned radio in the living room.
  
  > take rag
  Taken.
  
  You heard the hiss and the crackle of an untuned radio in the living room.
  
  > Go up
  The stairs coming from downstairs curve around and lead up to the eastern end of the upstairs hallway, which is dark and shadowy. The only light comes from two small windows on the southern wall. To the north is the door to your bedroom, which is closed,  and the hallway
  to the west leads into your parents" bedroom and father's radio room.
  A very narrow and steep staircase leads up to the attic.
  
  There are dirty and muddy footprints that lead to the attic staircase!
  
  Gogol trots after you.
  
  You can already hear the sound of the boat engine outdoors.
  
  > wipe footprints
  You wipe the mud and water, or rather just smear it wider. At least
  the big bootprints aren't visible anymore!
  
  > wipe footprints
  You wipe the floor quickly, smearing the outlines of the big bootprints. Well, at least they aren't recognizable anymore!
  
  You heard the hiss and the crackle of an untuned radio in the living room.
  
  > Go south
  The porch has two fly-speckled windows, and the benches under them are covered with all kinds of stuff. You never remember having seen them empty, so that someone could actually sit down when putting on or taking off their shoes. The front hall is to the north.
  
  There are huge muddy and wet bootprints on the porch floor!
  
  Gogol trots after you.
  
  You heard the hiss and the crackle of an untuned radio in the living room.
  
  > tell the man about the boat
  You can think of a million questions to ask from rocket man, his rocket, the martians, his missionâ¦ Before you get any of them out of your mouth, the rocket man looks up from his work and smiles at you.
  
  "So, kid, thanks for not telling your parents about me. I'm on a very very secret mission, and nobody but you and me should know about it." The rocket man shoots you a stern glance, and you find yourself
  nodding vigorously.
  
  "Now, then, this is an island if I'm not mistaken. Is there any way
  out here? Like a ship or such? I need to get to Astro City One in a hurry!"
  
  > tell the man about the boat
  "Well, we have this old row boat on the shore. We usually don't go out on the sea with it, because it's dangerous." you say. "Old wooden boatâ¦" the rocket man rubs his chin and you hear the rasping sound of a beard stubble. "You know, kid, that's perfect! That's absolutely perfect, if it can stay afloat that is. Just a moment now, I'll have
  to finish with this damn thing." he continues, twisting something inside the suitcase.
  
  > tell the man about the ship
  "We have a nice ship which father always takes to the mainland. It has a good engine, although father always curses about it." you say. "A large ship, with an engineâ¦ with a metal hull, I guess?" the rocket man says and raises is eyebrows. You nod. "Ah, that won't do, sorry. Don't you have anything smaller?"
  
  > wait
  Time passes.
  
  > ask man about the man
  "Soâ¦ who are you?" you ask. The rocket man pauses his work for a moment. "I'mâ¦ a commando operative. Do you know what that is?" After seeing your enthusiastic nod, he continues. "I'm on a very secret mission that can define the result of the whole war. I really need
  your help on this, kid"
  
  > tell the man about the war
  "We have always supported our valiant troops against the vile Martian menace!" you say, trying to remember how the man in the radio always said it. "Listen, kid. It's a great universe out there, full of all kinds of wonders, and we are just shooting at each other? Where's the sense in that?" the rocket man says, looking at you sternly. You
  really don't know what to say to that.
  
  > tell the man about Earth
  "Earth rocket men are really kicking the butts up there in space, aren't they!" you say feeling proud to be in the presence of one them. "Yeeah, it's quite a scrap up there" the rocket man says.