“Those over there look like the petals of a flower to me,” he said, pointing overhead. “I think I’ll call it the Flower constellation.”

She giggled. “They’re just lights, Manny. See, those meandering ones over there?” She pointed too. “Those are the bike paths between the food factory and Village C. And the village itself—”

“Looks like a giant squid, doesn’t it? See, there’s the body and there’s the tentacles stretching out.”

She was standing so close to him in the darkness that she could feel the heat of his body.

“And what’s that one?” she asked, pointing up at the neat rows of lights marking one of the orchards.

“Let’s see now,” he muttered. “How about the Tic-Tac-Toe constellation?”

They laughed together and then she was in his arms and he kissed her. Jeeps, Holly thought, what am I getting into?

“He brought the man here?” Eberly asked.

Eberly was standing at his kitchen sink, a bowl of breakfast cereal in his hands. Kananga had barged in without warning, simply one sharp rap on the apartment’s door and he entered without being invited. Eberly was certain he had locked the door before retiring for the night. How did Kananga get it open? The man had been a police official back on Earth, Eberly remembered. He must be quite accustomed to getting past locked doors and entering someone’s home without asking.

Kananga nodded somberly. “He’s in the hospital. Apparently the wounds on his leg were not too serious. The laser cauterized as it penetrated the flesh, so there was very little bleeding. He suffered mostly from shock.”

“How long must he remain in hospital?” Eberly asked, absently pouring flakes into a plastic bowl. “We ought to send him back to the Jupiter station as soon as possible.”

“It’s already too late for that,” said Kananga, standing on the other side of the counter that served as a partition between the kitchen and sitting room. “We’ve moved too far from Jupiter for them to send a spacecraft to pick him up. It would take a special torch-ship flight, and the station staff are unwilling to send for one to fetch him.”

“You mean we’re stuck with this man?”

Kananga nodded again. “The medical people have him under quarantine until they can establish that he’s not carrying anything harmful in his bloodstream.”

“But he can’t stay here! This habitat isn’t a shelter for the homeless!”

“Do you want me to push him out an airlock?”

Eberly stared at the colonel. His question was obviously meant to be humorous, but there was no trace of a smile on his dark, utterly serious face.

“Don’t be funny,” Eberly said.

“Then he’s here to stay. He doesn’t know it yet, by the way. Someone will have to break the news to him. He probably won’t like it.”

Eberly put his cereal bowl down on the kitchen counter and came around to the sitting room.

“I’ll get Holly to tell him. Or perhaps Morgenthau — she’s the acting head of the Human Resources Department. They’ll have to make room for him somewhere in the habitat’s population.”

“He won’t like it,” Kananga repeated. “He was due to return to Earth in a few weeks.”

“He’s here to stay, unless he can afford a torch ship to pick him up.”

“He’ll expect us to do that.”

With a shake of his head, Eberly said, “There’s no provision in our budget for that. Wilmot wouldn’t spend the money. He couldn’t. There isn’t any money to spend.”

“Perhaps one of the news services,” Kananga suggested. “The rescue made quite a sensation on the nets this morning.”

“Perhaps. I’ll ask Vyborg to look into that possibility.” Eberly hesitated, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “On the other hand, perhaps we can use all this to our advantage.”

“How?”

“I don’t know … yet. But there should be some way to turn this to our advantage. After all, we have a genuine hero in our midst, this stuntman Gaeta.”

“He’s an outsider. He’ll be returning to Earth after he’s performed his exploit.”

“Returning to Earth? Someone will send a ship for him?”

Kananga looked surprised at the idea. “I hadn’t thought about it. Perhaps he can take the refugee back with him.”

“Perhaps. But in the meantime, we should work out a way to use him. Use them both, perhaps.”

Kananga asked again, “How?”

“Heroes are always valuable,” Eberly replied, “if they can be manipulated. I’ll have to think of a way to bring Gaeta into our camp.”

Kananga shrugged. “At least we have one consolation.”

Eberly looked at him sharply. “What’s that?”

“It won’t happen again. We won’t take any more refugees aboard. The Jupiter station was the last human outpost. There’s no one out this far except us.”

With that, he turned and left the apartment. Eberly realized he was right. The habitat was sailing now farther than any humans had ever gone before. Beyond the frontier, into the unknown.

Frowning, Eberly tried his front door. It was securely locked. Yet Kananga had entered and left as if it had been wide open.

DEPARTURE PLUS 425 DAYS

Holly awoke slowly, remembering what seemed to be a dream. But it really happened, she knew. It really happened.

Manny was gone, of course. He had left her after they had made love, right here in her bed, left her drowsy and languid and warm with the touch of his hands, his lips, his body pressed against hers.

She smiled up at the ceiling. Then she giggled. I’ll have to tell Don Diego what terrific chili he made. A love potion.

A glance at the digital clock on her night table told her that she ought to get up, shower and dress and get to the office. Yet she lay back on the rumpled, sweaty sheets, remembering.

But a sudden thought snapped her out of her reverie. Malcolm! What if he finds out? I just wanted to make him jealous, make him notice me. This’ll make him hate me!

The phone buzzed.

“No video,” Holly said sharply. “Answer.”

Malcolm’s face appeared floating above the foot of her bed. He knows! she screamed silently. He’s found out! Holly jerked up to a sitting position, clutching the sheet to her despite knowing that Eberly could not see her, waves of guilt washing over her, drowning every other emotion.

“Holly, are you there?” Eberly asked, squinting slightly, as if that would make her image appear in his apartment.

“Yes, Malcolm,” she said, straining to keep her voice level. “I — I’m running a little late this morning.”

“About this man that Gaeta brought aboard the habitat last evening,” Eberly said, ignoring the tremble in her voice. “He’s going to stay aboard the habitat unless someone wants to send a ship out to fetch him.”

He doesn’t know! she thought, so relieved that she nearly sagged back on the pillows. To Eberly’s image she managed to utter:

“Yes?”

“I want you to interview him as soon as the medics lift his quarantine. We need a complete dossier on him.”

He doesn’t know, she repeated to herself. It’s all right. He doesn’t know. “I see. Of course.”

“Good. Get on it right away.”

Holly’s mind began working again. “Have you told Morgenthau about this?” Holly asked.

His brows knit slightly. “I’m telling you.”

She nodded. “Kay. Right. I’ll inform her. She wants to be kept informed, y’know.”

“You take care of it,” he said, almost crossly.

“Kay. I’ll do it.”

At last he seemed to catch the reluctance in her voice. “Holly, would you rather I speak to Morgenthau?”

Her heart fluttered. “Oh, Malcolm, I don’t want to bother you with that.” But silently she was rejoicing, He cares! He really cares about me!

“I’ll call her right now,” he said, smiling at her. “By the time you get to the office, she’ll know all about this.”

“Thank you, Malcolm!”

“It’s nothing,” he said. Then he cut the connection and his image vanished.