"Nyet."

"I have continued to do so. To put it bluntly, if Luna City is destroyed and I am dead and the rest of the government is dead--even if all Mike's radar eyes here are blinded and he himself is cut off from the new catapult--all of which may happen under severe bombardment... even if all this happens at once, Mike still gives Luna even chances if Little David's Sling can operate--and you are there to operate it."

I said, "Da, Boss. Yassuh, Massuh. You and Mike are stinkers and want to hog fun. Will do."

"Very good, Manuel."

Stayed with Mike another hour while he printed out meter after meter of programs tailored to other computer--work that would have taken me six months even if able to think of all possibilities. Mike had it indexed and cross-referenced--with horribles in it I hardly dare mention. Mean to say, given circumstances and seemed necessary to destroy (say) Paris, this told how--what missiles in what orbits, how to tell Junior to find them and bring to target. Or anything.

Was reading this endless document--not programs but descriptions of purpose-of-program that headed each--when Wyoh phoned. "Mannie dear, has Prof told you about going to Mare Undarum?"

"Yes. Was going to call you."

"All right. I'll pack for us and meet you at Station East. When can you be there?"

"Pack for 'us'? You're going?"

"Didn't Prof say?"

"No." Suddenly felt cheerful.

"I felt guilty about it, dear. I wanted to go with you... but had no excuse. After all, I'm no use around a computer and I do have responsibilities here. Or did. But now I've been fired from all my jobs and so have you."

"Huh?"

"You are no longer Defense Minister; Finn is. Instead you are Deputy Prime Minister--"

"Well!"

"--and Deputy Minister of Defense, too. I'm already Deputy Speaker and Stu has been appointed Deputy Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. So he goes with us, too."

"I'm confused."

"It's not as sudden as it sounds; Prof and Mike worked it out months ago. Decentralization, dear, the same thing that McIntyre has been working on for the warrens. If there is a disaster at L-City, Luna Free State still has a government. As Prof put it to me, 'Wyoh dear lady, as long as you three and a few Congressmen are left alive, all is not lost. You can still negotiate on equal terms and never admit your wounds.'"

So I wound up as a computer mechanic. Stu and Wyoh met me, with luggage (including rest of my arms), and we threaded through endless unpressured tunnels in p-suits, on a small flatbed rolligon used to haul steel to site. Greg had big rolligon meet us for surface stretch, then met us himself when we went underground again.

So I missed attack on ballistic radars Saturday night.

28

Captain of first ship, FNS Esperance, had guts. Late Saturday he changed course, headed straight in. Apparently figured we might attempt jingle-jangle with radars, for he seems to have decided to come in close enough to see our radar installations by ship's radar rather than rely on letting his missiles home in on our beams.

Seems to have considered himself, ship, and crew expendable, for he was down to a thousand kilometers before he launched, a spread that went straight for five out of six of Mike's radars, ignoring random jingle-jangle.

Mike, expecting self soon to be blinded, turned Brody's boys loose to burn ship's eyes, held them on it for three seconds before he shifted them to missiles.

Result: one crashed cruiser, two ballistic radars knocked out by H-missiles, three missiles "killed"--and two gun crews killed, one by H-explosion, other by dead missile that landed square on them--plus thirteen gunners with radiation burns above 800-roentgen death level, partly from flash, partly from being on surface too long. And must add: Four members of Lysistrata Corps died with those crews; they elected to p-suit and go up with their men. Other girls had serious radiation exposure but not up to 800-r level.

Second cruiser continued an elliptical orbit around and behind Luna.

Got most of this from Mike after we arrived Little David's Sling early Sunday. He was feeling groused over loss of two of his eyes and still more groused over gun crews--I think Mike was developing something like human conscience; he seemed to feel it was his fault that he had not been able to outfight six targets at once. I pointed out that what he had to fight with was improvised, limited range, not real weapons.

"How about self, Mike? Are you right?"

"In all essentials. I have outlying discontinuities. One live missile chopped my circuits to Novy Leningrad, but reports routed through Luna City inform me that local controls tripped in satisfactorily with no loss in city services. I feel frustrated by these discontinuities--but they can be dealt with later."

"Mike, you sound tired."

"Me tired? Ridiculous! Man, you forget what I am. I'm annoyed, that's all."

"When will that second ship be back in sight?"

"In about three hours if he were to hold earlier orbit. But he will not--probability in excess of ninety percent. I expect him in about an hour."

"A Garrison orbit, huh? Oho!"

"He left my sight at azimuth and course east thirty-two north. Does that suggest anything, Man?"

Tried to visualize. "Suggests they are going to land and try to capture you, Mike. Have you told Finn? I mean, have you told Prof to warn Finn?"

"Professor knows. But that is not the way I analyze it."

"So? Well, suggests I had better shut up and let you work."

Did so. Lenore fetched me breakfast while I inspected Junior--and am ashamed to say could not manage to grieve over losses with both Wyoh and Lenore present. Mum had sent Lenore out "to cook for Greg" after Milla's death-- just an excuse; were enough wives at site to provide homecooking for everybody. Was for Greg's morale and Lenore's, too; Lenore and Milla had been close.

Junior seemed to be right. He was working on South America, one load at a time. I stayed in radar room and watched, at extreme magnification, while he placed one in estuary between Montevideo and Buenos Aires; Mike could not have been more accurate. I then checked his program for North America, found naught to criticize--locked it in and took key. Junior was on his own--unless Mike got clear of other troubles and decided to take back control.

Then sat and tried to listen to news both from Earthside and L-City. Co-ax cable from L-City carried phones, Mike's hookup to his idiot child, radio, and video; site was no longer isolated. But, besides cable from L-City, site had antennas pointed at Terra; any Earthside news Complex could pick up, we could listen to directly. Nor was this silly extra; radio and video from Terra had been only recreation during construction and this was now a standby in case that one cable was broken.

F.N. official satellite relay was claiming that Luna's ballistic radars had been destroyed and that we were now helpless. Wondered what people of Buenos Aires and Montevideo thought about that. Probably too busy to listen; m some ways water shots were worse than those where we could find open land.

Luna City Lunatic's video channel was carrying Sheenie telling Loonies outcome of attack by Esperance, repeating news while warning everybody that battle was not over, a warship would be back in our sky any moment--be ready for anything, everybody stay in p-suits (Sheenie was wearing his, with helmet open), take maximum pressure precautions, all units stay on red alert, all citizens not otherwise called by duty strongly urged to seek lowest level and stay there till all clear. And so forth.

He went through this several times--then suddenly broke it: "Flash! Enemy cruiser radar-sighted, low and fast. It may dido for Luna City. Flash! Missiles launched, headed for ejection end of--"