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  Timoshenko hammered on his theme of being a simple, ordinary working man who understands the needs of the common people. Eberly noted with pleasure that neither candidate attacked him.

  When it came to his time for a rebuttal statement, Eberly walked slowly to the podium and said:

  “We have a choice that reminds me of the three bears in the tale of Goldilocks. One of our candidates has too little experience at management. He tells you that he is an ordinary guy. This is quite true, but for the leader of this great society we are struggling to create we need someone who is not ordinary; we need someone with experience, and courage, and skill.”

  He hesitated a heartbeat, then said, “The other candidate has too much experience at management. He’s been managing scientists for so long that he’s completely out of touch with what the rest of us need. Charts and equations and fancy mechanical toys that will explore the surface of Titan have nothing to do with our needs and our future here in this habitat.”

  That brought a round of applause. Eberly stood at the podium, his head bowed slightly, soaking up the adulation.

  At last Wilmot got up and said, “Now we will open the meeting to questions from the floor, and from those who are watching these proceedings in their homes.”

  Eberly snapped his attention to the professor. Wilmot hadn’t told him that people would be able to call in questions from their homes, and Vyborg hadn’t even warned him of the possibility. We don’t have anyone ready with prepared questions from home, he thought. The crowd is seeded, but not the home audience.

  “He makes some sense,” Gaeta said to Holly as they sat down again. “I mean, Urbain is dead-set against letting me go to Titan, even though Kris has shown him she can clean my suit with nanobugs.”

  Holly nodded and said, “Why don’t you ask about that?”

  Gaeta nodded back at her. “Good idea!”

  The questions were all for Eberly. The people Vyborg had planted in the crowd dominated the Q A period, and even those who weren’t plants addressed their questions to Eberly, not to Urbain or Timoshenko. Eberly stood at the podium, ignoring his opponents sitting a few meters away. Wilmot stood beside him, choosing the questioners from the hands raised in the audience and the incoming calls lighting up his handheld.

  The questions were all so predictable, Eberly realized with some relief. Even those calling in from their homes asked the kind of routine, boring questions that he could have answered in his sleep.

  Yes, I will review all applications for babies. I believe we can allow a modest growth in our population.

  No, I will not permit any religious group to attain control of the government. He saw Morgenthau’s cheek twitch at that answer, but it was the answer they had agreed to give. “We have to get voted into power first,” he had told her, time and again, “before we can even hint at our true affiliations.”

  Of course I will pay personal attention to the needs of the farmers, he said to a caller who refused to identify himself. Without the farms we will quickly starve.

  He recognized Manuel Gaeta when the stuntman rose to his feet to ask, “Will you permit me to go to the surface of Titan?”

  Everyone knew Gaeta and his beat-up handsome face. All attention in the outdoor theater turned to him.

  Eberly couldn’t help smiling. “If you can satisfy the scientists that you won’t contaminate the life-forms on Titan, I don’t see any reason to prevent you from going.”

  Wilmot turned and motioned Urbain to come up to the podium. “Dr. Urbain, what is your position on this?”

  Slicking his hair back with one hand, Urbain said without hesitation, “The threat of contamination to the microbial organisms of Titan is much too serious to allow any human exploration of that world for the foreseeable future. Besides, we have no choice in the matter. The IAA forbids any human intervention on Titan’s surface.”

  Gaeta called from the first row, “But Dr. Cardenas has shown you that she can clean my suit.”

  Wilmot said to the audience, “Mr. Gaeta is referring to the work of Dr. Kristin Cardenas, who has developed nanomachines that may be capable of decontaminating Mr. Gaeta’s spacesuit.”

  “The decontamination appears to be acceptable,” Urbain conceded, looking a little flustered, “but appearances can be deceiving. Besides, we should not take the risk of having nanomachines infect Titan’s ecology.”

  Eberly nudged Urbain away from the podium and looked out at the sea of faces watching them. “This is a good example of why we can’t allow the scientists to have control of the government. Why shouldn’t this man be allowed to carry out his adventure, if it’s been proven that he won’t hurt the bugs down there?”

  “It has not been proven!”

  “Dr. Cardenas says that it has been,” Eberly countered.

  “Not to my satisfaction,” snapped Urbain.

  “Yoursatisfaction!” Eberly shouted. “In other words, you make the decision and everyone else has to obey you — even a Nobel Prize winner like Dr. Cardenas.”

  “It is my decision to make,” Urbain insisted.

  “I thought you said the International Astronautical Association made the decision.”

  “Yes, of course, that’s true,” Urbain stammered, “but if necessary I could override their decision. After all, I am the director of all scientific efforts here.”

  “You want to be a dictator!” Eberly exclaimed, pretending shock.

  Wilmot jumped between them. “Wait a moment. There is another issue here. What about the dangers of nanotechnology?”

  “Nanotechnology is a tool,” Urbain said. “A tool that must be used carefully — but nothing more than a tool, nonetheless.”

  Eberly was surprised at that. All he could add was, “Yes, I agree.”

  Timoshenko rose from his chair. “Wait. There are dangers with nanotechnology. The bugs can get out of control—”

  “Bullshit!” came a screaming voice from the audience. Kris Cardenas shot to her feet, her face white with anger. “Show me one instance where nanomachines have gotten out of control. They’ve been using nanobugs at Selene and the other lunar communities for decades now, and there’s been no trouble at all. Not one incident.”

  Timoshenko scowled at her. “Nanobugs killed several people, back when it was still called Moonbase.”

  “That was deliberate murder. You might as well outlaw hammers because they’ve been used to smash people’s skulls.”

  Wilmot spread his hands to calm things down. “No one is thinking of outlawing nanotechnology,” he said flatly. “We recognize Dr. Cardenas as the solar system’s acknowledged expert on the subject, and we have agreed to use nanomachines — but under the strictest safety procedures.”

  Before either of the other candidates could say anything, Eberly stepped in. “Nanotechnology can be very helpful to us, and I have every confidence in Dr. Cardenas’s ability to develop nanomachines safely.”

  “I too,” said Urbain.

  They all turned to Timoshenko. He grimaced, then said, “With all respect to the admired Dr. Cardenas, I believe nanomachines can be very dangerous in a closed environment such as ours. They should be banned.”

  Eberly seized the moment. “Most of us are here in this habitat,” he said, “because of laws and regulations that stifled our lives. Most of us are educated, knowledgeable, unafraid of new ideas and new capabilities. We have all suffered under governments that restricted our freedoms.”

  He saw several heads nodding agreement.

  “All right then,” he asked the audience, “how many of you are in favor of banning nanotechnology altogether?”

  The people hesitated, glanced at each other. A few hands went up. Very few. Down on the floor, Kris Cardenas looked around, smiled, and sat down.

  Eberly nodded, satisfied. Turning to Timoshenko, he said, “There you are. Vox populi, vox dei.”

  SATURN ARRIVAL MINUS 20 DAYS

  Holly saw that it would be senseless to try to talk with Malcolm after the debat
e ended. He was immediately surrounded by admirers, including Morgenthau and that dark little man, Vyborg. Kris Cardenas pushed her way through the departing throng, a bright grin on her face. “I think we might get you down to Titan after all,” she said to Gaeta.

  He grinned back at her. “Maybe. If Eberly wins the election.”

  Holly suddenly felt like a third wheel on a bicycle, standing between Kris and Manny. The crowd was thinning out, little knots of three or four people heading for home or one of the restaurants. Eberly came down from the stage, enveloped in well-wishers and sycophants. As he walked past Holly he nodded to her and smiled, but he did not invite her to join his group.

  Before she could feel any reaction, Gaeta said, “Come on, Holly, we’ll walk you home.”

  Surprised, Holly glanced at Cardenas. She arched one brow, as if to remind Holly of what they had learned about the stuntman’s activities.

  Holly nodded back and the three of them started across the grass and up the lakeside path toward the village of Athens.

  “I didn’t see Nadia here,” Cardenas said as they climbed toward the apartment buildings.

  “She’s probably working,” Gaeta said. “Urbain’s given her some time on a telescope; she’s always up in the observatory now.”

  “I thought she’d come with you,” said Holly.

  He actually looked surprised. “With me?”

  Holly let it pass. They reached Cardenas’s building and said goodnight, then Gaeta walked with Holly to the next building, where her apartment was.

  “You’ve been seeing Nadia a lot, haven’t you?” she asked.

  Gaeta nodded. “If this Titan gig falls through, I’ve got to do something to keep my investors happy. She’s helping me plan a jaunt through the rings.”

  “Sure.”

  The dawn of understanding finally shed its light on Gaeta’s face. “Ohh,” he said. “She told you, didn’t she?”

  “It came up in conversation, yes,” said Holly.

  They were at the door to her apartment building. As Gaeta stopped there, the habitat’s lighting flicked from its evening mode to the nighttime system. His face fell into shadow, but Holly could see him well enough.

  “Okay,” he admitted, “it happened.”

  “More than once.”

  He grinned sheepishly. “Christ, you sound like a priest at confession: ‘How many times?’ ”

  “It’s not funny, Manny.”

  “You didn’t take our times together seriously, did you?”

  She thought a moment, then half-lied, “No, not all that seriously, I guess.”

  “I mean, I know I was supposed to look out for you, but, well… it just sort of happened.”

  “It happens a lot with you.”

  “You seemed to enjoy it at the time,” he said softly.

  Holly suddenly realized what he had just said. “What do you mean, you were supposed to look out for me?”

  He took a deep breath. “That’s why I’m here, Holly. Your sister wanted me to keep an eye on you.”

  She felt her jaw drop open. “Pancho? Panch hired you?”

  Shuffling from one foot to another like a little boy caught in a place where he shouldn’t have been, Gaeta said, “It’s not that simple, Holly. She didn’t exactly hire me.”

  “She thought I needed a bodyguard,” Holly groused. “My big sister didn’t trust me out here on my own.”

  “I was trying to raise the funding for the Titan gig,” he tried to explain, “and this guy from Astro Corporation came up with an offer.”

  Suddenly the absurdity of it hit Holly like a bucketful of ice-cold water. She broke into laughter.

  Perplexed, Gaeta asked, “What’s so funny?”

  “You are. And my big sister. She hired you to protect me, and you pop me into bed. My faithful watchdog. When she finds out she’ll want to castrate you.”

  “She wanted me to keep you away from Eberly and that’s what I did.”

  Holly’s laughter choked off like a light switch being thrown. “Panch hired you to keep me away from Malcolm?”

  He nodded sheepishly.

  “And that’s why you took me to bed?”

  “No! I didn’t plan that. You … I… it just—”

  “Just sort of happened. I know.”

  “I didn’t hurt you.”

  “The hell you didn’t,” Holly snapped. “And then you go off and screw Kris, and then Nadia. You’ll be lucky if you live long enough to get to Titan.”

  “Oh Christ. Does Kris know about all this?”

  “Kris? Sure she knows. So does Nadia.”

  “So my name’s mud with her, eh?”

  “With Nadia?”

  “With Kris.”

  “Why don’t you ask her?”

  In the shadowy lighting it was hard to make out the expression on Gaeta’s face, but the tone of his voice came through clearly enough. “Because I’d … mierda! I really like Kris.”

  “More than Nadia?”

  “More than anybody. I guess I hurt her feelings, didn’t I? I guess she’s pissed off at me.”

  Holly couldn’t resist the opportunity. “I don’t think she’s really mad at you. Of course, she’s working up some nanobugs that eat testicles, but other than that I don’t think she’s sore at you at all.”

  Gaeta mumbled, “Guess I can’t blame her.” Then he turned away and started walking down toward his own quarters, head hung low. Holly almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

  They’re all trying to keep me away from Malcolm, Holly thought as she undressed for bed. Pancho, Manny, Morgenthau, they’re all trying to keep Malcolm and me apart.

  As she slipped into bed and commanded the lights to turn off, she wondered if she still wanted Malcolm the way she did when she first came aboard the habitat. He’s been so bugging distant; he doesn’t care about me. He hardly even knows I’m alive. But he’s been so busy. This political stuff takes all his time. It was different when we first met, different when we started out in this habitat. I could see him all the time then, and he liked me, I know he did.

  How can he like me, how can he even think about me, when he never sees me? He’s always surrounded by Morgenthau and that Vyborg snake. And Kananga, he scares me.

  How can I get past them? How can I get to be alone with Malcolm, even for a few minutes?

  Her thoughts drifted to her sister. She hired Manny. She’s paying him big bucks to keep me away from Malcolm. He made love to me for money, the dirty … Holly tried to think of the masculine equivalent of the word “whore.”

  Lying in bed, staring into the darkness, she thought, So Pancho wants to keep me away from Malcolm, does she. I’ll show her. I’ll get to Malcolm. I’ll get past the Hippo and the Snake and even Kananga, the Panther.

  And suddenly, like a bright light clicking on, she knew how to accomplish that.

  MIDNIGHT I

  Holly got out of bed and dressed swiftly. She didn’t have to check a directory to know where Eberly’s quarters were; she had the complete map of the habitat in her head, every square centimeter, every assigned apartment, laboratory, workshop, airlock, even the maze of underground tunnels and conduits.

  Yet she hesitated before leaving her own apartment. The clock said three minutes before midnight, but she thought that Eberly would probably still have a throng of admirers and well-wishers crowding his quarters. Better to wait. Wait until they all leave.

  So she went instead to her office and pulled up a display from the outdoor surveillance camera that looked at Eberly’s building. Sure enough, people were still milling around out on the grounds. His apartment must be jammed with them, Holly thought.

  Drowsily she watched as the crowd slowly thinned away. She fell asleep, then woke with a start. The digital clock said 02:34. The apartment building looked dark and silent. He’s prob’ly asleep by now, Holly thought. For several moments she debated inwardly about awakening him. He works so hard, she thought; he needs his rest.

  But you’ll neve
r get to see him alone otherwise, Holly told herself. She commanded the phone to call Eberly.

  “You have reached the residence of Dr. Malcolm Eberly,” his phone answered. “Please leave your name and Dr. Eberly will return your call.”

  Screw that! Holly said to herself. She got up from her desk chair and headed for his apartment.

  There was a perfunctory security lock on the building’s main door. Holly had memorized all the combinations long ago, and tapped on the keypad. The door popped open. As she went up the stairs, a sudden thought shook her. Maybe he’s not alone! Maybe he’s got somebody with him.

  With a shake of her head, Holly told herself, Better to find out now. She marched down the shadowy hallway, lit only by the glow of fluorescent nameplates on each door. Eberly’s apartment was at the end of the hall.

  She took a breath and rapped on the door. No response. Holly banged on it with the flat of her hand, worrying that the noise would wake the neighbors but determined to get Eberly to answer her.

  She heard someone cough on the other side of the door. Then Eberly’s muffled voice demanded, “Who is it?”

  “Holly,” she said, standing squarely in front of the peephole.

  Eberly slid the door back. He had a dark-colored robe pulled around him, his hair looked slightly tousled.

  “There is a doorbell,” he said crankily.

  “I’ve got to talk to you,” she said. “It’s urgent.”

  As if he were slowly remembering his manners, Eberly gestured her into his sitting room. A snap of his fingers and the glareless overhead lights came on. Now Holly could see that his robe was deep maroon. And his feet were bare.

  “What is it, Holly? What’s wrong?”

  “I’m sorry to bother you at this hour, Malcolm, but I can’t get past Morgenthau and all your other assistants and I’ve got to have your help and the only way I could see you alone was like this.”

  He smiled a little and slicked back his hair with one hand. “All right. You’re seeing me. What’s the problem?”