Jupiter (47 page)

'I didn't know it would affect her so strongly in that soup they were living in. I didn't want to kill her. I loved her.'

Grant studied her face. Ukara didn't look like a panther now. She looked desperately unhappy, close to tears.

'But you're a Zealot, aren't you?' he asked.

Ukara's eyes flashed wide. 'A Zealot? One of those fanatics?' She broke into a bitter, angry laugh. 'Oh yes, certainly. A black lesbian. They have troops of us in their ranks. Whole battalions full!'

She jumped to her feet. 'I killed the person I loved! Isn't that punishment enough, without an idiot like you asking stupid questions? Dr Wo understands what happened. Who appointed you to be the prosecutor-general around here?'

Again Grant thought she was going to strike him, but instead Ukara strode angrily out of the control center, leaving him sitting alone, stunned, with Irene Pascal's face still framed on the single working console screen.

He sat there for a long time, thinking, remembering, replaying the hours and days and weeks. So much has happened, Grant said to himself. Everything's changed so much. The whole world has changed.

He turned to the console and powered up its communications system.

'Security office,' Grant said firmly.

The screen showed one of the young men who had accompanied Beech in the infirmary. He was still dressed in a somber dark suit, clean shaven, hair neatly combed.

'I want to make a call to my wife,' he said.

The young man shook his head. 'You are being held incommunicado. That means no outgoing calls. Be grateful that we allowed you out of the infirmary.'

Grant nodded curtly and cut the connection.

'Red Devlin,' he told the communications computer.

The screen remained blank for a few moments, but at last Devlin's youthful, mustachioed face grinned back at him.

'Hey there Grant, what can I do for you?'

Devlin appeared to be in the kitchen area. Grant could see tall stainless-steel freezer doors behind him, and the corner of what looked like an electric stove.

'I need to make an outgoing call,' Grant said, 'and the powers-that-be want to keep me incommunicado.'

Devlin arched a brick-red eyebrow. 'You want me to skirt around the New Morality blokes, is that it?'

'Yes. Can you do it?'

'For you, chum, damned right I'll do it. You're a bloody hero and those silly bastards are a major pain in the backside.'

Grant hesitated. 'Uh, it'll be a personal message. To my -wife.'

Devlin nodded. 'I understand. Compress it and squirt it to me on the regular phone system. I'll send it to a pal of mine Earthside along with my usual purchasing list. He'll shoot it off to the proper party for you.'

'Thanks, Red,' said Grant. 'I owe you one,' Laughing, Devlin replied, 'Hey, you're gonna be a big mucky-muck around here one o' these days. I've gotta be on your good side, don't I now?'

Grant kept his message to Marjorie brief. He told her was fine, but there were some problems with the official red tape that kept him from calling her directly.

'We'll get it all straightened out pretty quickly, I'm sure,' Grant said, thinking of the shiploads of journalists heading for the station.

'But…' He hesitated, licked his lips, then made the decision. 'But I'm going to be staying here at Jupiter, at the station here, for a long time, Marjorie. I want you with me. I need you with me. Will you come out here? I know it means dropping your work with the Peacekeepers, but your two years of Public Service are almost finished anyway. Come here, please. I love you, Marjorie. I miss you terribly. Come work with me, live with me. This is where I've got to be, and I've got to have you here, too.'

Not daring to review his message, Grant data-compressed it and fired it off to Devlin.

Red will get it through to Marjorie, he told himself. It might take a day or two, but she'll get my message.

He got up from the console and walked slowly up the ramp and out into the corridor. Then we'll see, he thought. Will she come out here to be with me?

Grant felt confident that she would. Despite the time and distance between them, he still loved his wife. Does she still love me? Enough to come all the way out here?

Yes, he answered silently. I think she does. But even if she doesn't, I've got to stay here. I've got to.

He walked aimlessly along the station's main corridor. People greeted him with smiles and hellos and even pats on the back. Grant smiled and helloed and waved at them all.

And found himself at last in the station's observation lounge. Alone, he stepped inside and softly closed the door behind him. The lounge was dark, with only tiny lights on the floor to mark where a couch and a pair of padded chairs stood. Its long windows were shuttered. Almost like a blind man, Grant went to the faintly glowing switch that activated the shutters.

They peeled back smoothly, without a sound except the muted hum of an electric motor.

Light from Jupiter's massive globe flooded into the lounge. Grant felt the breath catch in his throat as he saw the colorful roiled clouds rushing across the face of the giant planet. There are living creatures beneath those clouds, he reminded himself. And in the ocean there are
intelligent
creatures.

Of that he was certain. He also realized that he was ready to spend the rest of his life trying to prove it.

So much work to do. So much to learn, to discover.

The view of Jupiter slid by as the station turned slowly and Grant saw the curve of the glowing planet give way to the blackness of infinite space. It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust, and then he saw the stars, thousands of stars, staring back at him.

'Oh Lord,' said Grant, remembering the ancient psalm, 'I love the beauty of Thy house and the place where Thy glory dwelleth.'

Then he smiled. They can try to keep us incommunicado. They can try to silence us. But knowledge is more powerful than ignorance. Curiosity is more powerful than fear.

Grant laughed aloud, then turned and left the observation lounge, heading for his new tasks, his new responsibilities, ready to do God's work.

THE END