Cal tried not to squirm in his seat. “No, not exactly, but—”
“Suppose someone besides Catherine did survive the Event. Is it so inconceivable that after two or three days trapped or exposed to TRAPPIST-1f’s elements, probably wounded, that crew member might have died as a result?”
“Well, no…”
“And do you really want the families to wonder if it was their loved one who lingered near death for three days, possibly in terrible pain?”
Cal knew where these questions were leading, and Aaron’s words made sense, but… his gut. His instinct. It didn’t jibe.
“I know you’re anxious, Cal. I get it. This is your first big mission, and you want everything to be perfect. You don’t want to be the guy who missed something. Even beyond that, I know you’re close with your crew. That’s one of the things that makes you so good at what you do. But even if you’re right, until we have more information, this isn’t something that should get out. Especially when it really might have been a glitch.”
“But… the data… plus now with Catherine acting just… wrong…” Cal needed to make Aaron see. “There’s something bigger here, more than we know, and I’m certain Wells is the key.”
“I’ve been quiet for a while now about this,” Aaron said. “But I can see server logs as well as you can, Cal. You’ve been snooping through Catherine Wells’s files. Even after I told you to let it go.”
“But—”
“Shut up and listen to me. Aside from that, I know you’ve been talking to Dr. Royer about this, when I specifically told you not to say anything.”
Cal opened his mouth to say something then thought better of it, feeling like a kid in the principal’s office.
“All that is bad enough, but I heard from security that you came in here after her one night. Were you following her?”
“The real question is, what was she doing here so late on a Saturday night, Aaron!”
“I’m gonna take that as a yes, that you were watching her and following her. Do you have any idea how far over the line that is? Do you know how much trouble this could cause us if she found out?” Aaron shoved the tablet back across the desk toward Cal. “I ignored it for as long as I could, because you’re damn good at what you do, and I couldn’t afford to replace you so close to the launch date. But I want you to listen to me right now. I don’t know what issues you have with Wells, but they stop here.”
“Aaron—”
“Listen to me. Say you’re right. Say that your worst-case scenario is true, what does that mean?”
Cal hadn’t wanted to give voice to a worst-case scenario, but Aaron had put him on the spot. “Well… worst case… Catherine was behind what happened up there, and she’s lying to cover it up.”
“Right. Say that’s true. What does it change for Sagittarius II? It’s not like she’s going to be up there with them, so she’s not a direct danger to the mission.” Aaron had him pinned with that stern, fatherly look that was a little too reminiscent of his real dad. “Your crew is going to be fine. Even if you’re right, she’s staying here.”
What Aaron was saying made sense. Cal knew it did. But everything in him was screaming that logic didn’t apply here, that there was something they were all missing.
“Sagittarius II is a go, Cal. I need you to focus all your time and energy on that, not chasing down ghosts. You have to leave Wells alone. If there are any other incidents, if I see you so much as breathe in her direction when you shouldn’t, you’re out, genius or not.”
Cal took back the tablet with a quiet nod.
Aaron’s tone shifted to something more conciliatory when Cal didn’t argue. “I know you’re worried. But I promise you, it’s going to be all right.”
Cautiously, Cal said, “Yes, sir.” Aaron was one of the smartest people he knew. He had the same data Cal did and reached different conclusions. But he knew Aaron had a strong bias toward making the mission happen. That was skewing his perspective. It had to be. He was seeing what he wanted to see in the data, and drawing his conclusions from that. Cal was being more objective, more invested in the truth than in a specific outcome.
Really? Are you sure about that? No biases of your own?
Self-doubt, even a whisper of it, was a new thing for him, and he didn’t like it.
“Now, if we’re done here, I need to get some things together,” Aaron said. Cal recognized a dismissal when he heard one and stood up.
Aaron looked up, peering at Cal over the rim of his glasses. “And, Cal, I mean it. No more. There’s too much riding on this mission.”
“I hear you, Aaron.” Anxiety sat like a rock in his belly. Even though Aaron made some good points, Cal couldn’t shake his worry. But if he wanted to keep his career, he had to let it go. Or at least do his best to try.
14
CHICAGO WAS OPPRESSIVELY muggy when Julie drove Catherine, Aimee, and David to Nora’s hospice facility. “It’s not a bad place,” Julie was saying. “It’s about as homelike as you could expect, and they have a lot of experience with Alzheimer’s patients.”
From the passenger seat, Catherine gave Julie a careful smile. “I know you made the best decision. Thank you. For everything you’ve done to take care of her.” She left I’m sorry I wasn’t here to help unspoken. Most of her life since coming home seemed to involve that phrase.
“I’m just glad you could make it. I know you’ve got a launch coming up soon.” Julie smiled faintly. “And I know this is going to be hard for you. Mom made a lot of noise about not wanting anyone to see her this way. Me included. She said I should just find her a home and leave her there.”
“I can imagine how well that went over,” Catherine said with a dry laugh. Stubbornness was a family trait, and all three of them had it in spades.
“Well, I won that one.”
David and Aimee stayed silent in the back seat. They’d seen Nora at Christmas, and had a better idea of what awaited them than Catherine did.
As they pulled off the expressway, Catherine asked, “Is she lucid at all?”
“Hard to say. Some days yes, most days no. There’s never any way to tell.” Julie maneuvered through the surface streets. “We’re early enough in the day that the chances are better, but… I don’t know. Last time I was there, she didn’t know me the whole time. So… just be ready for that, okay?”
Catherine nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. No, she has to know me. I need for her to know me.
“The staff has tried to keep reminding her that you’re coming, and when I told her you were back, she seemed to get it, but I just don’t know.”
Eventually they reached the suburbs, and Julie pulled up in front of a long white building with neoclassical architecture and a vast expanse of rolling green lawn. Everything about the place emanated an aura of calm. When they climbed out, Catherine could smell nothing but freshly cut grass and warm parking-lot asphalt—no other trace of the city they’d just left behind.
Once inside, though, there was the unmistakable hospital scent of disinfectant and floor cleaner, but it was fainter than Catherine had feared. There were fresh flowers everywhere, and it was quiet. The staff knew Julie and greeted her, and a few of them recognized Catherine as well.
David took Catherine’s hand as they got closer to Nora’s room and she gave him a grateful smile.
The door stood ajar, and Julie rapped on it. “Mom? It’s Julie. I’ve brought you some visitors, is that all right?”