Shotz ran his fingers absently through his long blond hair. “What are you saying?”
Celeste’s hard face softened, became almost shy. “I’m saying that in a very real way, it doesn’t matter. That conditions on the ground in Kikaya are dependent not on the reality of the situation, but its appearance. If the King abdicates, we still have our landing zone.”
Shotz seemed to roll the idea around in his mind, as if savoring its taste. “Then… we need only have sufficient hostages to get to the shuttle…”
She nodded. “And once we’re off the surface, it is a diplomatic matter. We were always in the hands of our employers there. Either we can trust them…”
“Or our emergency procedures go into effect,” he said, finishing her thought for her.
She nodded. “Unless Motabu wants to spend the rest of a short life looking over his shoulder, he will ensure our passage to L5, and from there to Earth. We were satisfied that they had the leverage before. Perhaps we need not fear now.”
Shotz scratched his scarred throat. “Excellent,” he finally said. “We proceed.”
The links between the bubbles were mostly structural, but partially practical for human entrance and egress. Sharmela and Wayne bustled Asako and her pod along the walkways between one bubble and another, being as quiet and cautious as possible. With great stealth, they made it to the northern external maintenance door.
Sharmela sighed. “If only we all had suits…”
“We could just walk away,” Wayne said. “And if pigs had wings, we’d have flying barbecue. But they don’t, and we don’t, so don’t drive yourself crazy.”
Sharmela looked at the track used by the automated maintenance mechs. “Will the treads fit?”
Asako responded by locking her pod into position. She raised a stick-thin arm, made a “thumbs-up” sign and smiled.
It was the warmest smile Wayne had seen from her so far. “Why are you so damned happy about this?”
She sighed. “I’ve been sick longer than I ever remember being well. Imagination has been my only escape. I wanted to be an adventuress, to save kingdoms and right wrongs.”
“You never wanted to be the one rescued?”
She managed a marginal shake of her head. “I’ve always been the victim. Always the rescuee. And now, for the very first time, I get to be the rescuer. Don’t you dare even consider taking this away from me.”
“All right. All right,” Wayne said. “You’ve got it.”
There were gear lockers and dressing rooms all over the dome, especially near the airlocks. Darla had promised two suits, and here they were, near the west-most dressing room on level C. The gear was not customized, and Darla’s was a little too tight through the middle, while Scotty felt cramped all over. It would have to do.
She gave Scotty a once-over, and he did the same for her, soberly checking each other’s equipment. “When you get outside, stick to the marked maintenance routes. Don’t get fancy.”
Scotty clucked. “Yes, Mommy.”
He tried to sound cavalier, but his heart was thundering in his chest, and he was hyperventilating.
“Are you all right?”
“Yeah,” Scotty said. “I’m fine. Let’s do this.”
It had been years since Scotty had stepped into vacuum. He’d never quite gotten used to it, never was able to totally forget that a half inch of pressure suit was all that kept his blood from boiling. Once, it had been exciting. Then it had become terrifying. What would it be now?
He looked out the lock’s window at the naked stars. Immediately, they began to blur. He gulped air and lowered his head. “Breathe,” he gasped. “Breathe, you bastard.”
A third of the way around the dome, Darla had positioned herself, arm slung over a rung. She was waiting for the others to reach their own designated data entry spots.
“Little Dee on local area net. Sign in?”
A crackle on her radio. “S-man.”
Another: “B-girl.”
Darla nodded. “Good to go?”
“Good to go.”
“Good to go.”
Celeste sat at their main table in bubble 37-C, surrounded by the equipment the Frost brothers had stolen or borrowed and moved into the dome. “Sir,” she said, “we have teams sweeping the bubbles. And the spaces between. It’s hard, because we have to be certain they aren’t slipping around behind us.”
“To what end?” Shotz asked. “No. They will try to escape through the aquifer. We put men in the spaces there.”
“Nonlethal force?” Celeste asked.
“For now.”
Scotty kept his eyes focused on the concrete-white curve of the dome in front of him.
Darla’s voice came to him clearly, almost as if she were right there with him. “We have to assume that these Moresnot pirates have their fingers into the entire system. So what we have to do is put the sensors off-line so that they won’t know the airlock doors are opening. There is the bare chance that they might realize what we’re doing.”
“Pirates, huh?” He chuckled. “Close enough. I don’t know how they would,” he said. “You actually explained it to me, and I still don’t understand.”
“You will,” Darla said. “There is a biopad right level with your nose. To disable it, punch in the following sequence: XXA19836.”
He punched the combination in. “Light went yellow.”
“I have yellow here,” Asako said.
“All right. You’re makin’ Mama very happy,” Darla said. “Along the side of the box there are two slits. Insert a knife into the bottom slit on the right side, until you make contact. The light should turn red.”
Scotty did as he was instructed, and once again Darla was proven right. Clever girl.
“I have red,” Asako said.
“Good.” Scotty heard the engineer take a deep breath.
“Now. On the door itself, you just punch in a few little letters and numbers for Darla. XX563.”
Scotty entered it, and the door began to buzz.
The door LCD displayed a message. Warning. You have disarmed safety shields on this pressure door. The outer door has been sealed, and cannot be opened until the safety mechanism has been reengaged.
The message was repeated in Japanese, German and Spanish.
“All right,” Darla said. “Now, unscrew the top of the keypad. It isn’t hard. When you have it unscrewed, you’ll see two switches governing the emergency explosive bolts. You’ll need to reverse the positions of those switches.”
“And then what?” Scotty asked.
“Get ready to rumble.”
Scotty did as he was asked. “What do I do now? The digital timer is counting down.”
“Get in the opposite corner,” she said.
Scotty hunched down in the farthest corner, breathing heavily.
Then-a moment of intense sound as the floor shook. Then… the curved door flew out into the lunar landscape.
“Here goes nothing,” Scotty said, and climbed out.
Asako felt as if she sat on the threshold of infinity, the stars and crystalline rock and crater formations. She felt overwhelmed with wonder and joy.
Scotty’s voice intruded. “Asako. Are you all right?”
“No,” she said. “So much better than that.”
“Stay frosty. Let’s do this.”
“Aye-aye, Captain.”
She rolled out into the blinding unfiltered sun. Her bubble’s canopy polarized. The treads locked onto the maintenance tracks. And swung out onto the dome.
As Scotty moved out, he kept his eyes down, his breathing harsh and hard.
“How are you doing there, big guy?” Darla asked.
“Good to go,” Scotty said. The words sounded flip, even to himself.
“All right, handsome,” Darla said. “This part is easy. Just climb straight up.”
Keeping his eyes down, Scotty began to climb up, listening to his breathing, struggling to remain calm. The side of the dome was stenciled with reference numbers. The numbers dropped as he climbed. Just to his left was the numeral 86.