Lewis was skeptical. "A geezer like Moss? Boy, I don't know. He was pretty regal. I can't imagine him coming on to anybody."
"That's what I thought. But then Bob had these files. I couldn't read them because of the confidentiality but he showed me a packet of what he said were complaints that had been filed… it was horrible! I didn't know what to think! And then Mickey dies…"
"Suicide."
"Yes." She nodded miserably.
"He was afraid of exposure."
"I think so. I think Norse is some kind of investigator."
"Except Bob Norse told me he thought it could be murder. Or at least that's what NSF thinks, back in D.C. And for my own protection I'm sitting out here."
"Don't you see? NSF wants a murder. Or an accident. Anything but a big sexual scandal like Tailhook that's going to throw a wrench in their plans to get congressional money to rebuild this base. Reconstruction is going to cost a hundred million dollars and they can't afford to have their star scientist exposed as a rogue after Clarence Thomas and Monica Lewinsky and all that. So Norse thinks you're in danger, Jed. You're not one of the fraternity. You're just this oil guy down to make a few bucks over the winter. They might try to pin something on you, to distract from any stories about Mickey. Nothing to file in court, because that would just make matters worse. Just enough suspicion and rumor to muddy the waters. To make you the fall guy, send you away under a cloud. Doctor Bob is trying to help you. That's why he encouraged me to come out here."
"What about Harrison Adams?"
"His death is probably a coincidence, but who knows? Doctor Bob is as confused as we are."
"This is too crazy…"
"Which is exactly why he's here."
Lewis sighed, trying to think. Harrison Adams had been going through Moss's computer. Had he learned too much? Was there something incriminating he needed to discuss with Lewis? And if the deaths weren't back-to-back accidents, or a suicide-accident, then who was responsible? The only one he could see with a stake in the future of base reconstruction was Rod Cameron, who might be angling for a promotion in the NSF bureaucracy. But would Cameron kill to cover up a scandal? It was too far-fetched. You needed someone truly loony, or someone desperate for that meteorite.
He looked at her. "What do you think? Of me?"
"My heart tells me you're just unlucky- in the wrong place at the wrong time. My brain tells me not to trust anyone. But I'm here, aren't I? Maybe all this is nothing. Moss decided to go exploring, slipped, and fell. Harrison got caught in a storm. It happens."
He smiled ruefully. "So you risk bringing me dinner."
She looked away. "I'm attracted to you, too, Jed," she said.
The admission took him as much by surprise as his own.
"It's going to be a long winter. We both need a friend," she amended.
Her words filled him with longing. The tundra had been liberating, when he walked away from his oil job, but the aftermath had been lonely. He'd had no place he belonged, no purpose to his life. And now, suddenly, there was this woman.
"Abby, I think I need to kiss you," he decided.
She looked at him wryly.
"I'm going to go crazy if I can't kiss you right now," he insisted.
"You are crazy. We're all crazy. We just decided that."
"Yes. That's why it's all right to kiss you."
She considered it cautiously. "If we kiss, things change."
"Yes, like an enzyme. I want to change things with you. I know there's that other guy but he's not here and we are. He's not in this and we are."
"Then what happens?"
"I don't know. I just know it's important to do this now."
She looked at him: amused, impatient, uncertain. "I'm afraid I'll like it."
He grinned. "I'm afraid you won't."
She hesitated, as judicious as if reviewing a contract, reviewing her own instincts about him. Then she made up her mind. "Okay."
He knelt next to her and lifted his face to hers, struck by the green hazel of her eyes and the dark curl of her hair on each cheek. She coolly waited as he cupped the nape of her neck, bending her to him, but when his lips gently touched hers she shivered and closed her eyes. He came away and her lips parted slightly, revealing a glimpse of the pearl of her teeth. He kissed her again, more deeply this time, and she started to respond. Then she turned her head, sighing, and his lips brushed her cheek and ear and followed the curve of her neck to the collar of her Thermax underwear…
"That's enough." She stood up.
He remained kneeling, looking up at her. "No, it isn't."
"I like you, Jed, but too much is going on. I've got a lot to think about." Her eyes were darting around the room, betraying her confusion.
"You think too much, you know."
"Let's just leave it there for now."
He stood as well, grinning, savoring his small triumph. He'd tasted her. She'd liked it. "I want to get to know you."
"Yes." She said it in a tone that suggested she wasn't at all sure that was a good idea. Yet she wanted to surrender, he was sure of it.
"I'm tired of exile. I think I want to get back to the dome."
"Yes."
Suddenly he was excited. Isolation out in Clean Air was preferable to being ostracized inside the dome. But Abby's confession of attraction made everything different. Here at least was a friend. Ally. He'd work side by side with her. Talk to her. Endure the winter with her.
"Go talk to Rod for me. Tell him to bring me in."
"I don't know if Doctor Bob thinks that's a good idea yet."
"To hell with Doctor Bob."
"He's trying to protect you."
"Isolate me for his observations." He'd seen Norse confer with Abby. Maybe the shrink wanted to put the moves on her himself. His own exile was a convenience. "Screw Norse. I want to be with you."
"Well, then you talk to Cameron. It will be embarrassing if I do it."
"Yes. Absolutely." He felt energized. She was receptive to a partnership. He could talk the station manager into anything.
"You'll have to call him but he's pretty stressed out."
"I will."
"Maybe in the morning. He's a little more rested then."
"Good idea."
"People are still pretty edgy in the dome. Snapping at each other. It's not going to be easy for you if you come back."
"I'll be okay if I can get to talk to you."
"That's all I'm promising."
"I know."
"Rod is pretty jumpy. Be patient."
"I will."
But when she left to do some maintenance work on the computers in astronomy he decided he couldn't wait. To hell with patience. To hell with tomorrow. He was sick of being isolated in Clean Air like some kind of germ. He went to the phone and called Cameron's office. There was no answer, so he dialed the galley. Pulaski told him to try a radio. "Our station manager is making his rounds. Can't it wait?"
"No, it can't." Lewis hung up and picked up the radio. "Enzyme to Ice Pick. Over."
After a few tries, Cameron's raspy, tired voice finally came on. "This is Cameron."
"This is Lewis. Where are you?" Anybody with a radio could listen in but he was too determined to care.
"Checking the fuel arch."
"Rod, can we meet to talk?"