I leaned my head back to look up at Nathaniel, who was shaking his head slightly. Probably at the same thought I had, which was that underground bunkers were all well and good if you were worried about another impact, but right on the river? When the temperatures went up again and the water table rose, that was going to be a disaster.
“Now, we have a real treat for you today: we’ll get to go out and cruise around the lake.” The boat slowed as we reached the locks out to Lake Michigan.
Nathaniel shifted in his seat to peer out the window to watch the locks in action. He was never going to stop being an engineer. “Huh … I wonder if—” His jaw snapped shut.
“You wonder if…?”
He cleared his throat. “Ah. I wonder … if we should have Myrtle and Eugene over for dinner when we get back.”
“That is not what you were going to say.”
The corners of his mouth twisted into a wry smile. “No. But allow me this course correction.”
Which meant it had been something about rocketry. I patted his thigh in appreciation. “That would be nice. Maybe we could have—”
The captain’s voice cut in with just enough volume to make conversation difficult. “Last year we weren’t able to go out at all because the lake was frozen solid, but this winter is mild enough that we’ll be able to give you a good view of Chicago and cruise around Navy Pier and Adler Planetarium. Interesting trivia: Did you know that the astronauts are using our planetarium to practice navigation?”
Nathaniel and I met each other’s gazes and I started to giggle. “There’s no escape, is there?”
In mock tones of horror, he said, “The space program is everywhere.”
Across the cabin, Lynn’s husband grunted. “And a damn foolish thing it is, too.”
“Luther.” Lynn smacked her husband’s arm. “Language.”
Nathaniel stilled beside me. “What do you mean?”
“A couple of years of bad weather, and they’re telling us we have to go into space?” He shrugged, the flesh of his neck bunching over his collar with the movement. “Even if I believed this nonsense, why not spend the money making things better here on Earth?”
“They are.” I rested my hand on Nathaniel’s knee to let him know that I would take this one. “That’s why we have rationing—they’re trying to eliminate anything that will add to the greenhouse effect. The space program is just one aspect of it.”
“Eternal winter. Please.” Luther waved his hand toward the front window, where we were starting to draw level with the top of the lock. “You heard the captain.”
“I think you’ve misunderstood. The winter was temporary. The problem is that the temperature is going to start rising soon. ‘Eternal summer’ is what we’re actually concerned about.” Being in Kansas City, at the IAC, we were surrounded by people who understood that, and were all striving for the same goal. “Besides, it’s not a good idea to keep all your eggs in one basket, right? All the space program is doing is making another basket for eggs.”
“Ma’am. I appreciate your thoughts, but there are economic forces at work here that I don’t expect you to understand. This is all about big business seeing an opportunity to make a buck off the government. It’s conspiracies and shadows all the way down.”
Nathaniel drew a breath. “I’m the le—”
I dropped my purse on the floor to stop him. “Oh! I’m such a klutz.” Having him say that he was the lead engineer for the space program? While we were trapped on a ship with these folks? I was already too angry to continue the conversation, and it wasn’t going to go anywhere better from there. “Lynn, do you remember how I was always dropping things?”
She joined me in changing the subject, bless her, and from there on the conversation was perfectly ordinary. What did we talk about? I don’t even know. Everything? Nothing? It was just … normal. Until I ran into Lynn, I hadn’t realized how far outside of normal our life had become. They had a son. They were hoping for another. They had a mortgage, for God’s sake.
A mortgage. Nathaniel and I were too afraid of the future to even move out of our studio apartment, and the Bromenshenkels were planning twenty years into the future with a mortgage.
The next day, Nathaniel came with me to the studio. It was a relief to have him there. At a show about science, Dr. Nathaniel York of the IAC was quite the celebrity, so I was able to fade back and just be Mrs. York for a while.
Mind you, I think Nathaniel was turning up the charm in order to draw attention from me. It meant that I didn’t have to carry on small talk with anyone. More than once, I thought about the doctor he’d taken me to, and had some regret for not having that prescription filled. But I only threw up once, and I don’t think that anyone except Nathaniel knew.
And then it was time to go to places.
The assistant, whose name I still couldn’t remember, appeared at the makeup table. “Dr. York? We’re ready for you now.”
Nathaniel turned toward him and opened his mouth, then shut it again with a laugh. “You’re not talking to me.” He bent down to kiss my cheek and whispered, “Prime numbers are your friend.”
He knew me so well. I whispered back, “Later I’ll have to see if you’re divisible.”
A coughing laugh was my reward, and he blushed a little, which was always a bonus. “Only divisible by one.”
Straightening, he gave me a wink and stepped back.
It was marginally less terrifying to go with the assistant this time, though whether that’s because I knew what to expect or because I hadn’t had as much time to get worked up, I couldn’t tell you. I was mostly fine, just mild butterflies. I didn’t need to be drugged, thank you very much—
Until the assistant turned to Nathaniel and said, “I’ll be back to show you where you can watch, Dr. York.”
“No.” The word was out of my mouth before I knew why I didn’t want Nathaniel watching. It was why he’d come, after all. And he’d seen the other broadcast. It wasn’t as if I was about to do something shocking, or even difficult. “I—never mind. It’s fine.”
Nathaniel watched me for a moment. “You know … I think I’d rather watch from the control booth. See how they do this stuff.”
What will people think … He knew me so well, and it made no sense that I was afraid to make a mistake in front of him. Goodness knows he’d seen me be foolish plenty of times, like the “dandelion greens salad” disaster. And yet, I was nodding at him now. “That sounds like a fine idea.”
Then it was off through the hallways of the studio, onto the soundstage, and then on my mark at the fake door. Beyond the door, the assistant director said, “We’re live in five, four, three…”
Three was a prime number. So was five. I breathed through my mouth. Seven. Eleven. Thirteen.
The assistant held his clipboard and nodded to the stage. That was my cue. I put my hand on the knob and walked through, smiling.
Don looked up with a grin. “Dr. York! Boy, am I glad you’re here. Rita and I were just trying to figure out what fuel to use for our bottle rocket.”
Beside him, Rita had a bottle with fins on the side like a toy rocket. This time she wore a blue dress, spangled with stars.
“As it happens, I can help with that.” I walked to the mark like an old hand, and found myself smiling at Rita. She smiled back. It might have been acting, but still … this was why I was here.