Moonrise

A dead silence fell upon the bare little shelter. The four of them sat on the bunk edges, the only places to sit, staring at each other like a quartet of cyclops.

“We’ve got to get back to the mountaintop before the Japanese do,” Bre

“Do you think they’d try it while the radiation’s still so high?” Doug asked.

“They sent the team here while the radiation flux is pretty damned near maximum,” Bre

“And equipment,” Greenberg chimed in.

“And we don’t,” said Rhee.

Doug turned to face Bre

For a long moment Bre

“That’s only if we intend to keep a team there. The minimum number is two,” said Doug. “That’s what the Moscow Treaty calls for.”

“But if we’re just going to set up a monitoring station?” Rhee asked.

Doug spread his gloved hands. “As long as the station can function automatically it doesn’t matter how many people are used to set it up.”

“All right, then,” Bre

“You can’t!” Doug snapped.

Bre

Trying to keep his voice light, Doug replied, “We all know that, sir. I simply meant that the radiation out there will kill you before you could get the job done.”

“Maybe,” Bre

“You have to kill yourself for the corporation?” Rhee asked.

Bre

“That’s crazy,” Rhee said.

While Bre

“It’s my job,” Bre

Rhee said, “Oh, I get it. Machismo.” Her voice dripped loathing.

“No,” said Bre

And he doesn’t have any other life, Doug realized, tapping out numbers on the screen. Rhee might despise the idea, but for men like Bre

“The question is,” Doug said — for himself as much as for Rhee and the others, “is the claim to this region worth risking your life over?”

“Let’s stop this right here,” Bre

“Wait,” Doug said.

“I said end of discussion’ Bre

“But I think there might be a way we can get this job done at much lower risk.”

“How?”

Pointing to the numbers on the screen, Doug said, “I’ve just calculated the exposure doses, based on the background data in the medical file and a rough estimate of the time needed to get up to the mountaintop again.”

Bre

Doug said, To get this job done, somebody’s got to find the astronomical equipment, load it onto the hopper, refuel the hopper, jump up to the summit, set up the equipment, and then fly back down here! Right?”

“Right.”

“Okay, here’s my estimate of the times involved for each task.”

“Pretty rough estimates.”

Smiling inside his helmet, Doug said, “It’s the best I could do. I’ve tried to include the shielding our suits provide—”

“It adds up to more than a lethal dose,” Rhee saw. Greenberg got off his bunk and joined the rest of them, but said nothing.

“But what if we break the job down into its component tasks and let different people handle each task?” Doug suggested.

“What of it?” Rhee asked.

Working the keyboard as he spoke, Doug said, “That way, each individual gets only a fraction of the radiation exposure that one person would get if he tried to do the whole job by himself. See?”

“Whoever flies the hopper up to the mountaintop still gets a big dose,” Rhee pointed out.

“But it’s not a lethal dose,” said Doug. “At least, that’s what the numbers show.”

“If everything goes exactly as you’ve plotted it,” Rhee countered.

“No, it won’t work,” Bre

“But look at the numbers,” Doug insisted. “We can do it!”

“Those numbers are shakier than a nervous guy with palsy in an earthquake,” Bre

“You’ll be killing yourself otherwise,” Doug said. “That’s the one really solid number we’ve got If one man tries to do the whole job, he gets a lethal dose. No doubt about it.”

Bre

“Listen up, people. I’ve taken risks like this before and lived through them. Truth is, I don’t really give a damn if I live or die. I’ve had a full life and I’ve got nothing much to look forward to except retirement. Like the man says, I’d rather wear out than rust out.”

“More machismo,” Rhee muttered.

“Bianca,” Doug asked, “where are your astronomical instruments?”

She hesitated a moment. “I carried them into the shelter as soon as it was put up. Before we got the order to help with the digging.”

“Which shelter?” Bre

“The first one.”

“Okay,” Doug said. “So you could go to shelter one and get your hands on the instruments.”

“Sure.”

“Isn’t the second hopper right outside that shelter?”

“About fifty yards from the airlock,” Bre

“So Killifer or somebody else could dash outside and load the instruments onto that hopper. No need to refuel the one we’ve already used.”

I’ll do it,” Greenberg said, surprising Doug. I’ll go with Bianca and load the instruments. It’ll only take a couple of minutes and then I’ve got an excuse to stay in shelter one. Let one of those guys pull on a suit and sit out here for a while.”

“Good,” said Doug, turning to Bre

“You’re not going,” Bre

I’ve got to,” Doug answered firmly. “The numbers prove it. Two people can get the job done before the exposure adds up to a lethal dose. One can’t.”

“You are not going,” Bre

“Half brother,” Doug said.

I’m not going to risk either half of you,” replied Bre

Doug gri

“Besides,” Bre

Doug jumped on that “You promised not to let me out of your sight. How can you keep that promise if you go up to the mountaintop without me?”

Bre

Very seriously, Doug replied, “And I can’t allow you to go by yourself.”

“Stavenger, I’m the commander here. I order you—”

“Besides, I can pilot the hopper if I have to,” Doug said, actually enjoying the excitement.

“This is getting weird,” Rhee said. “Now we’ve got two macho flangeheads.”

“I’m not going to let you take the risk,” Bre

I’m not going to let you kill yourself,” Doug answered.

Bre

“A dead body doesn’t constitute a legal claim,” Doug said.