“And what about you, Veronica?” Troy angled himself to face her. “How did you feel inside the Discovery?”
Veronica didn’t move. “Oh, I was impressed,” she said distantly. “Very impressed. The sheer scale of the undertaking. It’s amazing.”
The team nodded solemnly.
The depressurization finished, and the green light shone over the inner hatch. Josh worked the hatch and everyone spilled gratefully over into the changing room. Adrian stood ready to help them out of the bulky suits and supplied cold water from the scarab’s fridge. Josh glanced down the corridor and saw movement through the main window. Team Fourteen was on the ball and heading down for their turn at the Discovery.
By the time Josh looked up from his water bottle again, Vee had vanished. The rest of the team crowded around the kitchen table, eating sandwiches and drinking water and fruit juice in quantity. They all speculated freely and at top volume about what they’d seen, what it meant, and how they were going to frame their findings for Mother Earth. Vee did not reappear.
Conscience caught up with Josh. He drained the last of his juice and climbed through the side hatch to the sleeping cabin.
Veronica sat cross-legged on her coach with her briefcase open in front of her, typing frantically. Her lips moved as the keys clacked, but he couldn’t make out what she was saying to herself.
“Are you all right, Vee?”
She looked up, startled, and for a moment he saw naked anger on her face. She wiped it away. “Fine.”
What is it? What is the matter with you? He sat on the edge of the floor. “You really should at least have something to drink.”
She reached down next to the couch and pulled out a bottle of water. “I’m fine, really.”
“Anything you want to talk about?”
Anger flickered back across her features. “No.”
One more try. “You know, this is supposed to be a team effort.”
“I’d heard,” she replied dryly.
Leave it alone, he told himself. Let her play her game. This is not your business. But there was a challenge in her eyes that grated at him. No, not a challenge, an accusation.
Josh picked his way to her couch. “What have you found?” He crouched down next to her.
With three keystrokes, Veronica blanked her screen. “Nothing I’m ready to talk about.”
“Listen to me,” he whispered fiercely. “You’ve got an act going, fine. You can play with Peachman’s head, and Wray’s. But you play with the Discovery, and so help me, I will make such a stink you will be booted all the way back to Mother Earth without benefit of shuttle. This is not a gallery show. This is so far beyond important we can barely understand its implications. I will not let you screw around with this.”
Vee’s angry eyes searched his face. Josh did not let his expression waver or soften. At last, Veronica dropped her gaze. Her fingers moved across the command board and typed out one line of text. She turned the screen toward him. Josh read it and his heart thudded hard in his chest.
It’s a fake.
Josh sat back on his heels and met Vee’s gaze. “You’re out of your mind.”
She frowned hard and typed.
Keep it down! We have no idea who’s in on this. Go back to dinner. Tell them I overdid it and am taking a nap. Whatever. Get your briefcase out and mail me. I’ll spell it out.
She added her contact code at the bottom.
Josh looked at her again. Vee’s face and eyes had hardened. Whatever she’d found, or thought she’d found, she was serious about it, and if she was right
No. She can’t be.
Without another word, Josh returned to the kitchen nook.
“Everything all right?” asked Troy.
“Oh yeah,” lied Josh, picking up his empty juice cup and carrying it to the sonic cleaner so he wouldn’t have to stay at the table and look at anybody. “It’s easy to overdo it out there if you’re not careful. Vee just needs to lie down and get some extra fluids.”
And get her head examined. He shut the cup in the cleaner. God, if she’s doing this for self-aggrandizement, I’ll kill her.
The meal finished, the dishes got cleared, and people spread out as much as the scarab allowed, giving each other the mental space necessary for sane and civil interaction in a confined space. Adrian shuffled back to the changing area, probably to run the post-EVA suit checks and recharge batteries and tanks. Kevin was up front in the pilot’s seat, running over something on the main displays. Terry commandeered one corner of the kitchen table and downloaded the day’s records into her smart cam. She watched the display, apparently oblivious to anything else. Julia retreated to the couch compartment.