Moonrise

“Christ, that’s brilliant,” Killifer said.

I’m going to suit up,” Bre

“You?”

“I can’t ask my people to do something that I’m not prepared to do myself. I take the same risks they do.”

“Yeah, but—”

“How many people will we need for a dash to the summit?”

Killifer swivelled his chair to the screen and tapped on the keyboard. “Mission plan calls for six.”

“Strip it down. How many do we actually need ?”

Studying the list on his screen, Killifer said. Two to handle the nanobugs, one to pilot the hopper.”

“Martin and Greenberg are the nanotechs,” Bre

Thinking swiftly, Killifer said, “Maybe we oughtta leave one of them here. No sense taking both of them up to the summit.”

“One person can’t physically handle the task,” Bre

“All you need is an extra pair of hands. A warm body will do. Either Greenberg or Martin can direct the warm body, and you haven’t risked both your nanotechs.”

Bre

“The astronomer?” Killifer suggested.

“Put her to some useful work,” Bre

“You oughtta take Stavenger, too,” Killifer pointed out ’Let him make a legal record of the claim.”

“Perfect!”

Killifer stayed in the conun cubicle as Bre

Doug felt excited when Bre

It was the safest job Bre

Scrambling out of the tu

He was surprised to see a short, stocky spacesuited figure join Bre

“We’re making a dash to the summit,” Bre

“What’s my assignment?” Doug asked.

“Official record keeper,” said Bre

Why is he so hostile to me? Doug asked himself. Aloud, he replied, “I’ve never actually flown one, but I’ve put in a lot of hours in simulators.”

“Fine,” Bre

Doug helped Greenberg and Bianca Rhee to wrestle the tall canister of nanomachines onto the platform of the little hopper. Then they began strapping it down. The rocket vehicle looked too frail to take the four of them, Doug thought, even in the Moon’s light gravity. This hopper was little more than a platform with a podium for its controls and footloops to anchor a half-dozen riders. There was a fold-down railing, too, with attachments for tethers.

To Doug it looked like a great way to break your neck. Racing jetcycles seemed safer.

“Come on, come on,” Bre

“Why the sudden rush?” Doug asked. “This isn’t on the mission schedule.”

“No, it’s not,” Bre

“Yamagata? They’ve got a team here too?”

“On its way,” Bre

“You’re certain?” Doug probed.

“Certain enough.”

“Has it been confirmed by—”

“Who’s in charge of this expedition, Stavenger? You or me?” Bre

His ears ringing, Doug said, “You are, of course.”

“Then climb aboard and let’s get going.”

Doug dutifully stepped up the rickety little ladder and started to slide his boots into the foot loops alongside Bre

“Lift up the railings,” Bre

“Aye-aye, sir,” said Doug snidery. Bre

The tethers won’t be much help if we crash, Doug thought as he snapped the flimsy railings into place. By the time he returned to Bre

“Ready for takeoff,” Bre

Doug heard Killifer’s answer in his earphones. “You are cleared for takeoff.”

Bre

There was no sound, no wind, but the dark, rocky land fell away from them so rapidly Doug felt his breath gush out of him.

Their little base dwindled quickly: four humps of shelters surrounded by spacesuited figures and a pair of minitractors, all digging tu

Looking upward he saw the bare flank of Mt. Wasser coming near, sliding past dizzyingly as the hopper continued to rise. The rock face of the mountain looked glassy smooth, sandpapered by dust-mote-sized micrometeoroids for billions of years.

Suddenly they were in sunlight, brilliant, almost overpowering sunlight. The mountainside glittered like glass, like crystal, as it rushed by. Doug heard his suit fans whir faster, and something in his backpack groaned under the sudden heat load. He gripped the railing with both gloved hands.

“This is flying!” he said appreciatively. “Like being on a magic carpet.”

He heard Bre

“It’s terrific!”

Neither Greenberg nor Rhee said a word. Doug wondered how Bianca was taking the flight. At least they weren’t weightless for more than a few seconds at a time; Bre

Bre

“Flat area over to the left,” Doug said. “About ten o’clock.”

“I see it,” said Bre

A minuscule puff of thrust from two of the maneuvering jets set along the corners of the platform and they slid over sideways until they were just above the relatively flat area. It was clear of boulders, although Doug saw the sharp-rimmed edge of a crater big enough to’ swallow their hopper, clearly etched in the harsh sunlight.

His stomach told him they were falling. Then a burst of thrust. Falling again. Another burst, lighter, and Bre

It was like being on the top of the world. Doug unhooked his tether and pulled loose of his foot restraints, then turned around in a full circle. All around them stretched peaks of bare rock, as far as the eye could see. They seemed to be floating on a sea of darkness, the land below them in perpetual cryogenic night.