The Long Cosmos by Terry Pratchett

you’re right,’ Lee said nervously.
    Even the Next had to follow the proper security procedure when entering the compound.
    Not that there was much malevolence directed at GapSpace nowadays, but this was still a fragile, high-technology, high-energy facility, and while security in the Long Earth had always been a challenge, there were ways to achieve it. The only orderly way into GapSpace was the way Stella Welch and Roberta Golding were coming in now: stepping through from the lower worlds to arrive outside the security perimeter and be processed through the gate.
    And it was the job of Dev and Lee to welcome them.
    Dev led Lee towards the twain. ‘To tell the truth I’m more nervous about what they’re going to be wearing. There are these rumours about how the Next live, in the wild . . .’
    â€˜Nude except for pockets. That’s what I heard. But Professor Welch is like a hundred and eight.’
    â€˜Not that old—’
    â€˜Without her clothes she’ll look like she’s melted .’
    He laughed. ‘I’ll tell her you said so.’
    Two women were walking down the ramp from the twain, followed by a crewman pushing a trolley heaped with luggage. To Dev’s relief neither of the Next was semi-nude; they wore what looked like serviceable travelling clothes – jackets and slacks in sombre shades. A few more crew followed the party down, and began fixing anchor ropes to the ground.
    Dev recognized Stella Welch, of course, who had visited GapSpace several times before. He’d never met Roberta Golding, but she was rumoured to be senior in whatever organization the Next had set up for themselves in the Grange, their secretive base. Slim, dark, bespectacled, with a rather pinched face, she looked younger than he’d expected – mid-forties, maybe.
    â€˜See,’ Dev said. ‘They look normal enough.’
    â€˜Hm. For a given value of “normal” . . .’
    The introductions, with cursory handshakes, were brief.
    Dev said, ‘We’re honoured you’ve come out to see us, Ms Golding.’
    She looked faintly puzzled, as if he’d said something inappropriate. ‘That’s polite of you. But this is business, of course. The project we propose—’
    Stella Welch interposed, ‘Oh, but this goes beyond business, Roberta. At least as far as these two former students of mine are concerned. We’re going to ask them to put aside their own personal programmes to help us facilitate the Clarke Project. They are among the most able here.’
    Dev felt his own polite expression become strained at this faint praise. And he glanced at Lee. The Clarke Project? I never heard that name before.
    Roberta said now, ‘You have our transport waiting?’
    Dev said, ‘The stepper shuttle to the Gap? Whenever you’re ready. But if you’d like to look around the facility first—’
    â€˜We’d rather get on with it,’ Stella said. She headed towards the gate – after all, she knew the way. ‘We went through the necessary bio-screening on board the twain; the formal permissions are being downloaded now.’
    Dev and Lee fell in behind the two of them. ‘You seem in a hurry.’
    Roberta barely glanced back. ‘We are.’
    â€˜So,’ Lee murmured to Dev, ‘we’re among the most able here, are we? Maybe we could go swing on a tyre. They might throw us a couple of bananas.’
    â€˜Hush,’ he whispered, suppressing a grin.

8
    T HE HANGAR CONTAINING the stepper shuttles was at the heart of the complex, a concrete box surrounded by fuel-store facilities. The shuttles stood in a neat row. Each conical craft looked like an old Apollo command module, but standing on four legs with a stubby engine block and spherical fuel tanks beneath.
    Using the Gap, this was all you needed to reach space. You didn’t even need to take your shuttle out of this