Quiet Invasion(53)

“The only thing is…” She started and then stopped. Could be nothing, probably was nothing, but if it wasn’t…” Say it Angela. “The tension around here is thicker than the cloud cover. During the reception, I felt as if I was in a shark pool, and the sharks were all waiting for the first hint of blood.”

The corner of Philip’s mouth quirked up. “You ever dealt with a research facility that’s short on funding before?”

Angela shook her head. “But this one isn’t anymore.”

“True, but if you’ve been living in fear for a while, it can take time to bleed away.”

Angela shrugged. “I offer it for what it’s worth.” She paused. “Mr. Hourani, you should also know that I will be the one going down to take a look at the Discovery with the rest of the investigative team. Phil required me to engage in an obscure North American combat ritual known as scissors-paper-stone to determine which of us would take the plunge, and I lost.”

Phil’s smile was all benevolence. “And on that note…” Philip touched the Send button, and the record light faded out in time with the glow of the screen.

Angela dropped the screen roll on the couch and yawned hugely. “Want something caffeinated?” asked Philip.

She shook her head. “I was on coffee all through dinner; any more and you’ll be peeling me off the ceiling.”

“Scotch then? The base distillery’s surprisingly good.”

She waved him away. “Want the boss to catch me with a glass in my hand? We’re on the clock until he takes us off it.”

“Relax, Angie, he can’t see you from Earth.”

“He’d smell it on the ether.” Philip opened his mouth, and she held up her hand. Philip shrugged and let it go, picking up his notes instead. They each settled down to their own work and their own thoughts until the screen chimed again and lit up with an incoming message.

Mr. Hourani’s head and shoulders appeared on the screen. The wall behind him was completely blank, so he was probably in his own office rather than one of the conference rooms.

“Good evening, Mr. Bowerman, Ms. Cleary,” said Mr. Hourani. They’d both given him permission to use their first names, but Angela had never heard him do it. “Thank you for your initial report. Your compromise on the Venus-Mars communication monitoring is excellent. I doubt we’ll see anything there, but if we do, it would be best if the Venerans see it too. We are conducting this one in the full blaze of media jurisprudence. You in particular are being watched. If we make an accusation we must be very, very certain of our facts or we will be vilified from one end of the stream to the other.” He gave them a small, ironic smile. “I know. Someone is going to do that anyway, but I’d prefer it if they were wrong and we were right.” Mr. Hourani turned over a sheet in front of him. “Now, as to Ms. Cleary being the one to actually visit the Discovery, all I have to say is, given Mr. Bowerman’s fondness for ancient combat rituals, I would have expected you to be ready for this eventuality.” He flashed a look full of his best mock severity. “I can only hope you will do better next time.” His face softened instantly back into his normal, neutral expression. “Continue with your good work. I will be very interested in what you uncover.” The connection faded to black.

“Excellent job, Ms. Cleary,” said Phil.

“Excellent job, Mr. Bowerman,” replied Angela. They shook hands vigorously. Angela rolled her screen back up and stood. “I’ve got training tomorrow morning. You want to get together afterwards and do an initial rundown on the Mars monitoring?”

“Sounds good.” Phil stretched his arms up over his head and let them swing back down. “Tough going on the EVA stuff?”

Now it was Angela’s turn to shrug. “Getting in and out of the suits is a pain, but other than that…” She shrugged again. “Actually, I’m kind of looking forward to this. It’s not a chance that comes around every day.”

“You’re right there. I just”—Phil waved his hands as if looking to catch hold of the right words—“cannot get excited about going down into that hellhole.”

Angela chuckled and slapped him gently on the shoulder. “Wimp. You go through space just fine.”

“Ah”—Phil held up one finger—“but if the ship springs a leak in space, chances are you’ll have time to do something. One of those scarabs springs a leak, and you’re going to pop like a balloon.”

“Actually, I’ll flatten and vaporize.” She smiled at him. “They showed us a video. See you at breakfast?”