"Why didn't you report the attack to Base Security?" Clayton demanded.
"I guess I just didn't have time in all the rush of packing." Even to Susan that sounded lame, but she could think of nothing else to say-nothing he might believe.
Clayton stroked his beard and scowled from beneath bushy eyebrows. "Listen, Captain, you're going to have to start leveling with me if I'm to be of any help. You're saying an attempt was made on your life, and you failed to report it because you were too busy?"
"Yes." Susan put as much authority as she could muster into that single word.
"I don't believe it. In fact, I don't believe you could have let him escape in the first place. I know your background. I know what you're capable of. You would never have let someone who tried to kill you escape. Not twice-not even once. Either you would be dead, or your attacker would be. And if he did somehow manage to get away, you certainly would have reported it."
What could she tell him? What would he believe? She could think of no fabrication that might work, so she told the truth. The whole truth.
"That's an incredible story," Clayton said when she had finished.
"I didn't think you'd believe me."
"I didn't say I don't believe you. I simply said it's an incredible story. And you have to know it is. You don't want to change any of it, do you? Make it a bit easier to digest?"
"I wish I could, but that's exactly the way it happened."
"You checked your LIN/C, of course."
"Of course."
"And?"
"It agrees with what I remember."
Clayton shook his head. "Let me see that pendant."
Susan went to the closet and removed the pendant from the small personal effects drawer located at its back. Then she returned to Clayton and held it up between them.
"You haven't worn it since?" he asked.
"No."
"Maybe you'd better. It seems to have saved your life, although I'll be damned if I know how. And right now you need all the help you can get, whether you'll admit it or not."
They were silent for a few seconds. Susan slipped the pendant out of sight, into a pouch at her waist. Finally, Clayton broke the silence.
"I'll have your story checked. Someone else must have felt that change in atmospheric pressure, or noticed something out of the ordinary. Meanwhile, go about your business as if nothing has happened."
"Something is happening. Someone is trying to kill me!"
"I know." He stepped to the door and it irised open. "But getting excited about it won't help. Just go about your normal routine, and give them the chance they want. I'll be there to take them out when they make their move."
"What if you don't get them?" Susan asked. "What if they get me first?"
"I won't let that happen. Although you won't see me, I'll be near." Clayton hesitated, then asked, "By the way, what are you doing here in Luna City?"
"I'm on loan to the Survey Service."
"That much I already know. What's the assignment."
Susan shook her head. "I can't tell you that."
"Look, I'm going to find out anyway. And the sooner I know everything you know, the better I'm going to be able to protect you."
"I'm sorry, but I have a job to do, too. And, like yours, it involves maintaining strict security. Besides, I really don't know anything yet myself."
Clayton didn't answer for a long moment. When he finally did, he said simply, "I understand." He turned and stepped out into the corridor, then walked away without another word. The door irised closed behind him.
Susan stood still, staring at the door. Clayton might be right, she may need all the help she could get. She didn't understand any of what was happening to her.
And he might be right about the pendant, too.
She took it from the pouch at her waist and examined it, holding it by its chain. It looked so dull, so cold, so totally lifeless. Could it have been somehow responsible for her attacker's disappearance outside the curio shop on Fleet Base?
She didn't know. Still, like Clayton had said, if it had saved her life once, it might do so again. But only if she wore it.
Putting the chain around her neck, she tucked the small lump of gray metal into her jumpsuit.
Chapter Eleven
Bill Darcy arrived a few minutes before eighteen-thirty. A year younger than Susan, he stood six feet tall and sported light brown hair with hints of red and gray at the temples. The lower half of his face was hidden beneath a full growth of beard. He wore a light green casual jumpsuit.
"You're looking good," Susan said as she let him in.
"A bit grayer," he responded, "but I do feel good." He looked her up and down. She wore her own variation on the latest Earth-side female evening attire: a few strategically placed patches of silver lace and a complete iridescent body-paint job. The pendant hung between her breasts from its chain.
"You haven't changed," Darcy said. "In fact, you actually look younger than the last time I saw you."
"You always were a charmer." He smiled, and Susan gently squeezed his upper arm. "You don't think I might be exposing too much for Luna City, do you?"
"Without a doubt, but I like it."
"Then I won't change."
His smile broadened and Susan reached out, stepping into his arms. They kissed warmly as the door irised closed.
"What would you like for dinner?" he asked.
"Italian."
"That's what I like about you. You always know exactly what you want."
"And I usually get it," Susan joked. "Right now, I can think of nothing I want more than to be with you."
Darcy beamed. "There's a nice Italian restaurant a short walk from the theater. We'll have to hurry, though-the ballet begins at twenty hundred hours sharp."
They left the apartment arm in arm. A few steps down the corridor, Susan asked, "How's your brother?"
Darcy looked questioningly into Susan's eyes. "You know Sam is dead."
She stopped, then turned to face the man. "No, I didn't know. When did it happen?"
"Susan, you know Sam died five years ago, in that mining accident out in the asteroids. What's wrong with you?"
"I don't know. Sam isn't Luna City's mayor?"
Darcy shook his head in disbelief. "Like I said, he's dead. I've been mayor here for the past six years. But you know that."
Then the From line of the script message had been right.
But what of her memories? She remembered Sam Darcy as mayor of Luna City, and Bill as a councilman. She remembered Sam alive and married; three years ago she had visited him and his wife here in Luna City. And only a couple weeks ago she'd watched him deliver a speech on a holo-vid broadcast beamed Earth-side.
Yet Bill had just said his brother died five years ago. Why would he lie?
The answer was obvious-he wouldn't.
There was the same feeling to this there had been during that incident in the corridor outside the curio shop. The same uneasiness filled Susan's thoughts now as had then. She would have to check her memories against those stored in her LIN/C, but she was certain they would match.
"Maybe we'd better not go out tonight," Darcy said, scattering her thoughts. "You should get some sleep."
"I'll be fine. I want to be with you."
"You're sure?"
"Positive. We haven't seen each other in such a long time."