April 6: And What Goes Around (31 page)

* * *

Annette was
discouraged. Camelot was bleeding money. Not fast, but steadily. Nothing she
had found was helping produce a product that they could export. Everything
around Camelot they already had at Central. The same basic regolith and
sunshine. They were not in position to sell lots like Central and she doubted
Heather would appreciate the competition. They also lacked the capital to make
a boring machine which had become a huge advantage to Central in attracting
buyers. Everybody wanted to go deep for both safety and to reach warmer
surroundings. It wasn't her problem, but it bothered her.

What really
irritated her was that the people here didn't have the same drive to work and
succeed as the ones at Central. They were the remnants of a population put here
for propaganda purposes, and it had never mattered if they produced a profit or
broke even, paying their own way. Such a thing was actually anathema to their
socialistic origins. Whatever bragging rights they had in the past from
scientific work had been sufficient reason for their home country, China, to
support them.

She was starting
to think that Jeff got stuck with a huge white elephant in Camelot. He'd
intimated as much and she didn't want to agree with him. They felt all
manufacturing work was for peasants. Every discussion she'd attempted with them
about who would be willing to change jobs and work in a bank had been rebuffed.
That idea was stalled. They acknowledged that China, of necessity, had a
central bank, but the impression she got was that having a bank might be a
necessary evil for their nation, but it was like having a toilet, something not
a point of welcome conversation in polite company. They all regarded banking as
being on a moral plane with which they didn't want to sully themselves.

Feng wasn't
answering com but was supposed to be in the machine and repair shop and she was
looking for him. It was one of the biggest spaces in Camelot. Big enough to
park two rovers inside with room to work around them. It smelled differently
and she could hear somebody pounding on something but it echoed so with the
high ceiling she couldn't tell where.

Annette came
around the corner of the rover and almost ran into Chao, the fellow Jeff had
sent to replace the mechanic, Wo, who she had banished. She stepped back
sharply before he ran into her with the push cart. He looked alarmed and
embarrassed, and then guilty.

"Oh my. I
almost ran into you! I'm so sorry. You didn't bump the rover getting out of my
way did you? It's all dusty. Let me see if you got dirty," he said waving
a blue shop rag that didn't look especially clean either.

"I'm
fine," Annette insisted fending the rag off. "No harm done. Have you
seen Feng by any chance? He doesn't answer com."

"Oh yes, he
was in the other rover," Chao said, pointing back the way he'd come.

"Ah, that's
why he doesn't answer com. He's in a big metal box," Annette figured out.

"Yes,
yes," Chao agreed, nodding, and hurried to roll away.

Annette looked at
the machine on his cart. It was so unfamiliar to her life she didn't place it
for a moment. But she'd seen one in a movie. "Just a second, Chao."

Chao stopped but most
reluctantly, and found nothing to say.

"Isn't that a
roulette wheel?" Annette asked.

"Yes, ma'am
it is. I made it myself. But I did it on my own time! Feng gave me permission
to use the machines so it didn't cost the community anything!" Chao said,
all defensive.

"I'm not
objecting at all," Annette assured him. "I'm
happy
if you
pursue projects or hobbies of your own. I've never
seen
one except in a
video, but it seems like very fine work. How in the world did you get such
pretty wood on the moon?"

"Oh, it's not
solid wood," Chao said, warming to the subject at her praise. "It is
veneer, very light and almost paper thin, so it is not particularly expensive
to send from Earth if it's in a larger shipment instead of alone. This is
called burl and very desirable for the pattern."

Just then Feng
rushed up looking as stricken as Chao had, and Annette had to assure him all
over again that she was not upset or disapproving.

"I remember
they have casinos with things like this... " she waved a hand over the
machine, "in Monaco and some of the European countries. I think the
Americans do too in Las Vegas don't they?

"Oh
yes," Feng agreed. "Chinese people travel to all the casinos as a
very special vacation. They are among the biggest betters, what they would call
high rollers, and get treated like royalty by the casinos."

"No kidding?
Heather has this thing about betting. She isn't comfortable with it, but this
isn't Central and I don't have any problem with it at all. Would you show me
how this works? I've seen it in movies. I know the little ball goes around, but
I don't know how the betting and such works. I'm very interested," Annette
told Feng.

"Chao used to
be a mechanic for a casino and fixed the roulette wheels and one armed bandits,"
Feng said, making a pulling motion in the air. "He can tell you all about
the games and a hundred funny stories about the silly things customers do and
the inside workings of a casino."

"I'd love to
hear that. You know, this is a really big volume," Annette said, looking
around the garage and machine shop, imagining. "How long do you think it
would take to make a similar space, but a bit more decorative?"

April's stirring
woke Jeff. "Good morning," he said, smiling.

April grunted something
unintelligible and scowled. She got up and went in the bathroom. When she
returned her hair was wet from the shower and she merely looked peeved not
frightening.

"Are you OK?
Rough morning for some reason?" Jeff asked gently.

"It's
dropping my caloric intake to reset my metabolism. I don't remember it being
this hard when I was little. I'm not used to feeling this hungry or grouchy,"
April scowled.

"I'll shower
and we can make some breakfast," Jeff suggested.

"I don't want
to cook. I don't even want to watch you cook," April said before he could
offer. "Shower and we'll go to the cafeteria. I can get stuff off the hot
bar faster than making it here."

"I'll
hurry," Jeff promised. April didn't tell him not to.

"Are you sure
you
need
to cut back?" Jeff asked April in the corridor.

"I'm not
sure
,"
April admitted. "We have some extra supplies laid in. It may be a month or
two from now we are short if at all. But I feel obligated not to carry on like
normal until we know. It looks bad, and I just wouldn't feel good about myself
if I did."

"Then by all
means do what you feel right," Jeff agreed.

The cafeteria
wasn't that busy for the hour. April got scrambled eggs and bacon. It was
obvious they weren't short of fresh food. Eggs from dried or precooked bacon
was pretty obvious. They weren't there yet. They'd probably offer a lot more
starches when things got short. She could do oatmeal and breads once she was
reset. She'd just have to keep her intake very low or the gene mods would kick
in the boosted metabolism again.

"I'll get
coffee," Jeff volunteered when they sat their trays on the table.

April looked
around. There was a couple she didn't know sitting far from the coffee pots
like she and Jeff were. She'd sat a couple tables away because they seemed to
be having a serious discussion and probably wanted privacy. There was the usual
crowd by the coffee, but diminished from the usual size.

Jeff returned and
sat a mug in front of her. "You didn't have to wait on me," he said.

"I just got
distracted people watching. There's a new fellow in the group of self employed
and retirees that hang out by the coffee pots. I guess now that he's married they'll
have to do without Ben Patsitsas," April said, picking up her fork.

"Speak of the
Devil!" Jeff said.

April looked up
and Patsitsas was entering with his recent bride, former USNA President Martha Wiggen,
and the couple April knew as Ferdinando and Sancha Jimenez. She was a little
surprised they felt comfortable in anything as plebian as a cafeteria, but they
looked relaxed. They took food from the hot bar just like April had, not
wanting to bother with a custom order. They sat behind Jeff over toward Ben's
previous breakfast companions and he waved to the ones who looked up at them.

April blinked and
then looked down at her food. She didn't want one of them to look up and see
her observing them or the look on her face she hadn't been able to entirely switch
off. Jeff however noticed.

"Is that just
your surprised look or is it your dismayed face? Anything I should worry
about?"

"Just
surprised. Nothing that's a problem at all," April insisted, "except
the jolt you get when you suddenly realize that something was staring you in
the face before, and you finally twigged to it."

"Ah... and
what sudden enlightenment rushed upon you?" Jeff asked.

"Don't look
but the Patsitsas and the Jimenezes just sat down behind you," April said.

"Yes, I said
that. But
why
shouldn't I look? I know them all and believe we are still
on good terms," Jeff asked reasonably, "It would be natural to look
and even wave hello."

"Because if
they look at you they'll look at me," April said, "and I still don't
have my face under control. They are super smart and politicians and will
interpret the slightest strained or off expression."

"Do tell.
Explain more please," Jeff said, as he started on his breakfast.

"They all
came in together. They didn't meet here," April said as if that explained
everything. "The odds are against perfect timing to meet up in the
corridor. They are dressed very casually and it just isn't their nature. The
Jimenezes in particular probably have dressed up for years to have breakfast
with
each other
. After all what will the help think? I'm actually
surprised Ferdinando
owns
anything as casual as a pair of khakis and a
sweater."

Jeff picked up his
pad like he was sending a selfie and routed it to his spex to look behind him.
April stopped talking seeing what he was doing.

"Yes, well
Ben might have loaned them to him. They do seem of a size. Ha! That got you
again didn't it?" Jeff asked, amused. "Why?"

"Well the
timing, and then they sat down and when couples do that it's usually either the
guys together and the girls together to talk or boy-girl-boy-girl so they are
each with their spouse. They sat down boy-girl with the other one's spouse. It
was just too... natural. It wasn't a mistake and then they laugh and get up and
correct it. They're just comfortable that way.
Very
comfortable."

"Well, none
of my business. I must say you're much better at reading these little social
clues than me. It doesn't really change how we might do anything with them. We
don't have to worry if it's OK to invite both couples to a party now, do
we?" Jeff said cheerfully.

"You're right.
It seems like it could be complicated," April said. "For them I
mean."

Jeff looked at her
over his coffee and lifted an eyebrow. "Some people think our lives could
be needlessly complicated," he pointed out.

"Yes, but
that's different," April objected. "They're all Earthies and
older."

"I think you
are underestimating them," Jeff said.

April looked over
at the couples again, her face under control now. "You're right. I have to
remember Earth Think isn't hereditary or something. They're all smart and I
have to give all of them credit for bold action."

"Think of
your grandpa," Jeff counseled. "He was once an Earthie too."

"He
was
wasn't he? It seems almost impossible now,"
April said.

* * *

"I've got
some bad news," Doctor Lee said.

"Oh joy. I
put out enough fires I thought I might get to sleep tonight. What now?"
Jon asked.

"The retired
gentleman that has been kind enough to pass information to me sent me an e-mail
this morning. He said they did a limited pilot run to make vaccine for this new
strain of flu."

"What is
limited in this game?" Jon said.

"A few
thousand doses. Enough to check for adverse reactions more than effectiveness."

"And were
there any?
Serious
reactions I mean. I've had a flu shot and got a bit
of a hot bump for a day on the injection site. I don't imagine that's the sort
of thing they'd care about."

"Yes, but the
reaction was not in patients but the eggs. The virus kills them," Lee
said.

Jon knit his
eyebrows in thought. "There's an alternative method of making vaccine
isn't there? I'm sure I read something about that."

"There is, and
cheaper, but it has proved to have more long term undesirable effects.
Especially if you have multiple doses of similarly prepared vaccines one after
the other. Besides that this means they have pretty much wasted a month and it
will be another three months before they can produce an improved VLP
vaccine."

"Doc... In
three months things are going to be such a mess down there distributing it will
be a big problem," Jon said.

"Exactly."

* * *

It was 1000 hours
and Barak had heard nothing from Acting Captain Charlotte Dobbs. They'd tested
all the embedded motors over the last couple days. One had done a self shutdown
because the feed line for reactive mass had failed. He had no idea if it had
frozen because of a localized defect or something had been left inside the line
from being manufactured. He was dead certain he'd carefully removed the end
caps and not introduced any foreign materials when he hooked it to the motor
and to the central plenum. He'd inspected the receptacles the line plugged into
and verbally confirmed to his suit record that they were clean before inserting
lines in them. Every critical operation was verbally acknowledged, even though
his helmet camera recorded the operation too. April's grandfather Happy had
drilled that into him. It had amused Harold as pointless ritual.

Rather than dig up
the offending line Barak, with the help of Deloris, laid a new one in a
parallel ditch. There were other lines with the bad feeder they might damage opening
the old trench. Once it was backfilled and sealed they painted a new warning band
on the ice above it. The new markings were dashed to differentiate it from the
solid band marking the first run.

Barak expected
Dobbs to start retesting the last motor right at the start of the official 0800
workday. But he'd hadn't had any communication from her at all. He was sitting
ready in his suit liner, waiting. If it failed again he wanted to be able to go
out and troubleshoot it quickly. He'd have to help Deloris with her suit. He
wasn't even sure what Deloris was doing today. Alice, he knew, was busy with
environmental work. He didn't want to call either of them and ask what was
going on. Not in the clear on channels Ms. Dobbs could monitor.

He'd been ordered
out to work twice now. Barak hadn't really been told if he was still confined to
his cabin or not, he wasn't certain. Charlotte wasn't given to saying things in
great detail or very precisely. Indeed sometimes she seemed to think they were
mind readers.

On the other hand
he'd gone to the galley and gotten self-heating meals and snacks and hadn't
been reprimanded for it. If she even knew. It would have been ridiculous as
shorthanded as they were to make the ladies bring him his meals. He considered
going looking for one of them to ask face to face if they had any idea what
causing the holdup, but he didn't want to run into Charlotte by accident in the
corridors and set her off.

Finally he decided
to lie down in his bunk. He was too wound up to read or watch a video. A coffee
sounded good but that was a bad idea if they had to go suit up again. He set
his com pad for extra loud and put it in the corner by his head. He laid and
thought about everything. Trying to think if he'd forgotten to tell Jeff
something vital. Agonizing over what he might have done differently.

Why had he hit
Jaabir? He didn't really remember
deciding
to hit him. It was when he'd
yelled at him he was pretty sure. Not just the yell but he's closed in on him fast
while yelling in his face. He hadn't stepped toward Jaabir. He hadn't needed
to. Of course he'd been standing right in front of the hatch to the flight deck.
Perhaps he'd just intended to move Barak aside, but that wasn't how it
felt
.

When it got right
down to it he'd been frightened. He remembered it was almost like an electric
jolt through his chest that he'd never experienced before. His people just didn't
yell at each other like that. None of his family or friends. He'd gasped and
struck not only without thinking but without holding back. He flexed his hand,
still amazed he could hit like that. It was still sore if he bent it too far. It
ached after replacing the feed line. He'd never been trained to box. Or any
other martial arts at all.

When Deloris came
in she was surprised to see Barak in the bunk.

"I half
expected to get called to go out with you today. Did the new line feed fine
without any problems?"

"I have no
idea. Charlotte didn't use me," Barak said. "I haven't heard boo from
her today."

"Neither have
I but I already knew what I was going to do today if you didn't need me."
Deloris looked thoughtful for a moment and spoke aloud. "
Yuki-onna,
connect
me with Alice Evans please."

Barak was always
amused when she used please and thank you with a computer.

"Hey, what do
you need?" Alice said, audio only.

"Have you
talked to Charlotte today?" Deloris asked.

"No, since I
stepped out of the hatch this morning this is the first time I've talked to
anybody
,
if you discount cursing at the double damned sensor that won't give me a
reading on the number three water tank so I can do a resources inventory,"
Alice said.

"Neither have
either of us.
Yuki-onna,
I'm concerned about the welfare of Commander
Dobbs. Could you please confirm she is well and not in any distress or
ill?" Deloris inquired.

"Acting
Commander Dobbs appeared to be fine and expressed no need for help or
assistance the last time she was visible on camera and audio pickup this
morning."

"When and
where was that
Yuki
?"

"At 0627 this
morning in the suit room."

"Oh God. It's
in full artificial stupid mode," Deloris said. "Is Commander Dobbs
still there
Yuki
?"

Barak noticed she
failed to say please.

"No, she has
been in the airlock since then."

"
Yuki
...
Did she put a suit on?"

"No,
commander Dobbs did not, Specialist Wrigley."

Deloris looked at
Barak horrified. "I have to go see," she said. He put on ship shoes
and followed.

The room looked
normal. All the suits were racked with none missing, just as the ship said.
There was a pink sticky note by the handle on the dogged hatch. Deloris snatched
the note off before Barak could read it, and put an eye to the peephole set in
the center of the hatch.