“Normal speed, please,” said Umber.
The screen went totally blank. Then bright red lettering announced, FOOTAGE UNAVAILABLE. SECURITY INVESTIGATION IN PROGRESS.
Umber stared at the words for a silent moment, then turned to the young woman. “How do I get to see this footage?”
She seemed just as surprised as he. “I guess you’ll have to talk to Sergeant Jacobi. He’s in charge of the investigation.”
SEARCHING
His cold gray eyes focused on Reverend Umber, Sergeant Jacobi said, “I’m afraid that footage is being studied by our analysis team. I really wouldn’t want to interrupt their work.”
“You don’t have a copy of the footage?”
“Apparently not,” Jacobi answered, straight-faced.
“I see,” said Umber. “Could you kindly notify me when it’s available for me to see it?”
“Yes, certainly,” said Jacobi.
Umber got to his feet. Jacobi rose also.
“This is all very distressing,” said Umber.
Nodding, Jacobi said, “We haven’t had a beating this serious since the habitat was opened to immigration.”
Frowning slightly, Umber asked, “But there have been other… incidents?”
With a small shrug, Jacobi replied, “Petty stuff. Kids roughhousing, arguments that got out of hand—that sort of thing.”
“But this was a vicious attack. Deliberate.”
Jacobi stood behind his desk, perfectly motionless.
The silence between the two men stretched painfully. At last Umber said, “Please let me know as soon as you can.”
“Of course,” said Jacobi. Coldly.
As he walked slowly along the passageway back toward his office complex, Reverend Umber thought, There’s something out of place about this. A vicious attack on Dr. Gomez. The security people appear to be at a loss in their investigation. That Sergeant Jacobi doesn’t seem very upset about the incident. He acts as if it’s strictly routine, as far as he’s concerned.
But what if this incident is just the start of a new phase of our habitat’s development? What if we’re going to see more attacks? More violence? That could bring everything I’ve worked for crashing down around my shoulders.
The following morning, Raven was surprised to see a man enter the boutique. Alone. A few boyfriends and the rare husband had been dragged into the shop by their women, but a lone man was a surprise.
He was compactly built: good shoulders and a flat midsection. Swarthy face and dark wavy hair that curled down almost to the collar of his one-piece zipsuit. He maneuvered through the women pawing through the shop’s merchandise and came straight to Raven, standing behind the counter.
“Are you Raven Marchesi?”
Blinking with surprise, Raven answered, “Yes, I am. And you are…?”
“Vincente Zworkyn. Tómas Gomez and I work together.”
“Oh! Yes, Tómas has mentioned your name many times.”
Zworkyn said, “I went to visit him this morning, but the nurse told me he was in a therapy session and couldn’t see visitors until it was finished.”
Raven nodded. “Yes, he’s able to walk now. The nanomachines are repairing his leg.”
“I thought I’d come over and say hello to you. Tómas is quite taken with you.”
Raven heard herself say, “It’s mutual.”
“That’s good.”
Glancing swiftly at Alicia, talking to a trio of potential customers on the other side of the shop, Raven turned back to Zworkyn and asked, “Do you have any idea of who attacked Tómas?”
With a shake of his head, Zworkyn replied, “I’m afraid I don’t. But I hope the security department finds them and pushes them out an airlock.”
Raven decided she liked this man.
After a few moments of embarrassed silence, Zworkyn asked, “May I take you to dinner tonight?”
Raven hesitated, then replied, “My partner and I usually have dinner together. At home.”
“May I take you both to dinner?”
With a smile, Raven said, “Let’s see what Alicia thinks of that.”
Zworkyn smiled back, looking somewhere between embarrassed and hopeful.
Raven said, “I believe Tómas told me that you are married.”
Zworkyn’s smile evaporated. “My wife is back on Earth. Filing for a divorce.”
“Divorce?”
Looking uncomfortable, Zworkyn explained, “It’s my fault, I suppose. I’m away from home most of the time. Leaving her alone. It’s not a happy situation.”
“She doesn’t travel with you?”
“I’ve asked her to. But she’d rather stay at home. She has lots of friends there.”
“Where is your home?”
“Denmark. Copenhagen.”
From the pain that showed clearly on his face, Raven realized she was treading on a sensitive subject. “I’m sorry,” she said, in a low voice.
“Not your fault,” said Zworkyn. “Nobody’s fault but my own.”
DINNER
Zworkyn sat patiently—and silently—with Raven until Alicia brought the two shoppers to the counter. Both had several colorful skirts and blouses draped over their arms. They eyed Zworkyn with unabashed curiosity as Raven introduced the engineer to Alicia and her customers. Alicia rang up the sales while Raven wrapped their purchases and escorted the women to the boutique’s door.
“You work with Tómas?” Alicia asked as Raven bid a cheerful goodbye to the departing women.
“Yes,” said Zworkyn. He hesitated for a moment, then said, “I’ve invited your partner and you to dinner tonight. Will you join us?”
Alicia smiled. “It’s my turn to cook tonight. Why don’t you come to my quarters?”
Zworkyn smiled back. “I thought dinner at the restaurant would be a pleasant change for you.”
“That’s very thoughtful of you.”
“Will you join us?” he repeated.
“Has Raven agreed?”
“Yes,” he said, stretching reality a bit.
“All right, then. But we’ll have to change into something more fitting for the restaurant.”
“Why? You both look fine.”
“We’ll look better,” said Alicia.
As she was pulling on a colorful blouse, Raven heard Alicia ask from the adjoining dressing room, “Who is he?”
“He’s a mining engineer. He’s working with Tómas… that is, he was, until Tómas got hurt.”
Raven’s tone of voice changed slightly as she said, “He told me his wife is divorcing him, back on Earth.”
“Oh? I didn’t know. I wonder if that’s true, or it’s just a line he uses on susceptible women.”
Raven felt surprised. Susceptible? Alicia? It’s going to be an interesting dinner.
Tómas, meanwhile, was stretched out on his hospital bed. His leg ached from the walking that the nurses had made him do in the hospital’s recuperation ward. But I’m walking, he told himself. A few more days and I’ll be as good as new.
His narrow compartment had been turned down to sleep mode, dark and quiet. Tómas slid his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. No pain, he realized happily.
Suddenly his eyes popped open and he propped himself up on his elbows.
I don’t have to track the moons that were bumped out of orbit around Uranus! he realized. If they were forced out only a couple of million years ago, I should be able to spot one of them with a Schmidt!
Pushing himself up to a sitting position, Tómas ran the problem through in his mind. If the moons were forced away from Uranus a couple of million years ago, one of the wide-field Schmidt telescopes at the Farside Observatory ought to be able to see them. I don’t need Big Eye, not until we pick up one of the escaped moonlets and want to get a close-up of it to verify what it is!