Sex on the Moon (14 page)

21

In retrospect, the flip-flops were a mistake. Thad had managed the hour-and-a-half drive south all right, his Toyota leading the small caravan of mostly expensive foreign cars from the JSC outer parking lot to the Texas coast without losing a single co-op along the way. But once they had all jammed their way onto the single-deck ferry for the short trip to their Galveston Bay isthmus destination—the cars packed so closely together there was barely room for the doors to open the necessary few inches to allow the more adventurous among the group to slither out during the short ride over to the campsite—Thad realized he ought to have chosen more appropriate footwear. EMU space boots with magnetic grips would have fit the bill—although he would have settled for his dusty Timberlands.

He stumbled forward as the ferry pitched hard over an errant wave, and barely caught himself before tumbling halfway over the hood of a black BMW sedan. There was maybe a foot and a half between the BMW on his right and a Range Rover to his left, and he was forced to stutter-step as he moved between the cars. The flip-flops were playing havoc with his usually perfect sense of balance. The soles of the damn things kept getting caught on the metal ridges that marred the floor of the ferry, and it was unlikely he was cutting much of an impressive figure as he made his rounds up and down the line of cars, greeting his co-op followers. It wasn’t like he’d prepared a speech or anything, but he did have a reputation to uphold. A lot of the first-and second-tour kids didn’t know him personally, but most had signed up for the weekend excursion because Thad Roberts, social star of NASA, had arranged it—which meant it would be something fun, something different.
An adventure
.

He reached the driver’s-side window of the BMW and shook hands with the young man inside, introducing himself. He filed the guy’s name away in his nearly photographic memory, then continued on toward the next car. Another wave pushed him back against the rear of the Range Rover—so he improvised, giving high fives to the young couple in the backseat of the vehicle, second years he recognized from the JSC cafeteria—and then he steadied himself using the bumper of a four-door Mercedes.

The Galveston Bay excursion was one of his most popular, which was the reason he had chosen it for the first weekend of his third tour. The beaches where they were headed had pretty relaxed rules—which meant that by nightfall, Thad would have multiple bonfires up and going, with no worries that any authorities would come by to make them put them out. There would be alcohol, of course, though Thad hadn’t brought any himself and wouldn’t partake; he’d probably never be able to look at booze or cigarettes or drugs of any sort without being reminded of his father’s vivid stories of hell and damnation—but he enjoyed being around the party atmosphere that alcohol usually inspired. Not that alcohol or the bonfires would be the highlights of the excursion; in this case, nature was going to top anything he or his charges could arrange.

The beach they were going to was known for more than a lax police presence; where they were going, it was all about the algae. Thad had always believed that bioluminescent algae was something you had to experience for yourself; there was nothing like wading out to your waist, churning your hands along the bottom—and watching the water light up like the Fourth of July.

And as if the bonfires and the algae fireworks weren’t enough, Thad had something even more spectacular planned for later in the weekend. He was going to cap things off with a truly dramatic adventure that the co-ops would remember for the rest of their tours.

He was having a little better luck with his footing as he passed the Mercedes and a second BMW, glad-handing the co-ops who filled each of the vehicles. He could tell from the progress of the ferry that they were only ten minutes away from their destination, and he was about to turn back toward his car when he noticed the Jeep Cherokee at the front of the row to his left, only two more cars down. He figured he might as well make it to the end, say hello to everyone; besides, he knew the driver of the Jeep, a second-year co-op named Chip Ellis who had been with him on a dozen other excursions in the past.

He was halfway to the Jeep when, looking through the oversized vehicle’s back window, he noticed that there were two passengers in the rear seat. Girls he didn’t recognize, one of them tall with light hair, and the other, in the farthest seat over, petite, with sable hair cropped short, almost a pageboy cut.

Focused on the girls, he pulled himself along the Jeep by hand so that he wouldn’t pitch forward at the last moment and make a fool of himself. He could tell from the way the girls’ faces lit up as they saw him move past the side window, toward the driver, that even though he had never met them before, they knew exactly who he was.

Chip rolled down his window and gave Thad a vigorous handshake before introducing him to the ladies. The blonde was named Rachel, a physical engineer from South Carolina who had just begun her first tour, working with submersible, radio-controlled exploration vehicles. Thad figured that sooner or later, he’d probably see her on the deck of the NBL.

The other girl, the petite brunette, was named Rebecca. Chad introduced her as an up-and-coming biologist. She was only twenty, and one week into her first tour—but already she had impressed Bob Musgrove and the other heads of the co-op program into letting her run her own plant-life photosynthesis experiment. Plant growth in zero gravity was one of the more important areas of study at NASA, now that Mars was in its headlights; creating a sustainable environment would one day involve the secret world of plant biology.

The fact that Rebecca was already being described as a brilliant scientist barely registered; now that Thad was close enough to really see her through the open window of the Jeep, he was having an almost vascular reaction.

Physically, she was stunning. Her hair was jet black, framing a face that looked as if it had been carved from polished porcelain. Her cheekbones were unnervingly high, and her playful blue eyes lit up in a way that reminded Thad of the bioluminescent algae they were on their way to see. She was wearing a white T-shirt and extremely short shorts; even from a glance, it was easy to discern her tight, athletic form. The sliver of bare skin between her shirt and shorts sent chills down his spine, and he actually found himself turning his eyes away. To his utter surprise, he was intimidated by this ninety-pound girl.

He hadn’t spoken one word to her—and yet he found himself terrified that she was looking right through him, right past the exciting persona he had created, right through to his core. And he wanted nothing more than for her to react to that core, the way he was reacting to her presence. He felt numb all over. Like he’d been down in the NBL a minute too long—and now he needed the doctor to send them straight to the sci-fi showers.

So he did the only thing he could think of. He completely ignored her, focusing instead on his buddy in the front seat. He made small talk for a few minutes and then quickly hurried back down the line of cars toward his Toyota. His heart was pounding, and he no longer noticed the way the flip-flops grabbed at the jutted floor. He fought the urge to look back over his shoulder, to see if she was watching him. He had a feeling that if he did, there was a good chance he would lose his balance entirely and end up underneath one of the cars. He was completely at a loss to explain the way he felt. If it had something to do with the continuing demise of his relationship with Sonya, well—the timing couldn’t have been better. He was in need of a new experience.

As he reached his car, he had a feeling that the new co-ops weren’t the only ones who were about to embark on a life-changing adventure.

The long hours are still flowering. I watch them with my eyes closed and remember how I once played a part in a fairy tale. How the most beautiful young woman simply materialized out of my dreams. I was intimidated by her delicate grace, infatuated with her mind, and mesmerized by her body. In the peak of my confidence I was absolutely helpless. French words part her lips. She is thrilled to show me a lichen, she wants to go flying, she brings the heavens to me, she jumps into the water in her little black bikini—first!