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kicked Alex's wheelchair- " lightweight wheelchairs we're pushing
around. Sorry."
Alex started to laugh. Sherrine said, "Sorry. My God, it's been
so long since I could say this kind of thing!"
"Did these chairs really- "
"Waste-water treatments. Medical instruments. Most people
had no idea that any of that came out of the space program. Or for
that matter, that it even existed. A new design lightweight
wheelchair doesn't make the kind of headlines that a scrubbed
launch or a flawed mirror makes, even if the structural analysis
techniques and composite materials used to make the damn thing
were aerospace from the beginning. What is everyone grinning at?"
"Welcome back," Steve said.
"Thanks. Oh, Bob, there was nobody to talk to."
Steve said, "All that stuff was just `spin-off,' you know.
Science happens because one day a scientist wakes up and says,
`Today I'm going to invent toothpaste.' If he didn't plan to invent a
better wheelchair, he can't take credit for it."
"Come on," said Bob. "We're wasting time here. Let's get back
to the Crown Center."
He led them through several exhibits on the way to the back
room where the space exhibit was stashed. One was a Hall of
Minerals that featured all sorts of crystals, together with detailed
descriptions of the powers of each for " . . . clearing away negative
attitudes, centering personal energies, enhancing communications,
promoting healing, opening the heart to love and courage,
simplifying decision making, balancing the spirit, focusing the mind,
tapping into psychic powers, and using chakras and colors."
Another exhibit was entitled "Origins of the Earth." There were
seven panels, one for each day. One large poster read "The Speed
of Light: A Test of Faith?" and explained how light created "already
on the way" could give the impression of a universe much larger
and older an it really was.
There was a Green exhibit on alternate energy sources.
Windmills, passive solar. Biomass. "Biomass?"
Bob said, "Burn wheat and corn. Real efficient. Well, at least
they don't have an exhibit on generating energy by squeezing
crystals."
"Why the grin, Alex?" Thor asked as they entered a stairwell
and turned right into a dimly lit corridor. A faded sign on the wall
read, "This way to Henry Crown Space Center."
Alex chuckled. "We grow perfect crystals in our electronics lab
in Freedom. I could be rich if I had brought a handful with me."
The Crown Center was housed in a separate wing that could
be reached only through a long, narrow corridor. A homeless pair
huddled in a niche near the doorway. They were bundled up in torn
blankets that covered everything but their eyes.
"Hey, man, you got any change?"
No one looked at them. Eye contact might humanize them . . .
Half the lights in the hallway were out and the edges at the
floor and ceiling were thick with nitre and cobwebs. This was a part
of the building long- and deliberately- neglected.
The center itself was dimly lit. The two space capsules were
shadowy shapes suspended from the ceiling. A couple of teenaged
boys who had found their way in were standing beneath the
Mercury capsule. ". . . and all they ever brought back was a bung of
dumb moon rocks," Alex heard the one tell his companion. He
turned to them as he was wheeled past.
"Did you ever ask what those rocks were made of?" he asked.
The two kids gave him a wary look. "Rocks is rocks," the older
said.
"Right, kid," murmured Thor. "Aluminum, titanium, zirconium,
calcium. If we had mined the moon like some people wanted, we
wouldn't have to disturb Mother Earth and ruin the environment
here."
The younger kid stuck his chin out. "Yeah, but then we woulda
ruined the moon's ecology."
Thor smiled. "I can't argue with that," he said mildly. "Mighty
important, that lunar ecology."
One of the boys nodded solemnly. The other muttered
something under his breath.
The two teenagers left casting a few careful glances behind.
"You better be careful, you come back here," the younger one
called. "Or the spook'll get you!"
"All right," said Bob when they were gone. "Let's spread out
and see if we can find Cole."
They split into groups and explored the corners of the hall.
Alex saw a shuttle simulator, now padlocked. A sign told how much
taxpayer money had been spent so astronauts could play computer
games."
"Over here!" Sherrine shouted. "The Titan!"
They converged on her voice. A tall cylinder stood in an ill-lit
corner of the room, a majestic shadow among the shadows. "I
can't believe it," Bob said, his head tilted back to seek its top. "We
actually found it!"
Fang approached the behemoth in awe and fear. He ran his
hand over its skin. He looked at his hand. He studied the ill-lit
surface a few moments more, and said, "I'm going to be sick."
Alex yanked on his chair's wheels and rolled up to the artifact.
Closer now, he could see rust sots, popped welds, holes where
fittings should have been. There were no main thrusters mounted
at the base.
Alex noticed a dark horizontal line running across the booster
about halfway up His own belly lurched and tried to turn over. The
bird had been cut in half, he realized. Cut in half, to transport it or
to get it through a door. He remembered that Bob had described
Cole's rocket as a kind of Flying Dutchman, wandering from
museum to museum.
This ship would never fly. It never could have flown.
I never thought it could. Never in a million years. Then why
was he so disappointed? Why was he biting his lip so hard that he
could taste blood? He heard a sob to his right and turned in time to
see Gordon stagger out of his wheelchair and lean against the
Titan. His arms stretched out to embrace it and he placed his cheek
against its cool skin. Tears had pooled in his eyes.
"It won't work, Alex, will it? It won't fly. We'll be marooned
down here forever. Crushed and tripping and staggering like
drunken fools until they finally catch us. Never to see my semya
again, never to plavat in the old ESO module. Never rift my
broomstick on lazy orbit to Peace. If only- " Gordon sagged and
Steve grabbed him under the armpits to keep him from falling.
"If only what?" Alex snapped at him. "If only what? I'd strangle
fucking Lonny if my arms were long enough, but it wouldn't change
anything. If only I'd waited another orbit! We could have scooped
our air on the next pass."
He tried to jerk his arm away from Thor, who was trying to
calm him down. If Thor noticed, he didn't react. Sherrine stepped
between them, saying something that Alex refused to hear. "We
are stuck down here, Gordo," he persisted. "Stuck. Forever. It
doesn't matter whose fault- "
"Quiet, there! Quiet, I say!"
The sudden voice came from above. Alex looked up with the
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