Josh slapped the case lid down. He stowed it away automatically, out of the habit of living and working in confined spaces. Then he shuffled sideways into the kitchen. No one else was there. He heard the sonic shower going. He heard voices from both sides and up front. He thought about coffee, but instead he opened the fridge and rummaged through the scarab’s small stock of beer, pulled himself out a bottle, and twisted the top off.
“Everything all right, Josh?”
Josh turned. Adrian stood there, a suit glove in his hand.
“Yes and no.” He sat at the table. Adrian put the glove on the table and reached into one of the overhead bins. “What’s the matter with that?”
“Microfracture in one of the seals. Nothing big.” He pulled down a tool kit and a plastic pack containing the silicon rings that helped seal the gloves to the joints in the suit cuffs.
Josh watched him work for a while; then he looked around carefully and said in a whisper. “Adrian, what do you think of our tourists?”
Adrian shrugged. “They’re tourists,” he murmured. Adrian had lots of practice at not being overheard. “They’re looking for something profound or amazing to send back to Mother Earth. Saw it on Mars all the time. Idiots racing down Olympus Mons in go-carts and writing articles about what a deeply expanding experience it was.” He frowned at the flawed seal for a moment. “Terry Wray’s pretty cute though.”
Josh chuckled. “If you like media bland.”
“But it’s such a cute kind of bland.” Adrian inspected his work. “That’ll do. I’m going to check the fit.”
Adrian left him there and Josh sat alone listening to the comings and goings of the others. The air smelled of soap, sweat, minerals, and vaguely of sulfur. Josh glanced at the hatch to the couch compartment. What was she doing in there? Who was she telling her theory to? Her manager back on Earth? Julia or Troy, or one of the other team members?
Terry Wray and her camera?
Josh felt the blood rush from his face. If Vee told her ideas to anybody, anybody, there would be an outcry like nothing that had been heard yet. The Venerans, all of them, would stand accused of fraud. The U.N. would move in for real, work on the Discovery would be wrenched away, money would dry up, and Venera would fold, and work would stop because there would be no place to do the work from.
Stop it, Josh. What’s a little more controversy?
Or are you starting to believe her? Are you starting to agree there’s not one thing in the entire Discovery that could definitely not have been made by a human with the time and resources?
Josh swallowed hard. Feeling detached from himself, he got up and walked to the couch compartment and opened the hatch. The lights were down. Julia snored gently in her couch, one arm flung out into the aisle. Josh stepped around her.
Vee still sat up on her couch with her briefcase open on her knees. She glanced up briefly at him and then seemingly dismissed what she saw. Her hands never stopped moving across the command board.
“Don’t,” whispered Josh. “Don’t go public with this.”
“Why not?” she asked mildly.
“Because you’ll ruin them. The Venerans.”
“They deserve to be ruined.” Bitterness swallowed all pretense of disinterest.
“All of them?” Josh leaned as close as he could. She had to hear him. He had to make her hear. “Everybody who lives in Venera deserves to be ruined? That’s what’ll happen.”
Vee’s hands stilled. “It’s a fake, Josh. What do you want me to do? Perpetuate a fraud because the Venerans have been living beyond their means?”
Julia snorted and rolled over. Josh bit his tongue and waited until she subsided. “You don’t give a shit about anybody but yourself, do you? You just want to show them all up. Noted artiste uncovers fraud where scientists fail. Click here to read.”
Her face had gone perfectly smooth and expressionless. “Of course. What else would it be? It couldn’t possibly be I believe what I’m saying or that I might be right.”
Josh clamped his jaw shut around what he’d been about to say. Julia rolled again with a rustle of cloth and a sighing of breath. Josh glared at Vee as if he could make her see reason by sheer force of will. She just sat placidly, her face immobile, her eyes unimpressed.
Josh felt his teeth grind together. She’d do it. She’d ruin everything. Everything.
But what if she’s right?
“What if I promised to go out now and mail Michael Lum? Tell him your suspicions, have him double-check to make sure all the funding’s on the up and up. Would that satisfy you?”
Vee’s gaze searched his face, considering. “It would be a start,” she said at last.