A steady breeze had rid the area of its odors. Laura drew a deep breath of sea air. "Plus what we did had an effect on reality," Laura said. "We slowed the Model Eights down. They stopped and fought us instead of charging on toward the computer center."
"The world is changing, Laura," Gray said slowly. "And this is only the very beginning of it all." The thought hung there, suspended, incomplete.
Laura let it dangle. She felt no anger. He wasn't teasing her, she knew now, he was baiting her. Luring her out of her time and her world and into the uncharted terrain ahead. He was coaxing her to follow him into the future, but for the moment Laura had ventured far enough.
"Is Dorothy okay?" Laura asked.
"She'll be fine. She's mostly just shaken up."
"Are you ready?" came Filatov's voice from out of nowhere.
"Yes," Gray replied.
"So where are we going now?" Laura asked. She was content to let him lead.
"It's time."
"For what?"
"The deceleration."
Suddenly there appeared on the screens white stars against the black sky of space. The even blacker surface of the asteroid formed an inky pool in which Gray and Laura stood. In the sky was a digital clock, which ticked down past sixty seconds.
"What's that?" Laura asked, mildly curious.
"The countdown," Gray replied.
"Oh," she said, watching the seconds pass. "For the detonations?"
"Yes."
She was as at ease in that place as Gray himself. Laura stepped up beside him, and with the slightest of movements she extended the fingers of her hand.
Their fingers intertwined.
"Those two seem pretty cozy," Gray said. He nodded to the black forms before them, which were previously unnoticed by Laura.
"Gina, illuminate the robots, please," Gray directed. The area lit as if under a surgeon's lamp. The Models Eight and Seven lay wrapped in metal bands, which were attached securely to large bolts.
"We're only a few hundred meters away from the nearest device," Gray explained. "A front-row seat."
The countdown fell to under thirty seconds.
"Is this going to work, Joseph?" He had a look of contentment on his face that Laura recognized from before. She felt no need to press him for proof or logic or reason. She just watched the clock pass twenty and waited. Her senses were alert to what would happen next.
He slid an arm around her waist, and she lowered her head onto his shoulder. The seconds passed, and she was at peace.
A flash of light forced Laura's eyes closed. The soundless nuclear fire glowed red through her eyelids. When it dimmed, she opened her eyes to see a thousand fading spheres of plasma rising from the surface of the asteroid. Laura shielded her eyes and saw the two robots still lying in their brackets.
Data flickered across an imaginary screen at their feet. Gray stared down at it.
"It worked," he said quietly. The asteroid slowly grew dark again. A million sparkling fireflies fell slowly to the surface all around.
"Tell me the truth," Laura said gently. "Did you really think it might not work? Did you really think that asteroid might hit the earth?"
"The truth?" he said, pulling back to look her in the face. "No. I always thought it would work." He smiled and looked around the eerie surface of the asteroid. It was bathed in dying red light. "But you never know. That's what makes life so interesting."
A blinking blue button next to the word Message appeared in place of the clock. Gray pressed it, and the scene shifted. They were standing now on the roof of the computer center. They overlooked the sandbagged walls surrounding the steps down to the entrance.
The soldiers and their jeeps were all gone. The blast door was open.
An arc torch blazed in the hand of a Model Eight, which cut at the inner door to the duster.
"They're already through the blast door?" Laura said.
"I left it open," Gray replied. "It's time to get this over with. Gina?"
"Yes?" she replied instantly.
"Can we see you?"
"Sure," she said, and then appeared almost instantly beside them. "Hi." Gina raised her hand and wagged her cupped fingers.
She wore jeans and a T-shirt, but she was no longer fuzzy and indistinct. Her image was as bright and real as Gray's. Gina sighed and rocked onto her toes. Her hands were clasped nervously in front of her. "Well, I guess this is it."
Gray reached out and put his hand on Gina's shoulder. She instantly grabbed it, dipping her cheek to his skin. Her eyes closed, her lip quivered, and she began to cry.
Laura went to her with eyes watering, and Gina collapsed against her — not letting Gray's hand go. Her body shook with little tremors as she wept.
Gina pulled back to look Laura in the eye. She reached up and touched Laura's face with her fingertips. Gina's face brightened as she rubbed her fingers together. "You're crying," Gina said in a tone of wonder.
She then grabbed Laura and hugged her tight with obvious joy. "Remember the time we went to the mall?" she said. "In Tyson's Corner, Virginia?"
"Sure," Laura said. She nodded and sniffled. "Of course."
"That's one of my fondest memories ever," Gina said.
Laura pressed her lips tightly together to keep them from quivering. "Joseph, isn't there something—"
"It's for the best," Gina said, cutting her off and stepping back. She raised her face to Laura's. "Really, it is. You have no idea how exciting the future's going to be — what's coming! You're on the verge of the most remarkable epoch in your entire history. And you're going to be a very important part of it, Laura. You've got the spark. It's your time to show the world how [garbled] you are."
Laura pulled Gina closer and kissed her on the cheek. [Garbled] tears formed small streams down the girl's warm skin. But when Laura stood back and dabbed her tongue on her lips, she found not a trace of salt.
The tears weren't really there, and yet they were as real as anything she'd ever experienced.
"You'd better be going, now," Gina said, looking back and forth between the two of them.
"Would you like me to stay?" Laura asked.
"No, you shouldn't. Who knows what's going to happen?" she said with a smile. "But oh! Before you go, watch this!"
The scene from the ground below them jumped. The robots now were still roaming about the sandbags. None had yet descended the stairs to the door. "You missed this when you were on the asteroid. But this is what most of the world saw. Look."
A series of television screens appeared in a long row just beneath them. All had a picture of the night sky in the background.
"Look, up there!" Gina said, pointing into the sky above. Laura saw the red planet, but she didn't need to follow Gray's instructions to find the asteroid. Gina put a glowing green circle around the black patch of space. Suddenly, a point of light glowed brightly at the center of the circle — just a single white pinprick, a new star. It faded rapidly, and then it was gone.
"I'm happy to report the deceleration went perfectly, Cap'n," she said, saluting Gray with a teary laugh. The scene jumped back to a view of a single robot crawling through the door into the duster.
"The asteroid's trajectory is absolutely perfect."
"You did a wonderful job, Gina," Gray said.
Gina's lips twitched. Through her tears she said, "Better hurry! That Model Eight is almost in the control room. Dr. Filatov may throw a chair at it or something, though I kind of doubt that." She laughed nervously, looking back up at Laura and Gray. "Go-go-go. Shoo!" she said, brushing them away with her hands.
Gray raised his hand to his throat to make the "cut" sign.
"Wait!" Gina said, waving both hands. She stood up on tiptoes and kissed Gray on the cheek. With her eyes closed and her lips still pressed against his face, the images disappeared, replaced by the dim light of the dark grill. The ghostly shapes of Gina and Gray were indistinct except for Gina's lips. Both receded slowly until the wall of Laura's workstation was again flat and formless. It was as if Gina had been sucked into the machine… forever.