She pushed the door all the way open and stepped out into the tunnel, very carefully.
“We’ll have to get you a pair of weighted boots,” Doug said, offering her his arm. “First stop, though, is The Cave.”
Melissa clung to his arm and let him do the talking. She learned that The Cave was some sort of cafeteria or galley where Moonbase people took their meals. The thought of eating felt better to her now that her stomach was in place. She actually felt hungry. Ought to be, she told herself. You lost everything you had in there and then some.
“You haven’t told me your name,” she said as they walked slowly down the tunnel.
“Doug Stavenger,” he answered. “And yours?”
She covered her emotions quickly. “Melissa Hart,” she said, not trusting herself to say more. Joanna’s baby. Greg’s half-brother.
Then she remembered that this was the young man whose body swarmed with nanomachines. This was the symbol of wickedness that General O’Conner was sworn to destroy. Almost, she disengaged from his arm. The thought of those evil machines inside his body frightened her. But he looked normal enough, and she was afraid that if she let go of his arm she’d stumble and fall.
“You didn’t have any trouble working the shower, did you?” he asked as they walked down the tunnel.
“The water shut off on me.”
“Oh, sure. There’s a timer. Water’s pretty precious, still, so there’s an automatic cutoff in all the showers.”
“And air driers?”
Doug nodded easily. “We generate a lot of heat, most of it’s too low-grade to be put to anything useful, but we can save a lot of towel laundering by using some of it to dry off in the shower.”
“I see,” Melissa said.
“Not that we use water for the laundry,” he added.
“No?”
“Don’t have to. Just take the dirty laundry outside; the dirt dries out almost immediately in the vacuum, so you can shake it off.”
Melissa wondered if he were telling her the truth or pulling her leg.
“And the ultraviolet out there sterilizes everything, too, of course.”
He seemed quite serious. Melissa realized mat Doug Stavenger was a bright, good-looking, charming young man. Paul’s son in every way. Once they were seated at a small table in The Cave and Melissa no longer had to worry about walking in the feeble gravity, she could study his face, feel his intensity. He had Paul’s infectious enthusiasm, the same drive that could sweep you up and carry you away, despite yourself.
“…so you’ve actually brought us the LTV we’re going to use for our asteroid mission,” he was saying.
Melissa paid scant attention to his words. She saw Paul again. And the whole sorry mess of twenty years ago played itself out in her mind. All the pain and rejection and fury boiled up inside her, burning worse than the bile she had vomited on the way to the Moon.
“Your brother is the director of Moonbase, isn’t he?” she asked, struggling to keep her voice from shaking.
“Greg. That’s right”
“And your mother lives here, now, doesn’t she?”
Doug nodded eagerly. “In fact, there she is now.” He stood up and waved.
Melissa turned in her chair and saw Joanna: older, a bit thicker in the middle, her hair more gray than ash-blonde now, but unmistakably Joanna. While the other women in The Cave wore mostly coveralls, Joanna was in a midnight blue pantsuit set off by a flowered silk scarf at her throat. She doesn’t need weighted boots to hold her down, Melissa thought; those bracelets and necklaces must be heavy enough to do the job.
Doug saw that his mother had spotted him and pulled up a third chair for her. Joanna smiled as she approached their table, but her smile froze once she recognized who was sitting with her son.
It’s Melissa Hart! Joanna realized as she neared Doug’s table. She looks as if she’s been through hell and back. Painfully thin. And her eyes — as if she hasn’t slept in years. What’s she doing up here?
“Melissa,” she said as she put her tray on the table. “Whatever brings you here?”
“She came up on the LTV you’re buying,” said Doug.
“Really?” Joanna sat down between them.
“I’m here as the representative of the new corporation’s COO,” Melissa said coolly.
“Omar? You’re working for him?”
“For Mr. Rashid, yes.”
Doug sensed their mutual hostility. It was as obvious as the snarling of a pair of lionesses arguing over a bleeding chunk of fresh meat.
“I didn’t know you were still with the corporation,” Joanna said.
“I dropped out,” Melissa replied, “but I’m back now.”
“And in such a key position, too.”
Melissa said, “Mr. Rashid seems pleased with my work.”
“I’m sure,” Joanna murmured-
Doug broke in, “Just what are you doing here, Melissa? Why’ve you come to Moonbase?”
Before she could think of a reply, Joanna said, “Rashid is pushing the idea of developing nuclear fusion power.”
“Using helium-three?” Doug asked.
“You know about it,” said Melissa, impressed.
“I’ve looked into it. Power conversion is the key to its economic success.”
Turning to Joanna, Melissa lied, “I was hoping to get your support for the fusion development.” This isn’t the time or place to confront her, she told herself. I want to see Greg. He’s the one I’ve come for.
“I suppose we could program nanomachines to glean helium-three out of the regolith,” said Joanna.
“You don’t really need nanomachines to do that,” Melissa said.
“We’re fully committed to nanotechnology here,” Joanna replied icily.
“But the U.N. treaty—”
“Won’t be signed by Kiribati. You know that.”
“Still,” Melissa said, “the fusion program shouldn’t be dependent on nanotechnology.”
Doug said, “We want to show the world that nanomachines aren’t harmful, despite all the hysteria down there.”
Melissa kept herself from replying.
“After all,” Doug went on, “nanomachines can do a lot more than scour the regolith for raw materials. The medical applications of nanotech are the greatest thing they’ve got going for them.”
“Are they?” Melissa countered. “Nanomachines killed your father, didn’t they?”
Doug felt as if she had slapped his face. He saw that his mother had gone white, too.
“That was twenty years ago,” Joanna said stiffly. “Nothing like that has happened again.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“Nanomachines saved my life,” Doug said, recovering somewhat ’If it weren’t for nanotech I’d have died of radiation poisoning.”
“And now you can live forever, is that it?”
“Really,” Joanna started.
But Doug silenced her with a gesture. “I don’t know how long I’ll be able to live. But wouldn’t you want to extend your lifespan, if you had the chance?’”
“That’s just it, isn’t it?” Melissa retorted. “Of all the billions of human beings on Earth, how many of them will get the chance to live forever?”
“Answer the question,” Doug insisted. “If you, yourself, had the chance to extend your lifespan indefinitely, would you take it?”
“No,” Melissa said honestly. “I don’t want to extend this misery one minute longer than I have to. Life is pain, don’t you understand that? The sooner we’re out of it, the better off we are.”
DIRECTOR’S OFFICE
“Melissa? Here?” Greg stiffened at the news. “What does she want?”
Joanna was too nervous to sit down. “She wants to see you.”
“But why?”
“Who knows? She says she’s here to ask our support for Rashid’s fusion program.”
“You don’t think that’s the truth?”
Joanna glared at her son. “Do you?”
Greg leaned back in his desk chair and stared at the ceiling. The bare rock seemed lower than usual, heavier, inching down to crush him.