"Mr. Bule and Dr. Abernathy." We walked over to it. "I'm Lorna 249, nurse assistant to Dr. Esmond." The droid's silver eye lenses dilated and focused on us. "Please follow me."

It opened the door to the hallway for the exam rooms and we followed the medroid. It put us in the last exam room. Seppo sat on the gurney, and I took the chair. The computer screen flickered, for the droid had wireless connectivity implanted, and Seppo's screen came up.

The droid set two papers on the desk as a few taps sounded on the door.

"That is Dr. Esmond," it said.

"Come in," said Seppo, as Jerzi Esmond came in, smiling, and buttoning her white coat, with "Dr. J. Esmond, Gerontology", embroidered in black. She was maybe 40, fair-haired, brown-eyed, and a favorite with the gerontics of Drisk.

"Hello, Seppo, Nina," she said. The droid stood up and went to stand by the sink. It was motionless as it powered down, eyes darkening, although it recorded everything and would respond to an order from its mistress. "Great news. You're both doing well." Her fine brown eyes moved from Seppo to me and back to Seppo. "All your numbers are good. Seppo, your numbers are fantastic for a man of 78. You could be 30 years younger. "Nina, you could use a little more exercise, stay fit, and watch your blood sugar. You're well for a woman of 75."

"We walk every day," I said, "together or alone. This weekend we're going for five days to the dark side maria when the sunlight hours begin there. I said "dark side" instead of the more proper "far side" to tease Seppo, the onetime space navigator. "For the snow days."

"Oh, snow days are so much fun! There's very little snow here on the moon, so it's great the Weather Department arranges for winter."

"Yes," said Seppo, shaking his head at me, "I was born on Venus, and Nina tells me of snow on her Earth. Rolling it into balls and stacking them as high as you can to make a snowman. A snowball fight. Making snow angels. Sledding and skating. I would like to try hot buttered rum."

Jerzi laughed, "Seppo, traditionally, we stack three balls, one on top of each other, from large to small."

Seppo smiled, his wide grin lighting up his gray eyes.

"Making snowmen," I added. "I lived in Maine when I was young. Lots of snow back then, before the weather bureau started managing things. Still a lot. Earth weather often ignores the Weather Department. This is Seppo's first trip. Lots of new experiences for him. There's even snowfall planned for the mornings.

"Snowflakes," said Seppo, his broad smile lighting up his face with delight. "I'd like to see them. My wife had a necklace with a snowflake pendant. She gave it to our son before he left for the stars, to give to his daughter when he had one."

"You must miss him. Of course, settling the stars is the next step in exploring the heavens. He'll be able to have several children. My husband and I have our daughter, but we'd like another child." She looked sad. "I'm trans, so I can't carry a pregnancy. My sister carried our first, but she bears her own now." Jerzi sighed. "A human surrogate is enormously expensive, and one of the android surrogates—well, the waiting list can be years long."

"There's the lottery."

"Yeah. One in 4,000,000." She shook her head. "Most of the winners sell their ticket to the wealthy who want another child. And retire to a luxurious life."

We chatted a bit more. She told us to come back in six months, unless we had an illness or injury. There was very little sickness on the Moon, as visitors were quarantined, and permanent residents were treated to be free of as many viruses and bacterial illnesses as possible before settlement.

"I'll see you in six months," said Jerzi. "Lorna." The medroid instantly alerted and turned to its mistress. "Show them out and prepare for the next patient."

"Yes, Doctor," said Lorna, in its smooth, even soprano voice. It led us out, and Seppo and I went for lunch at the Rim Tearoom, with its beautiful view of the horizon and maria, and the green patches of Mare Ibrium.