They just couldn’t wait.
“The union has made a strong statement condemning the bombing,” said Glenn Kucera, the U.N.’s Lunar representative, and the person Su kept thinking of as her “host” for this little trip. “They’re saying it’s radical elements within the organization and that the union is committed to peaceful reform.”
“Yes, I heard that,” said Su. She couldn’t look away. The world outside was all sharp edges against the blackness. Everything was too clean, too clear. It all fell, fell endlessly, silver, white, and black. “How many people died in there?”
“Fourteen,” said Kucera. “It went off between shifts.”
“And is anyone is custody?” Her mouth moved and questions came out, but Su felt as though someone else were asking them. She was just watching the tumbling debris and cursing the ones who couldn’t wait just a few days, maybe a few weeks longer.
“Not yet. We’re still following some leads, and of course Mr. Hourani is here to help.” Kucera licked his lips. “Su, we’ve got to diffuse this. Waicek—”
Su nodded. Edmund was down in U.N. City now, having himself a little field day, pointing out what unrest, what independent thought in the colonies led to.
“And he’s got backup.” Su ground her teeth against the curses that wanted to spill out of her. They’d worked so hard to keep things calm, to keep everything going through the transition period. She’d done absolutely everything she could do. Why did it feel like she had never worked hard enough?
Why couldn’t you just wait?
Well, while she was up here, she would take some of the wind out of Edmund Waicek’s sails. That was all ready to set in motion. She just needed to get through this first.
It took all of Su’s strength to turn away from the window and face her host. Even then, out of the corner of her eye, she could still see bits of black and silver tumbling in the darkness.
“I’ll meet with the union reps,” she said. “Find somebody to arrest, Glenn. Get this under wraps quickly.” Actually, with Sadiq Hourani himself looking into the situation, Su did not give the perpetrators of this violent idiocy long odds.
“I want it under wraps too, believe me.” Although Glenn had been born on Earth, he looked like the classic Lunar—tall, spindly, hair cropped short under his cap. He’d gone pretty native up here, but he hid it so he could keep his post. It was a balancing act that Su understood well and did not envy.
Su touched his arm. “We’ll pull it out, Glenn. We always have.”
He smiled crookedly. “One damn crisis after another, isn’t it?” He gazed out the window. “I just wish they weren’t coming closer together.”
“So do I, Glenn.”
They shared a tired, tight smile with each other. Glenn let go of his strap and pushed easily off the wall with just enough force to take him to the threshold of the passenger bay. “So, can I drop you somewhere?”
“Back to Selene, thank you,” said Su, primly. “I’ve got an appointment.”
“Will do.” Glenn paused. “Thanks for coming up for this one, Su. I know you’ve got enough going on with Venera.”
“I’m not abandoning anybody, Glenn. We’re all in this together.” Almost involuntarily her gaze shifted back to the spinning debris. At least, we should be.
The landing back in the Selene port was perfectly routine. Su emerged with her retinue and Glenn and then sent them all about their business. She really did have an appointment, but this was not a meeting that needed an audience.
Assisted by the weighted undersuit she wore, Su walked to Selene’s public caverns. Su visited Lima frequently, but she’d never gotten the hang of light gravity, so she dressed like a tourist to keep from hurting herself or from damaging property by inadvertently flinging things across the room.
She found the cafe where the meeting was to take place in the vine-hung public cavern that served as a small park. She took a seat at one of its gilt-wire tables but did not order anything. Outwardly she was calm, but inside, her stomach churned from the memory of the devastation. Her mind kept running through all the areas where damage control would be needed, and the list was expanding alarmingly.
It was ten minutes later when Frezia Cheney finally emerged from the northeast tunnel. Living on the Moon gave one grace, Su decided, as she watched the feeder walk toward her. Especially in those who were born here, there was an unhurried elegance in their small movements. Maybe it was because things around them fell so slowly that there was no imperative to rush when you reached for something. You could grab hold of whatever you wanted and not even gravity would snatch it away from you.