Building Harlequin’s Moon (39 page)

“Not yet. But maybe I understand better.”

Kristin reached up and took Rachel’s hand.

J
OHN HUNTER AND
Gabriel sat in Gabriel’s room, watching the first of the shuttle runs to the surface. Rachel was on that ship, and Beth, and Mathew and Dena, who would finally free Star and Shane for a much-needed rest.

Gabriel had taught Rachel to call the new captain “Captain Erika,” and the old one “Captain John.” He found it helped him too; using John Hunter’s first name erased some of the formality, since he now had no more authority than Gabriel himself.

“Can you make this project fun?” Captain John asked.

“Huh?”

“Well, you’ve been entirely too serious. Every time I’ve seen you, it’s been to adjudicate some life or death situation, or work out a problem. Now that I don’t have to be your captain, I intend to have some fun with you. I’m tired of being so serious. I’m tired of the politics here, and I’m too old to be useful at Ymir anyway.”

“It’s possible none of us will see Ymir,” Gabriel said.

John Hunter looked startled. “I never expected to hear that from
you
.”

“I’m sorry,” Gabriel said. “I remember when I never doubted. I’m still working to get us away from here.”

“Well, I might do more toward that goal on Selene than here. It seems like I haven’t done much good shipside. What good is a captain with a marooned ship?”

“I can use the help,” Gabriel admitted.

“So would there be harm in enjoying ourselves?”

Gabriel didn’t feel cheerful. His relationship with Erika was completely changed, and he could not read the final outcome. Gabriel doubted he’d like it. Ship’s captains tended to marry their ships, and Erika showed every sign of doing that. Still, it would be an impolite thing to say to the man who’d caused the change. “I’ll do my best, sir.”

“Just John now, thank you.”

“All right. Just John. Mind if I play a bit?”

“Please.”

Gabriel pulled from its case a crystal-clear guitar with bright silver strings and frets that seemed to float on air. He began to play, starting with an old blues song. Just John knew the song, and he had a good voice. They sang for nearly an hour, watching the stars and feeding on data flow, preparing to head down to the surface of the tiny moon they’d helped make together, and perform yet another engineering miracle.

John Hunter had planned this world. At last he would see it firsthand.

R
ACHEL AND BETH
bolted down the ramp and stepped onto the surface of Selene. Early-morning mists hugged the ground. The nip of cold after the absolute temperature control on
John Glenn
felt wonderful.

Mathew—the newly warmed Council member coming to replace Shane—grunted as he misjudged Selene’s gravity and bounced high after his first step, tangling his feet. He reached for Rachel’s hand to steady himself. “Wow—I forgot what a world is like.”

Rachel returned his laughter. “I forgot it’s your first time on Selene. I have the same experience on the
John Glenn
.”

“Hey look!” Mathew pointed up, and Rachel followed his finger to see the lopsided lens of Refuge, a large bright spot winking in the early daylight as if it were a star, following the bright dot of
John Glenn
.

Rachel and Beth helped Mathew guide the thirty newly warmed onto the surface. Star gathered them into a loose line. They stood, shivering and whispering among themselves, blinking in the double light of the sun and the gas giant. The two Council members led the Earth Born toward Aldrin. Rachel watched them go, mist swirling gently around their feet and shoulders. How many of them were like her mom, and hated being here?

She heard her name called. Familiar forms stood at the edge of the landing strip, faces still indistinct in the mist. Rachel picked Harry and Gloria out of the crowd, then Nick. There was Frank at the edge of the crowd, surrounded by Rachel’s half siblings: Jacob, Justin, and Sarah.
She ran to hug her father. “Not so long this time, Dad,” she murmured, “just a few weeks.”

Gloria and Harry stood rooted, watching Beth approach the crowd. It was as if they couldn’t really believe she walked toward them.
Walked
. Gloria broke first, and ran up to Beth, holding her, standing back and looking, and holding her again. Harry followed, beaming.

Watching through her family’s point of view, Rachel realized how much better Beth looked. Her legs, of course, but even such a short time among Council on
John Glenn
had added poise. As she walked between her parents to meet the others, wearing shorts, she flashed unblemished and perfect thighs. A huge smile filled her face with light.

Rachel saw awe in Moon Born faces as they watched Beth. She had never doubted Council could heal Beth if they chose to. Rachel ran up to Beth and whispered, “The meadow . . . let’s stay under open sky.”

Beth’s eyes flashed approval. “Yes, let’s. I’m sick to death of being closed in.”

The hulk of the ruined spaceship rested where Gabriel had left it, bright in the warming sunshine. The name “Water Bearer” adorned the hull, in blue paint. A charred smell stung Rachel’s nostrils, but new green grass sprouted through dark burned spots. As the mist thinned, sunlight painted the new grass blades a brilliant greenish yellow.

Beth and Rachel scrambled onto the dais, and their families gathered around, standing close in the damp morning.

They all looked the right ages. Rachel shivered, excising the ghosts of her last return. “Thank you for meeting us this morning. How did you get away?”

Jacob grinned at her. “We were pests.”

Justin poked him. “He’s not telling the whole story. We had to work extra shifts to get this morning off. They told us two days ago, and we didn’t want to miss seeing you first.”

Sarah came up to Beth and touched her legs. “How did they do this? Make you well?”

Rachel smiled at her little sister. “It’s the same technology that keeps them young.” She cleared her throat, looking at the expectant faces watching her. “Gabriel saved Aldrin, and made sure that Beth was healed too.”

Justin looked puzzled. “Rachel? If they can stay young forever, and heal Beth’s broken back and legs, why can’t they keep us young too? Why does their power work for them and not for us?”

It was the same question she and Harry had asked each other before her first trip to
John Glenn
. “I dont know for sure. There’s stuff on
John Glenn
it would be wonderful to have here. I’m trying to understand Council’s communications, medicine, and ways of making things. But in two trips to
John Glenn
, I’ve learned how much I don’t know.”

“But why don’t they make these things available on Selene?” Jacob took up his brother’s question.

Astronaut fed her an answer. Rachel said, “They require power sources that only work on
John Glenn
.”

Sarah spoke up. “Why can’t more of us go to the ship?”

“That’s Council’s decision. I don’t know.”

Jacob frowned. “They needed us during the fire. Why don’t they give us antimatter now?”

Rachel pictured
John Glenn’s
antimatter containment, and said, “Because it’s hard to handle. Gabriel told me it isn’t very safe. They have to build special containers to make it safe.”

“Why can’t they make those here, now? They’ll need them sooner or later.”

Rachel licked her lips. She listened for an answer, but Astronaut was silent. She filed it away as a question to ask. “They plan to build a collider, which makes antimatter, here. I’ll see what I can learn.”

“So why don’t they treat us better after the fire?” Jacob returned to his original argument. “Sure, Gabriel was the big hero. But we worked too. Without us, the fire would have been in Aldrin before Gabriel got here. And for that, we get told to pack up and move.”

Nick’s voice rose from the back of the group. “I’d like to hear questions that these two
can
answer. Tell us more about
John Glenn
.”

Rachel grinned at Nick, grateful for his help. She squeezed Beth’s hand. “Beth, why don’t you tell them?”

Beth leaned forward, excited to be able to tell her story. “You can see Selene from space—there’s a—”

Astronaut spoke into Rachel’s ear. “They are watching this on the ship. Council will hear whatever you say. Speak to put them at ease. Perhaps they will not observe you so closely if they see you helping them.”

Rachel grunted low in her throat, a signal to Astronaut that she didn’t fully understand.

“Talk about cooperation,” it prompted. “Maybe that will counter any negative from the young men’s questions.”

Beth struggled to portray the magic of
John Glenn’s
impossible garden, her face shining as she described Yggdrasil. The younger woman was doing a good job. Perhaps Rachel would be pestered with fewer spaceship questions in class.

Astronaut prompted her again. “Talk about Kyu and Ali, and how you worked with them.”

Bad idea. She got enough special treatment. She looked around the meadow, and her gaze stopped on
Water Bearer
.

The question and answer session with Beth broke for a moment, and Rachel glanced at Nick. “I’ll start teaching classes again as soon as we get to Clarke Base,” she said. “In the meantime, Jacob’s right—remember the lesson from the fire. Everyone on Selene cooperated with each other. We needed Council to win, Gabriel to win, and the sacrifice of the ship you’re calling
Water Bearer
. This was
not a small thing.” Rachel pointed to the twisted wreck. “Council can do many things, but Gabriel told me they can’t make another one of those. Let’s make that ship a symbol, and next time we get angry with Council we can remember
Water Bearer
. They’re hard taskmasters, but without them we would die.”

Beth squeezed Rachel’s hand. “I’m hungry.”

Gloria stood right next to Beth, hovering protectively. She responded instantly. “All right. Breakfast is on me and Harry. See you all in a half hour?”

The twins walked away, heads together, Jacob laughing at something Justin said. Or maybe it was the other way around.

Frank waited for her. How was she going to tell him about Kristin? She went to him and whispered, “I found Mom.”

His eyes grew wide, and he held her tightly. “Tell me about it.”

She took her father’s hand and started toward Aldrin. This was going to be hard. “I was working in Medical, helping Ali with newly warmed, and . . .”

I
T TOOK RACHEL AN HOUR
to reach Harry and Gloria’s. Gloria met her at the door and held her tightly. Her eyes sparkled as she whispered, “Thank you.”

“I didn’t have much of a choice,” Rachel said.

“Of course you did,” Harry said. “And you did the right thing. You always have.” He gestured for Rachel to sit down. “Where’s Frank?”

“He’s not feeling well. I found my mom, and I had to tell him about it.”

Harry startled. “Tell me?”

Rachel looked around. The twins and Sarah and Beth were all eating already, gathered in the family room, laughing and talking. She shook her head. “Later, when they’ve all gone.”

“Is she hurt?”

“No, just selfish.” Rachel looked down, wishing he hadn’t asked.

Harry frowned at her. “Is it better than not knowing?”

“I suppose.” She saw her father’s face as she told him the story, and said, “Maybe not.”

Gloria changed the subject. “Council plans to move us all to Clarke Base.”

“I know.”

“Within a month. They’ll move as much of the power plant and infrastructure as they can, and leave only enough support for a small group here. Aldrin will be smaller than Gagarin. Shane and Star said we’ll be safer at Clarke Base.”

“Gabriel and Ali told me the same thing,” Rachel said.

“Andrew says Council just wants to keep us all in one place,” Harry said. “He says that way they can watch more easily.”

“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. They can watch us wherever we are,” Rachel said.

“Andrew’s against the move. Some of our people are listening.” Harry paused. “Rachel, I don’t agree with him, but he’s making a strong argument. Oh—I don’t think moving to Clarke Base changes how much control they have over us, but there is a lot Council doesn’t talk about. What are their plans for the next few years? Do you know?”

Rachel shook her head. “They’ll make antimatter here, then go. I don’t want that. None of us should want that. Selene is dangerous even with Council here. We can’t fight Council directly. Andrew’s crazy to think we can. The smartest thing we can do is learn. What do you think I’ve been trying to do with the greenhouse classes?”

“And that gets us—what?” Gloria asked softly.

Rachel helped Gloria set the table for breakfast. “Respect,” she said. “They can’t make their precious factories
and build their precious antimatter without us. If we know enough to talk on their level, they’ll listen to us.”

Harry frowned.

Gloria said, “Maybe Rachel’s right, honey. We don’t even know what to ask them now, and if we learn enough, maybe we’ll discover the right questions.”

“I’m beginning to doubt it.” Harry reached for a piece of bread, Beth came in, and the conversation drifted to Beth’s experiences on the ship.

The four younger people piled out the door, Jacob teasing Beth about her new legs. Beth simply looked back at Jacob and smiled. “I’ll race you.”

“You’re on.”

Rachel laughed and helped Harry clear up the plates. She said, “I watched one of the briefings about what Gabriel’s calling Refuge. It’s flare protection. And while that’s being finished, Council will build more factories at Clarke Base. After all, that’s where they build the planting machines and aircraft. Aldrin is here because this is where Council wanted a jungle. That’s done, except now we need to replant what burned. There is no reason not to move, except that we love Aldrin.”