He took her gloved hand and guided her up the gentle slope of a small crater rim. The ground was pockmarked with crateriets a few centimeters across. The blower in Kinsman's 322 suit hissed at high speed; still he felt hot inside it. "The horizon's so close," Diane said.
"The edge of the world. Makes you half think you could fall off."
"I thought we'd be able to see the stars better."
"Your visor's pretty heavily filtered."
"It's just so dreary\ I've never seen such desolation."
What did you expect? he said to himself. Aloud, he asked, "Diane, what made you come up here?"
She turned ponderously to face him. "I toid you. It was a good job opportunity. Extra pay."
"And that's all?"
She hesitated. "I found out that you were right, Chet. All along, you were right and I was wrong. I tried it NeaPs way, I tried working for the poor and the oppressed. All that happened was that they got poorer and the government got more oppressive. It took a lot of years, but I finally figured out that you were right. We need a frontier—even if it's a desolate emptiness way off in space someplace."
But there was something in her voice that hinted at deeper reasons, hidden motivations.
"Is it that bad, Earthside?" he asked.
"Yes," Diane said fervently. "The government doesn't release unemployment statistics anymore, that's how hard things are. And the super-morality fanatics make it even harder when you've got a fatherless child to support."
"You have a baby."
"She's almost five years old."
"Neai's baby."
"I decided against an abortion." For a long moment she was silent, then, "I guess I thought it would make him leave Mary-EHen and marry me." She laughed bitterly.
"Where is the child?" Kinsman asked.
"With an aunt of mine, for the time being. In Arizona."
"While you're up here in the land of opportunity." "Learning a new profession in a new world. For ninety days."
"You could stay longer. I could extend your tour." "I've got a daughter to take care of." Kinsman mused. "We could get her up here, too." 323
