‘Lynn? Lynn!’
Impotence. Scraps of words. As if through cotton wool.
‘How long now?’
‘Just over five hours. Enough time to bring both shuttles back.’
‘I think Lynn’s stable.’ Nina. ‘She’s lost a lot of blood, but it seems to me—’
Silence again. Then a voice on an endless loop:
‘And now get the thing out of here!’
Thing out of here, thing out of here, thing out of here, thingoutof here, thingoutof herethingout—
‘Lynn.’
She blinked. The hospital room. Back in the present. Hang on, wasn’t there a film called—
Doesn’t matter, what a film!
‘How are you?’ said Julian.
‘Been dreaming.’ She sat up. Her left side hurt, but she was feeling better every day. Lawrence, the bitch, had missed taking her life by inches. ‘We were back in the spaceship.’ Christ, she was hungry. Incredibly hungry! She could have eaten the bed. ‘A nightmare, to be honest. Always the same nightmare.’
‘It’s over.’
‘Hey, no big deal. It wasn’t all that bad, either.’ She yawned. ‘Hopefully I’ll dream something else eventually.’
‘No. It’s over, Lynn.’ Julian took her hand and smiled, very much the magician of her childhood. ‘The nightmare is over.’
Xintiandi, Shanghai, China
‘Yoyo could really give us a call,’ Jericho complained.
Tu pulled a sticky strand of noodle from the cardboard box that stood in for his lunch plate.
‘And you could drop by again,’ he said, chewing. ‘Instead of only ever phoning. Burying yourself away in your stupid loft.’
‘I’m busy. Honestly.’
Tu gave him a disapproving look over the rim of his glasses. The bridge looked as if it was about to snap in two over his nose.
‘You have friends to cultivate,’ he chided him. ‘What about this evening? A bunch of us are going out to eat. And drink, more importantly.’
‘Who’s we?’
‘Everyone you can think of. Yoyo too, once she’s stopped crying. She’s been sobbing away constantly, I’m thinking of installing a dam in the guest room. Terrible. Nothing but tears. A great big crybaby.’
‘And Hongbing?’
‘He’s crying too. They’re closer than they’ve ever been.’
‘Sounds good.’
‘Yeah, great,’ growled Tu. ‘You just don’t have to put up with it. What about tonight?’
‘Fine.’
‘Good. I wouldn’t have let you get away with anything else, xiongdi!’
Jericho sat there for a while.
Then he went across to the kitchen area to magic a cappuccino from the coffee machine. His journey took him past the ensemble that he had now got used to calling ‘the odd couple’, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau embodied by a standard lamp and a carpet, which failed, failed, failed to accomplish the ideal of Confucian harmony, in any imaginable arrangement.
He studied them for a moment.
Then he moved them aside, put them in the cellar and looked at the corner. And finally, flooded only by light, clear and tidy, he liked it.
That had been important!
Principal Characters
Anand, Ashwini Staff member at the Gaia moon hotel, responsible for accommodation, technology and logistics.
Black, Peter Tour guide at the Gaia moon hotel, pilot of the moon shuttle Charon. Knows all the moon craters by name.
Borelius, Eva Scientist and CEO of the German research company Borelius Pharmaceuticals. Northern German, dry character. Likes classical music, horses and chess. Married to the surgeon Karla Kramp. Member of the moon tour group.
Bruford, Sid Former oil worker at EMCO Imperial Oil, Canada, unemployed. Dreams of a career as an actor.
Chambers, Evelyn Most prominent and influential talk-show host in the USA, presenter of the show Chambers. Latina, whose bisexuality has turned her into a hate figure. Brilliant analyst, perceptive and curious. Member of the moon tour group.
Chen Hongbing Car salesman, Yoyo’s father. Polite, but reserved, with a murky past. Commissions Owen Jericho to find his missing daughter.
Chen ‘Yoyo’ Yuyun Student, daughter of Chen Hongbing, founder of the internet dissident group ‘the Guardians’, member of the motorcycle club City Demons. Sings in a neo-prog band, loves parties and the excessive lifestyle. Beautiful and quite exhausting.
Crippen, Jan Technical director of the American Peary Base, lunar North Pole.
‘Daxiong’ Guan Guo Founder member and vice head of the internet dissident group ‘the Guardians’, head of the motorcycle club City Demons and owner of the Demon Point motorbike workshop. Giant with bear-like strength and French-style spleen.
DeLucas, Minnie Doctor and specialist in life-support systems at the American Peary Base, lunar North Pole. Investigating the possibility of raising livestock on the Moon.
Diane Owen Jericho’s computer.
Donner, Andre Owner of the Muntu African restaurant in Berlin. Murky past in Equatorial Guinea.
Donner, Nyela West African, co-owner of the Muntu African restaurant in Berlin, Andre Donner’s wife.
Donoghue, Aileen CEO and artistic manager of the Xanadu hotel and casino company. Wife of Chuck Donoghue. Dominant-mother type. Member of the moon tour group.
Donoghue, Chuck Hotel mogul, founder and CEO of the Xanadu hotel and casino company. Amateur boxer and hard-line Republican. Loud and jovial. Cheerfully tells the world’s worst jokes. Member of the moon tour group.
Edwards, Marc Founder and CEO of the microchip company Quantime Inc., extreme sports fanatic and diver, creationist view of the world. Husband of Mimi Parker. Member of the moon tour group.
Funaki, Michio Sous-chef and barman in the Gaia moon hotel, sushi specialist.
Gore, Kyra Shuttle pilot at the American Peary Base, lunar North Pole.
Gudmundsson, Lars Bodyguard, employed with his team by the Eagle Eye security company to protect the oil manager Gerald Palstein.
Hanna, Carl Canadian large-scale investor, main area alternative energies. Solitary type, macho, but likeable. Always has his guitar in his luggage. Member of the moon tour group.
Haskin, Ed Chief technician, Orley Space Station (OSS).
Hedegaard, Nina Tour guide at the Gaia moon hotel, moon shuttle pilot. Capable and romantic. Involved in relationship with Julian Orley.
Ho, Patrice Senior Shanghai police officer and careerist, friend of Owen Jericho. Jericho has supported Ho in several investigations and is therefore owed a favour.
Hoff, Edda Project manager, central security division, Orley Enterprises. Pale, expressionless and extremely reliable.
Holland, Sid Political history editor at environmental broadcaster Greenwatch. Likes driving his friends and colleagues around in his old Thunderbird.
Hsu, Rebecca Founder and CEO of the Taiwanese luxury company Rebecca Hsu, workaholic, incapable of being on her own. Fights a hopeless war with her obesity. Member of the moon tour group.
Hudsucker, Susan Director of the environmental broadcaster Greenwatch and immediate superior of Loreena Keowa. Prudent, sometimes hesitant.
Hui Xiao-Tong Member of the City Demons motorcycle club.