“What I said is I don’t wanna worry about it. We stay in the ERV, there’s no question of him trying anything funny.”
“And Marc is going too?” asked Julia hoarsely. “But his samples, his work, everything’s here.”
“We’re not exactly moving out of the neighborhood, although God knows we tried.”
Julia struggled to clear her throat. They’re serious.
Raoul looked at her coldly. “And there’s another reason to go. This place is so small we’ll catch whatever she has. And I don’t want it. Especially if it turns out to be a Mars bug.”
“It’s from the Airbus crew.”
“No one else caught it. You were the only one exposed to the Marshroom.”
“Marsmat,” she corrected him automatically. “Yeah, my immune system was down after the accident, so that’s why I got it first.”
“Whatever,” Raoul said, getting up. “I don’t fancy spending the rest of my life in quarantine.”
Viktor looked thoughtful. “Is time to plan maintenance for hab. These last few weeks we have not been on correct schedule.”
“No kidding,” said Raoul. “We were trying to get the hell outta here.”
“Is not criticism, just observation.”
Over his shoulder he called, “You make up the schedule, get back to us, we’ll come over.” She heard the door to his cabin bang.
“Damn,” Julia said. “I thought it was all over.”
“Just beginning, is more likely.”
“They were looking for any excuse to move out of the hab.”
“My guess also.”
The red light on the comm was blinking steadily. “Damn again. We forgot about that vid that came in earlier.”
Axelrod was indeed anxious. He delivered his rambling soliloquy while pacing back and forth. “Hey, what’s wrong? You’ve been off the air for damn near twelve hours now. What’s happening? You know, I worry about you guys alla the time. And—well, I’ve already apologized for not sending a backup ERV. I’m doin’ all I can here to get you guys home, but it’s sorta limited at this point.” A grimace.
“Airbus is still holding tight. They won’t come right out and demand Julia’s samples, we’d blow them outta the water in the international press if they did. Might jeopardize their getting the prize also. Blackmail isn’t cricket, y’see.”
He stopped pacing and looked straight at them. “I was worried that you didn’t agree with my Airbus negotiations. When you turned off the camera, I thought you might have taken matters into your own hands or somethin’.” He laughed nervously.
Why did he think that? Maybe all men are alike. Or somebody talked to his supposedly personal advisor.
“So just hang in there, guys. I can imagine how tough it is, and I feel really bad about it.
“Well, turning to something else, my PR boys are okay with calling Julia’s alien the ‘Marsmat.’ Everybody on this planet has gone crazy about it. This is some hot property we’ve got! The U.N. is going to debate whether Mars life should come to Earth. I mean, how could they stop us? Give me a break. There’s talk about permanent quarantine—in orbit—or worse. Meantime, every guy in a lab coat wants to get his hands on those samples. So, what d’ya think we get the scientists to fight the PEPA crazies? Julia, you got any ideas?”
Julia said sourly, “Sure, lots.”
“So, guys, lemme hear from you. Soon. Okay?” He signed off.
“What are you going to tell him?” asked Julia. “About this morning?”
“I tell only truth,” said Viktor stolidly. “But I volunteer nothing. I am going to do it live, to show we have nothing to hide.”
She sat behind him while he did the broadcast. She even waved cheerfully, but said nothing.
“Hey, Boss, relax,” said Viktor. “Camera was accidentally left off all night. We have just turned it back on.”
That is true—as far as it goes.
They had regretfully turned it back on. Besides the privacy, leaving the camera off also made them feel farther from Earth, which felt surprisingly good.
Viktor continued blandly, “There is nothing wrong here, as you can see. Apart from ERV, that is. We think you are on right track with Airbus. I am content to let you handle it.”
“I” not “we,” but maybe he won’t notice.
Viktor continued, “You are professional at sit-downs, not us. As you wanted, Marc and Raoul are moving to the ERV to guard the methane. That way we keep all options open. We give nothing away here.”
If only he knew how true that is!
“You arrange for space on nuke, get as many slots as possible. As captain, I will make final choice of personnel. We all agree on this.”
Very neatly done, that. She had to admire his ballsy attitude. He really was good at command.
“Have not heard from Airbus crew since visit yesterday. We have sensor near their ship, though, shows they are getting ready to melt pingo water. Laying hoses, setting up connections to their reactor.”
A beaming smile.
