He's stretched so tight he's going to snap, Kinsman thought. What on Earth is eating at him? Something was terribly wrong, Kinsman knew, but his body ached too much for him to think. I know how Atlas must've felt, holding up the world.
"Chet," Landau said, "we must prepare for the ride to the airport. You will have to wear the oxygen mask." Kinsman wanted to nod but he did not even try. "De Paolo's got two cars coming for us," said Harriman.
"Plus the escort. No local or federal cops. We sneak out quietly."
Suddenly Kinsman wheeled his chair to face Colt. "Frank," he blurted, "come with us!"
"To the airport?"
"No, to Selene! Come on. You know you don't belong down here anymore. You know what we're trying to do. Join us!"
Colt pushed his chair away from the white-clothed dining table. "Me? You're serious? You want me .
"Why not?"
"After what I've done?"
"That's in the past. We're building for the future. You can help us! You'll be a helluva lot happier in Selene than putting up with all the chickenshit they throw at you down here."
Colt lurched to his feet. "You're crazy! I can't—"
"Sure you can," Kinsman urged.
Throwing his napkin down on the table, Colt shouted, "You damned fool! By the time you get back to the space station there won't be any Selene!"
"I don't get—" But the tortured look on Colt's face stopped Kinsman. "What do you mean, Frank?"
"Shit, man! Did you really think they were gonna let you get away with it? Did you really think that?" 554
Kinsman could feel fire flashing along his nerves- "Frank, what are you saying?"
Colt's face was a landscape of pain. "Chet, you soft- headed bastard—that plane's not filled with your goddamned refugees. It's loaded with a hundred armed troops! In another two hours we'll have Alpha. In twenty-four hours we'll have d//the manned space stations, the Russian ones, too. Then we take Selene."
Kinsman closed his eyes.
"You sonofabitch!" Harriman raged. "That's how you got those eagles!"
"Yeah." Colt's voice sounded weak, miserable.
