Stoner said nothing.
“I had to get special clearance from the Navy.”
“I’ll bet.”
“Look—I didn’t think they’d do this to you.” Jo’s voice didn’t tremble, but he could sense the tension in it. And there was something in her face, something in those dark eyes of hers: guilt, or fear, or…what?
“What did you think they’d do?” he asked.
She shrugged inside her heavy wool coat. “I don’t know. I tried to warn you…to tell you that McDermott was uptight about you going to Washington…”
“How’d he find out, Jo?”
Her face fell. In a voice so low he could barely hear it, she answered, “I told him.”
“Yeah. I know.”
“He pressured me. I’ve been cutting a lot of classes to be out at the observatory. He said he’d flunk me out if I didn’t tell him what you were up to.”
He studied her. If she’s lying, she’s good at it. Anger was seething inside him. Or was it something else, something more? Anger usually left Stoner cold, his mind became as unemotional and unfeeling as an electronic computer. But now his hands wanted to grab and tear, his insides were jumping, blood pounding. Jesus, Stoner realized, it’s been months since I’ve gotten laid.
“Come on in,” he said, trying to make it sound calm. “Take your coat off. Sit down. Have some coffee.”
Hesitantly Jo entered the kitchen. She put the thick manila folder on the Formica-topped counter, pulled off her mittens, slipped out of the coat. Stoner went to the range, where the glass coffeepot sat, half empty.
“No coffee for me, thanks.” She took the stool across the counter from his and watched him pour himself a cup. “Are they treating you all right here? Is there anything I can bring you?”
“My car and the keys to it.”
“They won’t let me.”
He carried the steaming mug back to the counter and sat down facing her. “That old car’s the only thing I’ve got to show for sixteen years of marriage.”
“Oh.”
“I’ve become kind of attached to it.”
“But they’re treating you okay? They’re not giving you any hassles?”
“Sure. Everything’s fine—once I signed the security agreement. Now I’ve got the run of the house. Eight rooms. Or is it nine? I’ve lost count. Plenty of food. I have to cook it for myself, though. I’m a lousy cook.”
“I could cook for you, sometimes.”
He ignored it. Reaching for the manila folder, Stoner pulled out the latest stack of photographs. They showed the fat, flattened, gaudily striped beach ball that was the planet Jupiter. He could see exquisite details of the streaming bands of clouds that flowed across the planet: eddies and whirlpools the size of Earth, in burnt orange, brick red, dazzling white.
“Where are the background field pictures I asked for?”
“In the next batch,” Jo replied. “They’re still being processed.”
“I need them,” he said. “And a computer terminal.”
She nodded. “Anything else?”
“Books. Every book on extraterrestrial life you can find. Empty the libraries. I want everything on the subject.”
Another nod. “Anything else?”
He looked into her deep, lustrous eyes. “Why did you come here tonight, Jo?”
“Professor McDermott told me to. I’m a courier now.”
“Why did you accept the job? You didn’t have to.”
For a moment she didn’t answer. Then, “I wanted to see you. To tell you I’m sorry. If I’d stood up to Big Mac…maybe…” She looked away from him. “I’m sorry it turned out this way. Truly I am.”
He reached across the table and grasped her wrist. “Prove it.”
Without another word he led her out of the kitchen, through the tiny, close rooms of the old part of the house, up the narrow stairway to his bedroom.
He closed the door firmly. No need to turn on a lamp: cold moonlight filtered through the gauzy curtains of the window.
For a moment Jo stood in front of the bed. Then she turned toward him. Stoner leaned his back against the heavy wooden panels of the door. Neither of them spoke.
He could see her face etched by the moonlight. She wasn’t smiling. Her expression was strangely placid, tranquil. She began unbuttoning her blouse. Stoner watched. She unhooked her bra and tossed it aside. Reaching down, she pulled off her shoes, then slithered the jeans down her long legs. And finally the skimpy flowered bikini panties.
“Is this what you want?” she whispered.
His throat was dry. “Yes,” he said, with an effort.
She stepped to him and started to unbutton his shirt. He stood there and let her do the work. Finally she was on her knees in front of him and he was naked. She kissed his erect penis.
“Is this what you want?” she asked again. But she didn’t wait for an answer.
Just before he thought he would explode, Stoner dug his fingers into her thick black hair and pulled her away from him. Bending down, he scooped her into his arms and carried her the four strides to the bed. He put her on the coverlet and tented his body over hers.
Jo twined her arms around his neck and pulled him down onto her. He kissed her as he entered her and she was warm and ready and moving in rhythm with him.
It was like being in space again, floating weightlessly, drifting, drifting through the dark eternities while the stars solemnly, silently gazed down.
She clung to him as they convulsed together and then gasped out a single word: “Keith!”
For long moments they lay locked together, hearts racing, breath gasping. He lifted his face from the tufted coverlet and looked into her eyes again.
She smiled up at him. “That’s the first time you’ve kissed me,” she said.
“It’s the first time you called me by my first name.”
They laughed together.
He sat on the edge of the bed. His insides still felt fluttery. Jo traced a fingernail along the length of his spine.
“Is there anything else I can do for you, Dr. Stoner?” she teased.
Turning back toward her, “Stay the night.”
“I have a class tomorrow morning.”
“Oh.” He frowned in the shadows. “Where in hell are we, anyway? Where is this house?”
“In New Hampshire…not far from White River Junction.”
“White River Junction? Then how in hell can you drive to campus in time for a morning class?”
“So I’ll miss the class,” Jo said easily. “It won’t be the first time.”
“That’s what got you under McDermott’s thumb, isn’t it?”
“I can handle Professor McDermott. He’s just a big bully.”
“White River Junction,” Stoner mused. “Maybe you ought to bring up a pair of skis the next time you come.”
“We won’t be here for the ski season, from what Professor McDermott says.”
“What do you mean?”
“He said the whole observatory staff will be heading south in a few weeks.”
“Including me?”
She nodded. “And me. I’m going too.”
“Where?”
“He wouldn’t say. Just that the climate wouldn’t be so cold.”
“Green Bank?” Stoner wondered. “No, it’s just as cold in those West Virginia hills as it is here. It can’t be Arecibo. Not even Big Mac could swing Drake and Sagan out of there.”
“What’s it like to be an astronaut?” Jo asked.
He blinked at the sudden shift in subject. “Huh? I wasn’t really an astronaut…not like the real rocket jocks. They used me as a construction engineer. I just rode up into orbit and helped put Big Eye together.”
“But you spent months in space, didn’t you?”