“But it’s necessary!” Eberly pleaded. “These random power outages are getting worse. I have to replace Aaronson.”
“Not with me,” Timoshenko said firmly. He sat across the desk from Eberly, his arms folded across his chest, a stubborn scowl darkening his heavy-featured face.
Exasperated, not certain of how to swing the man into accepting his offer, Eberly said mildly, “Well, will you at least think about it? I’m sure that once you’ve considered all the—”
The engineer got to his feet. “I can think about it until Siberia grows palm trees. The answer will still be no.”
And he turned and walked out of the office, leaving Eberly sitting at his desk with his mouth hanging open.
The door closed with a soft click. Eberly said to himself, There’s got to be a way to make him do what I want. Every man has a weakness, a chink in his armor. Every man wants something, something that he can’t get. What does this obstinate Russian want? What’s his secret desire? I’ll have to go through his personnel file very thoroughly, search out every detail. I’ve got to find his weakness.
At half past noon the cafeteria was noisy and bustling with troops of people lining the service counters, taking tables, finding friends, talking, laughing, clinking silverware and dishes. A medley of aromas wafted through the big room: grilled pseudosteaks, boiling coffee, the sharp tangy sweetness of pastries fresh from the oven.
Seated between Wanamaker and Gaeta, Raoul Tavalera’s long, somber face wore an expression somewhere between scowling suspicion and sullen anger.
“We need a second man on the flight,” Wanamaker was explaining. “I’m not a good enough pilot to do the whole job by myself.”
Gaeta added, “We wouldn’t ask if we weren’t up against it, amigo. Jake can fly the bird out to the rings all right, but he’s going to need help recovering Pancho at the end of the mission.”
“Look, guys, I told you before—”
Wanamaker cut him off. “This is a matter of life and death, Mister.”
Tavalera nodded somberly. “Yeah. My life and death.”
“Pancho’s,” Wanamaker corrected. “I’m not letting her go out there and risk her neck unless I’m absolutely sure we can bring her back.”
“Alive,” Gaeta chimed in.
“Find somebody else,” Tavalera mumbled, looking down at his lunch tray.
“There isn’t time to find somebody else and train him. We’ve got to go in a few weeks,” Wanamaker said. “Before the big debate between Eberly and Holly.”
That sparked a flicker of interest in Tavalera’s eyes. “What’s the debate got to do with it?” he asked.
Gaeta answered, “Eberly’s gonna make a big deal about mining the rings, selling water ice to the rock rats out in the Belt, Selene and the other Moon cities.”
“So?”
“Wunderly wants to prove there are living organisms in the rings,” said Wanamaker. “That will put the rings off limits for mining.”
“And for that you want me to risk my neck?” Tavalera demanded.
“You want Holly to win this election, don’t you?”
Tavalera’s eyes flickered again, but he slumped back in his chair and muttered, “What difference does it make?”
Wanamaker started to reply but Gaeta put up a silencing hand. “Hey, Jake, why’n’t you go get another cup of coffee? I got something to say to Raoul here, just between the two of us.”
Wanamaker stared hard at Gaeta for a moment, then got up and made his way through the busy cafeteria toward the coffee urns.
Hunching closer to Tavalera, Gaeta said, “Look, kid, Kris told me about you and Holly.” Before Tavalera could reply, he went on, “For what it’s worth, Holly’s pretty damn miserable about the fight you two had. You wanna help her win this election? You wanna get back together with her? Fly this mission.”
Glowering, Tavalera said, “That’s all she’s interested in. She doesn’t give a shit about me. She just wants to use me.”
“Don’t be a cabron, wiseass. Holly cares a lot for you. She cared before this mission to the rings ever came up, didn’t she?”
“Maybe. I guess so.”
“Damn right. And now you two idiotas have yourselves all wound around the flagpole and neither one of you has the smarts to get out of it.”
“She thinks I’m a coward,” Tavalera grumbled.
“Then show her you’re not.”
“Why don’t you go?” Tavalera demanded. “You’re the trained stunt guy. You went out there before.”
Gaeta started to reply, but hesitated. Why don’t I go? He repeated to himself. Why am I asking this kid to do something that I ought to be doing? Why am I sitting here trying to get this scared kid to do something that I can do better than anybody else?
Because I’m scared of it, he answered himself. I’ve risked my butt so many times; maybe this one would be the one where my number comes up. That’s why I’m asking this kid to do what I should do myself.
He took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.
“You’re right,” Gaeta admitted. “You’re absolutely right.”
Tavalera’s jaw dropped open.
Before he could say anything, Wanamaker came back to his chair and placed his newly refilled coffee mug carefully on the table before sitting down. His craggy face looked like a looming thundercloud.
“Jake,” Gaeta said amiably. “Change of plans. I’m going to the rings. You and Pancho can fly the bird and I’ll go get the samples Wunderly needs.”
Tavalera brightened. “I can do the mission control job.”
“Right,” said Gaeta.
Wanamaker’s eyes narrowed. “You certain you want to do this?” he asked Gaeta.
Feeling excited despite himself, Gaeta replied, “It’s the only way this chingado mission is gonna work.”
“Kris isn’t going to like it.”
With a half-hearted shrug, Gaeta said, “Kris will just have to accept it. One last mission. Then I’m finished. For good.”
Wanamaker sat there in silence, thinking, This will be the best thing for Pancho. She can fly the mission. I’ll be her backup and help with recovering Manny after he gets the samples.
The ex-admiral’s gaze turned to Tavalera, sitting there looking relieved. Besides, Wanamaker told himself, this way I won’t have to take the kid out behind the woodshed and beat the crap out of him.
21 March 2096: Evening
Several times over dinner Gaeta tried to tell Kris Cardenas that he had decided to fly the mission himself. As they ate at the tiny foldout table in their kitchen he tried to force the words out of his mouth. Each time he couldn’t think of how to get started. Cardenas chattered on about her day at the nanolab.
Did Tavalera tell her? he wondered. I’ll break that kid’s ass if he blabbed.
But Cardenas talked on as if nothing unusual had happened. Gaeta ate mechanically, his head bowed over his plate.
I can surf across the clouds of Jupiter, he said to himself, but I can’t tell this woman that I’m going to do something she doesn’t want me to do. Courage comes in funny packages.
At last Cardenas said, “Let me guess.”
He looked up at her. “Huh?”
Her expression had become serious. “You’re going out to the rings, aren’t you?”
“I was going to tell you,” he said. “I just didn’t know how.”
“I figured.”
“Raoul told you?”
Cardenas shook her head. “He was more cheerful than usual when he came back from lunch, but no, he didn’t say anything about the ring mission.”
“You scoped it out.”
“It didn’t take Sherlock Holmes, the way you’ve moped around all through dinner.”