kid. Not much of a conversationalist, though.”
“He’s working with Kris in the nanotech lab. I’ll have to ask her about him.”
“Being the protective big sister?”
Pancho felt her face warp into a frown. “I know Holly’s all grown up and livin’ her own life, but still …”
“Still, you want to talk to Dr. Cardenas.”
“Won’t hurt.”
They walked along slowly in silence for a while, passing the lamps spaced evenly along the edge of the bricked path. Pancho stared at the lights overhead, content to let Wanamaker steer her with a gentle pressure on her waist. That’s land up there, she reminded herself. Not sky. This whole place is just a big hunk of machinery, made to look and feel and even smell like Earth. Except that we’re inside it, not on the surface.
“Pancho?” Wanamaker asked softly.
“Yeah?”
“What about your life? What are your plans?”
She knew he meant “our lives.” She knew he wanted to be with her; at least she hoped he did. She found herself wondering if she’d want to be with him on a permanent basis.
“Damfino, Jake. For the first time in my life I got no responsibilities and enough money to do whatever the hell I feel like
doin’, pretty much. And for the first time in my life I really don’t know which way I want to go.”
He replied with a nod.
“One thing’s for sure, though,” Pancho heard herself say.
“What’s that?”
“Wherever I go, I want you right there with me.”
He wrapped his other arm around her and kissed her soundly on the lips, while she realized that she truly meant what she’d said. Jeeps, she thought as she kissed him back, I really love this guy.
They started climbing the easy slope of the path, the office buildings and garden apartments of Athens on either side of the bricked street. In the shadows Pancho heard Wanamaker chuckling softly.
“What’s funny?” she asked.
“Oh, I was just thinking about your staying here on a permanent basis.”
“And that’s funny?”
“Not funny, really. But I can see you taking over this habitat. By the time they hold their next elections you’ll be running for the top slot. You’ll be chief administrator in a few months.”
The idea left a sour taste in her mouth. “I’m not runnin’ for any office,” she said firmly. “I spent enough years behind a desk tellin’ people what to do.” Then she added mischievously, “The only person I want to boss around is a certain retired admiral.”
Wanamaker made a little bow. “Hearkening and obedience, O queen of my heart.”
Pancho grabbed him by both ears and kissed him again. Damn hard not to love this lug, she thought.
Timoshenko sat alone in his apartment and pondered the events of his day. Aaronson had been more than willing to hand off the responsibilities for exterior maintenance, as Timoshenko had expected. The man isn’t a drone, he told himself, not exactly. But he’s quite content to get rid of the responsibility and let it fall on my shoulders. After all, if there’s any real, physical danger to this orbiting sewer pipe it will come from outside.
He sat at the desk in his living room and called up the schematics for the superconducting radiation shield. The hair-thin
wires of the superconductors carried enough electrical energy to light up St. Petersburg and Moscow combined. And maybe Minsk and Kiev, in the bargain, he told himself. A lot of energy. A lot of power.
The superconductors generated a magnetic field that enveloped the habitat’s outer shell. Just as Earth’s magnetosphere protects the planet from bombardment by energetic subatomic particles from the Sun and deep space, so did the habitat’s little magnetosphere protect the interior from the lethal levels of radiation outside. Timoshenko knew if that magnetic field failed, people inside the habitat would start dying right away. The habitat’s structure will shield us to some degree, he thought, but not enough to keep us all from frying.
As he
“He’s working with Kris in the nanotech lab. I’ll have to ask her about him.”
“Being the protective big sister?”
Pancho felt her face warp into a frown. “I know Holly’s all grown up and livin’ her own life, but still …”
“Still, you want to talk to Dr. Cardenas.”
“Won’t hurt.”
They walked along slowly in silence for a while, passing the lamps spaced evenly along the edge of the bricked path. Pancho stared at the lights overhead, content to let Wanamaker steer her with a gentle pressure on her waist. That’s land up there, she reminded herself. Not sky. This whole place is just a big hunk of machinery, made to look and feel and even smell like Earth. Except that we’re inside it, not on the surface.
“Pancho?” Wanamaker asked softly.
“Yeah?”
“What about your life? What are your plans?”
She knew he meant “our lives.” She knew he wanted to be with her; at least she hoped he did. She found herself wondering if she’d want to be with him on a permanent basis.
“Damfino, Jake. For the first time in my life I got no responsibilities and enough money to do whatever the hell I feel like
doin’, pretty much. And for the first time in my life I really don’t know which way I want to go.”
He replied with a nod.
“One thing’s for sure, though,” Pancho heard herself say.
“What’s that?”
“Wherever I go, I want you right there with me.”
He wrapped his other arm around her and kissed her soundly on the lips, while she realized that she truly meant what she’d said. Jeeps, she thought as she kissed him back, I really love this guy.
They started climbing the easy slope of the path, the office buildings and garden apartments of Athens on either side of the bricked street. In the shadows Pancho heard Wanamaker chuckling softly.
“What’s funny?” she asked.
“Oh, I was just thinking about your staying here on a permanent basis.”
“And that’s funny?”
“Not funny, really. But I can see you taking over this habitat. By the time they hold their next elections you’ll be running for the top slot. You’ll be chief administrator in a few months.”
The idea left a sour taste in her mouth. “I’m not runnin’ for any office,” she said firmly. “I spent enough years behind a desk tellin’ people what to do.” Then she added mischievously, “The only person I want to boss around is a certain retired admiral.”
Wanamaker made a little bow. “Hearkening and obedience, O queen of my heart.”
Pancho grabbed him by both ears and kissed him again. Damn hard not to love this lug, she thought.
Timoshenko sat alone in his apartment and pondered the events of his day. Aaronson had been more than willing to hand off the responsibilities for exterior maintenance, as Timoshenko had expected. The man isn’t a drone, he told himself, not exactly. But he’s quite content to get rid of the responsibility and let it fall on my shoulders. After all, if there’s any real, physical danger to this orbiting sewer pipe it will come from outside.
He sat at the desk in his living room and called up the schematics for the superconducting radiation shield. The hair-thin
wires of the superconductors carried enough electrical energy to light up St. Petersburg and Moscow combined. And maybe Minsk and Kiev, in the bargain, he told himself. A lot of energy. A lot of power.
The superconductors generated a magnetic field that enveloped the habitat’s outer shell. Just as Earth’s magnetosphere protects the planet from bombardment by energetic subatomic particles from the Sun and deep space, so did the habitat’s little magnetosphere protect the interior from the lethal levels of radiation outside. Timoshenko knew if that magnetic field failed, people inside the habitat would start dying right away. The habitat’s structure will shield us to some degree, he thought, but not enough to keep us all from frying.
As he
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