Moonrise

A sardonic voice in his head answered, You’ll find out real soon now.

The sunrise line inched forward to meet him, undulating slowly over the uneven ground, moving toward him at the pace of a walking man.

Despite the fear gnawing inside him, Paul thought back to his first days on the Moon. The excitement of planting boot prints where no one had ever stepped before; the breathtaking grandeur of the rugged landscape, the silence and the dramatic vistas.

That was then, he told himself. Now you’ve got to make it to the next shelter before you run out of oxy. Or before the Sun broils you. Or the damned bugs eat up your suit.

He forced himself forward, dreading the moment when he stepped from the night’s shadow into the unfiltered ferocity of the Sun.

Yet even as he walked toward the growing brightness, his mind turned back to the day when all this had started, back to the time when he had married Joa

SAVANNAH

They had spent the afternoon in bed, making love, secure in the knowledge that Joa

At first Paul thought it was only a fling. Joa

Paul had been surprised at her eagerness. For a while he thought that maybe she just wanted to make it with a black man, for kicks. But it was more than that. Much more.

She was a handsome woman, Joa

Beneath her veneer of gentility Joa

Screwing around with the boss’s wife was dangerous, for both of them, but that merely added spice to their affair. Paul had no intention of getting emotionally wrapped up with her. There were too many other women in the world to play with, and an ex-astronaut who had become a successful business executive did not have to strain himself searching for them. The son of a Norwegian sea captain and a Jamaican school teacher, Paul had charm, money and an easy self-confidence behind his gleaming smile: a potent combination.

Yet he had stopped seeing anyone else after only a few times of lovemaking with Joa

The phone rang while they lay sweaty and spent after a long session of lovemaking that had started gently, almost languidly, and climaxed in gasping, moaning passion.

Joa

Then her body went rigid.

“Suicide?”

Paul sat up. Joa

“Yes,” she said into the phone. “Yes, of course.” Her voice was steady, but Paul could see the sudden turmoil and pain in her wide eyes. Her hand, gripping the phone with white-knuckled intensity, was shaking badly.

“I see. All right. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

Joa

“He’s killed himself,” she said.

“Who?”

“Gregory.”

“Your husband?”

“Took a pistol from his collection and… committed suicide.” She seemed dazed. “Killed himself.”

Paul felt guilt, almost shame, at being naked in bed with Hier at this moment. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. Joa

“Yes. I am too.” She said it flatly, without a trace of emotion, as if rehearsing a line for a role she would be playing.

Paul got to his feet. Suddenly he felt shy about getting into the shower with her. He wanted to get to his own condo. “I’d better buzz out of here before anybody arrives,” he called to Joa

“I think that would be best. I’ve got to go to his office. The police have been called.”

Searching for his pants, Paul asked, “Do you want me to go with you?”

“No, it’s better if we’re not seen together right now. I’ll phone you later tonight.”

Driving along Sava

Hell, Paul said to himself, you should talk. Bedding the guy’s wife. Some loyal, trusted employee you are.

So Gregory blew his brains out. Why? Did he find about Joa

As he rode the glass elevator up to his penthouse condo, Paul wondered how Joa

Paul tapped out his code for the electronic lock, stepped into the foyer of his condo, and headed swiftly for the bar. Pouring himself a shot of straight tequila, he wondered how Joa

Feeling the tequila’s heat in his throat, he walked to the big picture window of his living room and looked out at the placid river and the tourist boats plying up and down. A nearly-full Moon was climbing above the horizon, pale and hazy in the light blue sky.

A sudden realization jolted Paul. “What are they going to do about Moonbase?” he asked aloud. “I can’t let them shut it down.”