Chief communications officer and relief pilot of the Valkyrie.
He suffered severe acrophobia after being left adrift in space for several
hours while attempting to repair equipment on the outside of the craft.
Refusing to work groundside in spacing jobs, he found manual labor under the
alias of William Saunders. While visiting a fellow worker, he rescued a kitten
from a window ledge some 35 stories up, overcoming his acrophobia during the
effort and resolving to return to space.
"Fly-Rite"
Tranquilizer that William
Cole took to alleviate acrophobia attacks.
Miss Joyce (no first name)
Personnel interviewer who talked with "William Saunders". She recognized
him as William
Cole but accepted his desire for anonymity.
The Heinlein
Society was founded by Virginia Heinlein on behalf of her husband, science
fiction author Robert Anson Heinlein, to "pay forward" the legacy of Robert A. Heinlein to future generations of "Heinlein's Children."