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Chapter 24

When she emerged from the lab an hour later, after taking time to sit and rest, Hersch was waiting for her. “How did you know I’d be coming out now?” she signed. “I thought you didn’t have any cameras in there.” “I don’t. I’ve been out here the whole time. I figured you’d come out eventually, and look at that, I was right.” He took her hand and steered her down the corridor. “I want to take us to get some dinner, because we’re both going to need a lot of fuel to get through the next few weeks as we adapt to the new gravity. You in particular. I only spent about ten days away from here, I’ll adapt faster. Anyway. We’ll get some good hot food, and then we need to sleep. We’re on Mars time here, too, so at least that part will be familiar.” As they walked, he pointed out features of the outer ring of the station. “Gravity is strongest here, so we do most of our daily actitivities on this level. Next in is the sleeping section, inward from that is storage, and at the center i
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Chapter 23

The ship broke free of the golden atmosphere in a few minutes, sailing out into the blackness. Anita watched the stars break out through the last hints of atmosphere, one by one. And then Saturn appeared over the edge of the small moon, and took her breath away. She had seen it often, through the murk, but there it was only a dim glow, and now it was crystal clear, without a hint of atmosphere to smudge the edges of its swirling clouds and raging storms. The rings looked thin enough to cut her finger on, like a giant razor blade arcing out over the edge of the small brown world. Titan was dwarfed by it. “Enjoying the view?” Hersch asked. “It’s one of my favorite views, too. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love Mars, and Jupiter’s got some cool stuff. But nothing beats the Saturn system for pure scenery. Someday I’ll take you to Europa and let you see what it’s like to get a view of those rings rising over a world of ice.” Anita let her eyes soak in the view. She hadn’t seen any celes
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Chapter 22

Anita woke the next morning with a lump in her throat, and she wasn’t sure if it was excitement or terror. Maybe both. Definitely both. If everything went well, she would be leaving the base behind the next day. It felt strange, to be planning to leave without packing to go back to Kerguelen. All of her fantasies about being away from the base had involved being able to go home, vindicated and safe. Nothing had prepared her for leaving in a desperate race against time to get to a new location. She didn’t even know where Hersch was planning to take her, and made a mental note to ask. She was alone in the bed, but she could hear soft noises from the other parts of the base. She slipped into her dress and thick socks and went out to find Hersch. He was in the computer room, using his own equipment to send a message. At least, that’s what it looked like. “Were you able to contact Jay?” she signed. He nodded. “They responded right away, and they’re deleting messages as
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Chapter 21

After it was over, Hersch fell asleep almost right away, but Anita couldn’t sleep. As her breathing calmed and her body returned to normal, she noticed a few spots of soreness that were increasingly uncomfortable. I guess it really has been a while, she thought, wincing. The weight of the double blankets had become excessive, and she tugged the top one onto the floor. Better. She turned on her back and stared up at the bottom of the bunk above her. Her desperate need for touch had begun to lessen with every encounter, but each one had also brought to light a big problem. It had been years since her last serious relationship, and while this wasn’t a relationship, it did require communication from both participants. And she had forgotten the words to communicate. She didn’t know how to articulate what she wanted. Worse, she wasn’t sure she actually knew what she wanted anymore. Her old body might have known, though she suspected the same problem would have existed then, but she d
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Chapter 20

Anita felt herself lock down again as soon as Herschel slid his arms around her. You wanted this, she reminded herself. You still want this. Wake up! Feel something. She kissed Herschel, trying to remember the flames that had been there so recently. Could he tell that she was faking it? Well, not faking it. That wasn’t accurate. But it wasn’t organic and spontaneous, either. She kissed him again, trying not to despair. This had worked before, she could find that part of her again if she tried hard enough. Herschel’s hands were warm on her back again, and as soft as she had remembered. Flames or no, it felt good. She pressed against him, pulling his shirt up to move her hands over his chest. He kissed her, more gently than the first time, and it felt less awkward this time. They moved back under her blankets, avoiding the chill air of the base. Anita suddenly wondered about the physics of lovemaking on Titan. The lower gravity could be a real problem. On Mars and E
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Chapter 19

The next morning, Anita woke an hour before her alarm and got out of bed, not daring to look at Herschel and his amazing hair. No sense in making things difficult for herself. She ate a small breakfast quickly and began her exercise routine, trying to clear her head. When Herschel finally came out of the bedroom, he found her covered in sweat, on her hundred and fifty-first chin up. “You’ve got killer arms, you know? That’s really sexy.” She glanced at him in annoyance, and he held his hands up. “Sorry, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I should probably do a little exercise myself or I’m going to be very uncomfortable when I have to go back to gravity. Mind if I use that after you’re done?” Anita held her grip for a moment, then lowered herself to the floor. “Be my guest,” she signed. “Might want to wipe it down first.” She washed herself off, and went to the computers. Her cameras couldn’t show as much during Titan’s long night, but most of the sensors didn’t rely on
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Chapter 18

When her alarm woke her the next morning, it took Anita a few moments to remember why the bed at the end of the room was occupied. Herschel was lying face down on the bed, limbs splayed under the weighted blanket. His hair was spread over the pillow, wavier than it had been the day before, and Anita couldn’t help but notice that he looked very attractive, at least when he was asleep and not posing an immediate danger. I need to find a way to get a message out, she thought. Jay needs to know that someone else knows. And that he’s probably the one with the satellite we found. But I can’t risk sending anything from here without Perses picking up on it. If only she were sure she could trust Amundsen, she could send a message through him, or at least ask him to relay it from his ship. But there was too much risk in that. Anita checked the suit components under her bed to make sure they were still out of sight. Everything secure. She went into the kitchen and made a larger tha
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