Reversion - A Novel Part 28

He held himself rigid, cords standing out in his neck.

Her throat continued to work while her nostrils flared and shrank, flared and shrank, until he cried, aG.o.d!a almost in supplication.

aHurts worse?a I asked.

aItas a indescribable, like j.i.s.m going backwards, I guess. A catheter feels something like aa Suddenly his eyes were huge. aItas fading out! My G.o.d, itas fading out!a aFading out?a aThe pain! Itas going away.a She released him and got to her feet. Her wet lips curled. aThatas a first, Tim.a aA medical b.l.o.w.j.o.b?a aHuh! Nurses do that all the time. No, I think itas the first time I ever let a d.i.c.k get out of my mouth soft.a Cleaver was holding himself, hands on either side of his b.a.l.l.s. aMy G.o.d, how wonderful! I can never thank you a" or pay you enough. Miss Edgeworth, please tell me how I a"a She raised a hand. aDonat babble! Weare not finished. Be quiet and open your mouth.a He blinked a few times but obeyed, standing ridiculously before the control panel of the worldas first s.p.a.ce ship, landed on the far side of the moon, with his pants down and his mouth open wide. It occurred to me that if Clara made a still of this image from my record, a publication threat might be as useful to control him as remote DISINHIBITOR.

Alice leaned forward and applied her mouth briefly to his, hardly what I would call a kiss. She straightened and explained, aThat begins your examination. Weall give the, ah, microexaminers an hour or so to look around, then Iall collect them and decide exactly what you need to cure that problem permanently.a aYou a think it can be cured a" without surgery?a aOf course, Harrison.a She laughed scornfully. aMenas bodies are simple.a He swallowed. aCan I pull my pants up?a She laughed. aHow long has it been since you asked a woman that, Harrison?a He actually flushed but followed it with a smile. aMiss Edgeworth, Iam afraid to breathe without your permission.a Though I listened carefully, I heard no sarcasm.

Not so her response. She grinned sardonically. aI admire the clarity of your perception.a * * *

Harrison Cleaver was obviously feeling much better. He joined us in a snack, accepting a sandwich and c.o.ke. Looking at our thin but brilliant half-ring of crater rim, he said with a grin around his food, aIave heard people talk about the crack of dawn all my life, but this is the first time Iave ever seen one. Am I a fully-tiled member of Fernworks yet, Tim?a I shook my head. aThis wasnat a Shrineras initiation, Harrison. We have several loose ends outstanding. For example, what do you know about the fate of my second ship and its crew?a aActually no more than you.a His face grew sober. aThe pair that stowed away on it, Moultry and Clinton, can be unpredictable. Moultry is cautious and always wants to go by the book. Clinton is a hot head. Usually they balance off rather well. Donat you have radio contact at all?a aI heard someone take over the ship. Since then not a peep. What orders did your men have?a aTo take control of the ship and keep it close to this one.a aAnd kill the crew?a aAbsolutely not! To make them prisoners, only.a aThey were armed?a aYes.a He heaved a sigh. aI do most sincerely regret it if anyone was hurt.a Alice declared ominously, aThat may be truer than you realize, Cleaver.a He sighed again. aI like it much better when you call me Harrison.a She only grunted.

The conversation had gotten around to future s.p.a.ce plans again when we all jumped. Someone a" or something a" was knocking on a landing strut, judging from the sound.

Aliceas eyes were like saucers. aMy G.o.d, Tim!a So were Harrisonas. aI thought you said we were on the moon!a Both of them stared at me as if I were responsible. Suddenly I knew what had to be the cause and was tickled for several reasons, not least that for once I was ahead of Alice.

aEither we know who it is or a lot of people have been lying their heads off. Alice, do a check on the suit radios.a Her internal computer had princ.i.p.al responsibility for the short-range suit communicators, which used narrow-band FM in the UHF spectrum, adapted from Claraas birds. I heard the click as she switched in the repeater for my benefit. aCommunications check,a she said. aIs that you, Karl?a aKarl-Heinz, if you donat mind, and Rosalind. Turn on your floods so I can see what Iam doing.a aMy G.o.d, Karl!a she cried while I commanded the outside floods to light up. aWe thought you were dead.a aSo did we for a bit back there. Aha! Watch this!a But of course we could see nothing but the brownish-gray soil directly below the bottom ports.

Alice asked, aAre you jumping high, Karl?a Suddenly Rosalind was laughing.

aVerdammte!a Karl declared along with a series of grunts.

aHe landed on his head,a Rosalind explained, subsiding in another peal of laughter.

aThis will take practice,a Karl admitted in an injured tone. aWould you please pump out your airlock and extend your staircase?a I issued that command too and said, aThe airlock is already open, folks. Please join us in our humble abode.a aGood!a noted Cleaver, staring at me significantly. aYour other crew survived.a aApparently.a aHow did they manage it, I wonder.a aWeall find out in a moment.a Alice sniffed. aLikely your crew didnat, else ours wouldnat leave its ship unguarded.a He offered weakly, aMaybe theyare just tied up.a We waited in silence. When a minute or two had pa.s.sed with no noise from the airlock, I keyed the suit channel and asked, aWhatas the holdup?a Karl answered aggrievedly, aThis d.a.m.nable dust! You canat brush it off. It must be static electricity.a aHe rolled in it,a Rosalind explained, no longer laughing, awhen he came down from his high jump.a aWe need some water,a Karl declared. aI see the nozzle. How about releasing a puff of steam?a A one-second puff did the job well enough. When they cycled through the lock soon after, the suits were clean above the knees. Karlas was not even wet. Of course water boils away immediately in a vacuum.

We helped them shed their suits in an orgy of welcoming hugs and no few kisses. Rosalind stared around at the cabin, eyes fixing on Cleaver, who had hung back. aYou!a she uttered through twisted lips.

Karl had never met him but of course recognized him from Claraas images. aSo! Herr General himself led the attack!a Perhaps because of the hard German G, Cleaver failed to understand Karlas ironic recognition. aIam afraid I led it, Mr. Haines: Harrison Cleaver, at your service.a aTell us what happened!a demanded Alice.

aOne moment.a I held up a hand. aFirst things first. You two are obviously healthy. Whatas the state of your ship?a aUsable,a said Karl.

aIf you donat need to breathe,a added Rosalind.

aWe canat seal it,a said Karl.

aIt wasnat air-tight after all?a I asked incredulously.

aIt isnat now. It has a hole above the control panel large enough to pa.s.s your fist all the way through the hull. I think the d.i.c.ks are dangerous when violently thumped. And we donat have any large patches. How could we have overlooked that?a Alice interrupted, thrusting her finger into a brown-stained hole in his shirt. aIam not so sure about the aobviously healthy.a How many times did they shoot you, Karl?a He waived his hand negligently with a smile. aOnly twice.a His gaze settled on mine approvingly. aThat diamondoid works!a aYes, I know.a I emitted a sigh. aAll right. Start at the beginning. What happened on your ship?a * * *

It had all been very quick. The two intruders had found or cut two pieces of canvas shroud left unnoticed in the back of the s.p.a.ce suit locker. They worked their way silently across the main cabin, apparently intending to blindfold and secure Karl and Rosalind with the canvas. Karl reacted instinctively when the cloth went over his head. He grabbed the a.s.sailantas arms and with the leverage of his tight harness, threw the man forward over the chair.

aIt was uncanny, Tim. Thatas the second design deficiency this event disclosed. The manas boot hit the main power breaker on the panel and knocked it into the off position. Did you know that everything on these ships is controlled by that breaker? I mean everything, from the steam generators to the spread-spectrum radio.a As a result communications with the outside was lost, along with interior lighting and most importantly, steam power including thrust. They went almost instantly to free fall, otherwise known as zero-G. The attackersa response was to begin shooting. Enough light came through the ports from the half-moon overhead for them to find targets.

aBut mostly they missed,a Karl explained, aespecially Rosalind. I think all men, even these, hate to shoot a pretty woman. They put five bullets into the hull. Only one actually did any damage, but it was terrible. I couldnat hear anything but ringing from the gunshots, but I knew we had serious trouble when my eardrums began to flex.a He released his belts and freed Rosalind. The two attackers had ceased shooting and were flailing in midair. Apparently only by instinct or perhaps dumb luck, he shoved off from Rosalindas chair with her body under his arm and sailed directly through the open hatch to the suit locker. Using the emergency light on his suit helmet, he got her zipped into hers and turned on the oxygen. By then the pressure was low enough to produce pains in his joints from nitrogen bubbles in the blood a" the start of the abendsa first discovered by returning deep-sea divers. Nevertheless he succeeded in donning his own suit mainly by feel. Rosalind of course had never practiced, knew nothing about it and could not help him.

aTim, you once accused me of wasteful Teutonic thoroughness. Iam pleased that I ignored it.a aSo am I, Karl. So am I.a They emerged from the suit locker into the dark main cabin, now in vacuum. He strapped the woman into her seat, secured his own belts and restored main power. Lights came up, along with thrust. Two dead men flopped onto the floor behind them.

aTheyare still there, Tim, and theyare a mess. One of them lost an eye. I think vacuum is not good for anyoneas appearance. I strapped them down with cargo webbing in case you want to look them over.a aWhen you get the ship aloft, s.p.a.ce them,a I said indifferently. Rosalind frowned and looked away but Cleaveras face didnat change. aWhy didnat you turn on the radio?a I continued. aDid a bullet damage it?a Karl grinned at me. aThe third design deficiency! You know how spread spectrum works, donat you, with pseudorandom slot distribution? You must; you designed it.a aNot I. Clara brought back that technique, although it was originally designed in the Twentieth Century. Aha! When the power went, your radio lost sync.a aExactly! And I could never find the right trigger to match your sequence. What are we doing with a megabit sequence, Tim? Who else in this universe could possibly stumble on even a kilobit sequence?a Rosalind sniffed, ad.a.m.n it, lay off the technicalese, gentlemen. Redesign the radios on the next trip. We have to all go home in Ship One anyway.a He shrugged. aSheas right. By the way, I brought these.a He reached into capacious pockets and produced two wallets. aShould I give them to der Fhrer?a aIall take them,a I said, extending my hand. It seemed prudent to conceal such evidence from future investigators, if any. I slipped them into my own pocket.

aSo whatas he doing here?a demanded Rosalind. She looked upon Cleaver with grave disapproval.

That was my cue. I told the story of Ship One.

Cleaver had been our bogeyman for a long time. The team had trouble accepting his proposed new status. Well, so did I. aYouare on probation,a I told him at the conclusion of my story.

aI understand that.a He looked at Alice. aYou wonat be sorry.a She glowered at him. aCome here.a He straightened up and obeyed. She took his face in her hands and applied her mouth to his. This was considerably more of a kiss. His arms came up to enclose her but she wriggled her shoulders impatiently and he let them fall.

When she backed away, he asked hopefully, aAm I cured?a aNot yet,a she answered shortly. She seemed to be tasting her lips.

He glanced at Karl and Rosalind. aDo you also understand what sheas doing?a I held up a forestalling hand. aAsk no questions about us as yet, Harrison.a aVery well,a he agreed, perhaps too readily. aIall wait.a aItas 01:45 in the morning. I know we planned to stay longer, but with uncertain backup for this ship and all our eggs in one basket, I want to minimize risks. Does anyone object to an immediate return?a aTo Baylor?a asked Karl.

aI think to Ferndep for replacement material. We must repair Ship Two.a It was agreed, though Karl wanted to move the ship into the sunshine beyond Daedalus rim briefly so that Rosalind could make a proper record of his high jump. I vetoed it, reminding him that I wanted to minimize risks.

aWhat risk?a he demanded, blinking at me.

aThe risk of discovering another design deficiency,a I answered dryly, asuch as a method for removing electrostatically clinging dust.a Cleats for securing cargo were positioned every few feet around the interior. Fortunately, considering our hasty departure from Baylor, we had enough webbing to make our three pa.s.sengers secure a" except for Cleaver. He reminded me of my offer to let him observe takeoff beside one of bottom ports. I reluctantly acquiesced on the condition that he hold tight to my chair frame.

We lifted off from Daedalus at 02:02 on Wednesday, Eastern Standard Time, thrusting at one and one-tenth lunar gravity or about 0.18G. I held that until we cleared the height of the rebound peaks, then upped it to our favorite, 1.1G. My b.u.t.t settled into the seat with a sense of familiarity.

Two of my pa.s.sengers were furnished with aural microphone-receivers. I asked, aEverybody comfortable?a aThis floor is hard,a Rosalind noted tersely.

aDesign Deficiency Number Five,a declared Karl. aWhy didnat we think of pillows?a aWeall be inbound in 16 minutes. Then you can stand up and walk around.a I felt someone pulling my pants leg. I looked down to find Harrison peering up with parted lips. aWe really were on the moon!a he declared.

aYes, we were.a aBut a but aa aWhatas the trouble, Harrison?a aThis isnat the moon! Iave looked through telescopes. Itas too rugged.a aAh. Youare saying, aWhere are the maria?aa aHuh? Oh, yeah. The seas. Where are they, if thatas the moon?a aI told you: that is Farside, forever turned away from Earth. You are only the third person ever to see it.a aFarside,a he repeated, eyes going introspective. aMy G.o.d, Farside!a But my other pa.s.sengers and crew were talking. Alice said, aKarl was the first to step out on the moon, I presume.a aCorrect,a answered Karl.

aI had to push him,a added Rosalind humorously.

aWell, Scheisse! That little light in the top of the airlock was barely enough to see the stairs.a Alice continued, aBut you were the first to put boot on the moon, right?a aYes, I was first.a aThen tell me: what did you say?a aSay? What do you mean? I guess I told Rosalind it was safe if she was careful where she walked. I aimed for your red beacon but put down a bit close to the rim of your little crater. The stairs ended on a pile of rubble.a aWhat exactly did you say?a aWell aa aGo ahead,a Rosalind urged. aTell them.a aTell them what?a aYou said that same German swear word: Scheisse. What does it mean?a as.h.i.t. I did? I did not!a aYes, you did. His first words were, aScheisse! That would be a broken knee if we were on Earth.a Because he stumbled in the dark and nearly fell on his face.a All laughed, but I puzzled over it while keeping an eye on the rising altimeter. Had he surpa.s.sed Armstrong or not?

END.