The Yank nodded weakly.
As I expected, the big problem was the spacesuits. There were three basic types. The standard issue had a hard-shell torso of cermet, with fabric sleeves and leggings and accordion-pleated joints at the elbows, knees, and wrists. A newer variation kept the cermet torso, but its sleeves and legs were made of a reasonably flexible plastic. Then there was the exoskeleton, its fabric arms and legs covered with high-strength carbon fiber rods that were powered by tiny servomotors, slaved to the wearer’s body movements. This increased the wearer’s natural strength and made the suit feel more flexible.
While the exoskeleton allowed the most flexibility, it was twice the weight of the others, which made it cumbersome, even in the light lunar gravity. And it took an hour or more to put on. And take off.
For four days the golfers tried on different suits, clomping around in their heavy boots, whacking away at golf balls out on the driving range. Most of them eventually went for the exoskeleton, although a handful opted for the standard suit. Nobody wanted the plastic job.
When I saw Mai in the smallest exoskeleton that was available, she looked like a little child being swallowed alive by some alien metal monster.
Try as I might to get some time with her alone, Mai was constantly working out on the course or otherwise in the company of her fellow golfers. In the evenings, she was either with the golf pros or with Sam. Or both. She ignored my calls and my messages.
Finally I decided to face her, once and for all. On the night before the tournament was to begin, I planted myself in the surveillance center and watched for Mai on the dozens of display screens lining the walls of the chamber. Two security technicians monitored the screens, which showed every public space and corridor in the complex.
I watched Mai at a dinner table in Dante’s Inferno, sitting with Sam and a quartet of other golfers, two of them women. Sam was chattering away, as usual, and Mai seemed to be entranced by whatever he was talking about. Her eyes hardly left his face, even for a moment. I would have gladly strangled him.
At last they finished their desserts and coffees and got up from the table. Sam took Mai’s arm—and she let him do it. He escorted her out of Dante’s, along the corridor that led to the elevators, and then down to the level of the Paradise Hotel.
I didn’t realize how tense I was until one of the security techs complained, “Hey, look at what you did to my pen!”
I had unconsciously picked up her pen off her desktop and bent it into a horseshoe shape.
As I muttered an apology and promised to buy her a new one, I watched Mai and Sam make their way down the hotel’s main corridor. They stopped at her door.
I had to admit to myself that they made a well-matched couple. Mai was just a centimeter or so shorter than Sam, and exquisitely beautiful. Sam was far from handsome, but he radiated a vital energy, even in the security camera’s display screen.
My heart was in my throat as Sam began to slip his arms around Mai’s waist. But she artfully disengaged, gave him a peck on the cheek, and slipped into her room, leaving Sam standing alone in the corridor, looking nonplussed.
I let out a yelp that made both the security techs jump, then raced for the door, the elevator, and Mai’s hotel room.
By the time I got to her door Sam was long gone, of course. I tapped lightly. No response. I rapped a little harder, and Mai’s muffled voice came through: “Sam, I need my rest. Please go away.”
“It’s not Sam,” I said, smiling happily. “It’s me.”
“Chou?”
“Yes!”
For a moment nothing happened, then the door slid back and Mai was standing there in a silk robe decorated with flowers and birds. She looked up at me, her face serious, almost gloomy.
“Hello,” she said, sadly.
“Mai, I had to see you. Why haven’t you answered my calls? Why are you spending all your time—”
She put a finger on my lips, silencing me.
“Our last meeting was a disaster, Chou. I ruined your life.”
“Ruined?” I was truly shocked. “You saved my life, Mai!”
“I thought they were going to put you in jail.”
“They would have, if it weren’t for Sam.”
“You owe him a lot.”
That’s when it hit me. Mai was being nice to Sam because she was grateful for what he did for me!
“Sam’s getting his money’s worth out of me,” I growled. “I don’t want you to let him include you in the payment.”
Now she looked shocked. “I would never—”
I didn’t let her finish her sentence. I took her in my arms and kissed her. A couple strolling up the corridor passed by and chuckled softly.
“We’ve been seen again,” Mai said, a little ruefully.
“I don’t care. I’m a free man now.”
“As long as you stay on the Moon.”
“Well, yes,” I had to admit.
“So we’ll always be half a million kilometers apart.”
“Four hundred thousand,” I corrected, inanely. “But it doesn’t have to always be that way. Once my divorce becomes final, maybe I’ll be able to return to Earth.”
Mai said nothing.
