PROFESSOR UHLRICH’S OFFICE
Uhlrich looked alarmed. “Break up the mirror?”
“You were going to do that anyway, weren’t you?” McClintock prodded. “It’s useless as it is now.”
It was morning, although in this underground mole’s nest there’s no feeling of day or night, McClintock thought. He had popped in on the professor to report on how Simpson was getting along with Dr. Cardenas, only to find pert little Trudy Yost already in conference with Uhlrich.
The professor steepled his fingers in front of his neatly bearded face and half closed his eyes. McClintock looked across the table at Trudy, who was staring at Uhlrich, waiting for her boss to make a decision. But all the man was doing was a half-baked imitation of a Zen master deep in meditation.
“What do you think, Trudy?” McClintock asked.
“Me?”
“Does it make any sense to leave that damaged mirror sitting out on the crater floor, when Simpson needs its frame to guide the nanomachines assembling a new mirror?”
She glanced from McClintock to Uhlrich, who had opened his eyes and dropped his hands into his lap. The professor was staring blankly at McClintock.
Suppressing an urge to grin, McClintock said silently to the professor, I’m here to get things done for you, whether you like it or not. Well, now I’m doing my job, but you don’t like it, do you? You don’t like having the decisions taken out of your hands.
Trudy asked, “Does this mean we’ve given up on trying to repair the mirror?”
Before Uhlrich could reply, McClintock said firmly, “Yes.”
Turning to the professor, Trudy said in a hesitant, soft little girl’s tone, “Well then, I guess the mirror isn’t really of any use to us in its present condition, Professor. And if Grant needs the frame for the nanomachines…” Her voice trailed off.
“You agree, then, Dr. Yost?” Uhlrich asked.
Sitting up a little straighter, Trudy replied, “Yes, sir. Yes, I do.”
“If this nanotechnology scheme doesn’t work,” Uhlrich said, “we will have wasted two years of work.”
Almost jauntily, McClintock replied, “So what? If the nanomachines don’t get the job done, you’ll be no worse off than you are now. You have nothing to lose.”
Uhlrich began to steeple his fingers again, realized it, and pressed his hands flat on the desktop instead. “Anita Halleck is on her way here, you know.”
“I didn’t know,” McClintock admitted, feeling a pang of alarm.
“Anita Halleck?” Trudy asked.
McClintock knew perfectly well who the woman was. “Director of the IAA’s space telescope project,” he said to Trudy.
“Space interferometer,” Uhlrich corrected.
McClintock dipped his chin in acknowledgement. “Interferometer,” he murmured.
Trudy looked halfway between curious and suspicious. “Why is she coming to Farside?” she asked.
“To check on our progress, what else?” Uhlrich said. “To gloat over us.”
McClintock said, “She’s got nothing to gloat about. They’re nowhere near getting any of their mirror segments into space. It’ll take them years—”
“And how long will it take us?” Uhlrich asked. His voice was low, but murderously cold.
“We’ll be finished before they are,” McClintock said, with an assurance he didn’t truly feel. “We’ll be finished before they get their mirrors put together in space.”
Inwardly, he realized that the International Astronautical Authority had the resources of the entire Earth to draw upon. Yes, their project was grandiose, much more complex and demanding than Farside’s. But all Farside had—so far—was the resources of the Moon. Selene’s governing council was as generous to the Farside project as it could manage, but there were strict limits to how much they could afford.
McClintock could add significantly to those resources, if he chose to. Uhlrich knew it, and McClintock knew that it was the only reason the professor tolerated his presence at Farside.
“We’ll be finished and taking data before they get even one of their mirrors assembled,” Trudy added bravely.
McClintock thought she really meant it. Well, he mused, it’s good to have underlings who believe in what they’re doing.
Uhlrich was clearly unhappy, but he agreed to break up the damaged mirror and ship its frame to Selene.
“You’ve made the right decision, sir,” McClintock said.
Trudy looked happy about it, too. As she got up from her chair she said to the professor, “You don’t even have to tell Mrs. Halleck about the cracked mirror.”
Uhlrich, still seated behind his desk, smiled glumly. “Do you think for one moment that she doesn’t already know about it? She knows everything that goes on here.”
Trudy’s face fell. “Then … why is she coming?”
“To gloat over us!” Uhlrich snapped.
McClintock shook his head as he got up from his chair. “I don’t believe so, Professor. Anita Halleck doesn’t waste her time with emotions like gloating. She’s coming here to get something from us.”
“And what might that be?” Uhlrich demanded, acidly.
“Nanotechnology!” Trudy blurted. “She wants to use nanomachines, just like we do.”
“That’s impossible. Nanotechnology is banned on Earth in all its forms.”
“But her telescopes won’t be on Earth,” Trudy pointed out. “They’ll be in space.”
“But they will be constructed on Earth.”
“Or at Selene,” Trudy said.
McClintock broke into a knowing grin. “She’s not coming to see us here at Farside. She’s coming to talk to Cardenas, over at Selene’s nanotech lab. Her visit here is merely a cover.”
Uhlrich looked plainly unconvinced. But he muttered, “Could the woman be that devious?”
“Does the Pope live in the Vatican?” McClintock quipped.