Penumbra by Eric Brown Page B

stilled image of what might have been an alien settlement. ‘Count me in.’
     
    Mackendrick switched off the com-screen and slid from the edge of the desk. ‘We’ll be lighting out on the twenty-sixth, three days from now. Until then we’ll meet every day and go through the usual systems checks and routine maintenance. Any questions?’
     
    The twenty-sixth, Bennett thought. My father’s funeral. The townspeople of Mojave were going to think him crass and insensitive for not attending. Twenty years ago he had missed Ella’s funeral, too - and he tasted again the bitter tang of guilt at the thought. He tried to push the feeling to the back of his mind.
     
    ‘Right,’ Mackendrick was saying. ‘Let’s call it a day. I need my rest. I’ll see you here at ten tomorrow.’
     
    Bennett stepped out into the bright sunlight with a sense of having entered a new chapter of his life. He thought of his father, of Julia ... At last he was doing something to take himself away from a way of life he had wanted to escape for such a long time, but had been too craven to attempt. He never liked to look too far ahead, or to dream, but at least now he told himself that he just might be able to stop looking back and regretting.
     
    He followed Ten Lee up the steps out of the pit. ‘Can I give you a lift anywhere, Ten?’
     
    ‘Thank you, but I prefer to walk.’
     
    He shrugged. ‘See you tomorrow, then.’
     
    He gave a wave and was heading towards the parking lot when Ten Lee called to him.
     
    ‘Joshua . . .’
     
    He returned to where Ten Lee stood, watching him.
     
    ‘Joshua, I’ve been thinking over what Mackendrick told us.’
     
    ‘And?’
     
    She blinked. ‘Why do you think he chose you and me for this mission? He has many good pilots and analysts he might have selected.’
     
    Bennett shrugged. ‘Like he said, he thought we were the best. We were available at short notice.’
     
    ‘Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that this is a dangerous mission. Penumbra is a stormy world.’
     
    ‘Perhaps. Who knows? I can handle those weather conditions.’ He smiled. ‘Hey, don’t worry, Ten.’
     
    Ten Lee regarded him blankly. ‘I’m not worrying, Joshua - just wondering.’
     
    ‘Whatever you say. Sure I can’t offer you a lift?’
     
    But she had turned and was walking off towards the terminal building, a tiny barefoot figure with her rucksack secured on both shoulders.
     
    Over the next couple of days Bennett, Mackendrick and Ten Lee worked on the Cobra, running maintenance checks and systems analyses. On the eve of departure Bennett recorded a short message of resignation and sent it off to Redwood Station. He expected an immediate reply - Matheson threatening him with legal action for breach of contract. When his com-screen chimed five minutes later, he touched secrecy . It was not Matheson, but Julia. He elected not to reply.
     
    Just before sunset he steered his car from the garage and drove across the desert. He parked outside the dome where he had grown up and walked around the decrepit habitat to the memorial garden. He thought about summoning Ella’s image and talking to her, telling her about the latest turn of events, but he had a better idea. He crossed to the mock-timber bench, knelt and lifted the lid of the seat. Secreted inside was the simulated identity hologram’s memory circuit. He lifted it out and moved around the garden collecting the miniature projectors and receivers. Rather than leave Ella here and be without her company for who knows how long, he would take her with him, allow her to share the experience.
     
    When he returned to this dome, he found that Julia had left a recorded message.
     
    ‘Joshua . . .’ She stared out at him, biting her lip. ‘I’ve only just heard about your father. I’m sorry. You should have told me when we met the other day. Look, about what I said. I don’t know . . . perhaps I was too harsh.’ She paused, considering her