Well, he was here, and he’d have to make the best of it. Of one thing he was certain. He could not convince Forbes of his honest intentions by any amount of talking, Forbes had made up his mind, and Ted appeared in that mind as a double-dyed villain.
In a way, he was sorry about the ill feeling Forbes carried for him, sorrier in a way that went beyond his own personal discomfort. Forbes had seemed like a nice guy, a person Ted would have enjoyed knowing better. Him and Merola. On the brief trip to the Space Station, he had found himself admiring the way these two men seemed to complement each other. He somehow sensed that a friendship such as theirs was a rare combination, and he felt himself wishing he could somehow be included in the duet. It was almost as if Forbes and Merola thought with the same mind. Whenever Merola started the first line of a gag, Forbes would grin in anticipation, almost as if he knew the punch line from the start. They seemed to share a secret thing between them, a mutual bond that required neither words nor gestures to make meanings clear.
Ted would have liked to explore this bond more fully and eventually become a friend of both men.
It seemed that that was impossible now.
A number of things seemed impossible now. The general’s words.
Or should he be worrying about washout? Would he ever get back to the Station to face court-martial?
“Baker!”
It was Forbes’s voice. Ted turned from the viewport, ready for whatever was coming next.
“Yes, sir.”
“We’re going outside, Baker.”
“Very good, sir.”
“You’re coming with us,” Forbes said.
“Sir?”
“You heard me.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Are you wondering why I’m allowing you to set foot on the Moon? Are you wondering why I’m allowing you that pleasure and honor?”
“Yes, sir,” Ted said. “I am a bit surprised.”
“It’s very simple, Baker. Very simple. George… Captain Merola… is a sick man. This ship is a valuable one with millions of dollars worth of equipment in it. Do you understand now?”
“No, sir, I’m afraid…”
“I don’t trust you, Baker. I wouldn’t trust you as far as I can throw the Moon. And I certainly won’t trust you in the same ship with my best friend and a dozen dials and gadgets you can fool with. In other words, Baker, I can’t leave the rat in his trap, so I’m taking him with me.
“Yes, sir.” Ted’s voice was small, and he could feel the blood rushing to his face. He stared down at the deck.
“Then get into a space suit, and make it fast. We’re going outside in about five minutes!”
They crawled down the side of the ship, hand over hand, reaching for the rungs with heavily gloved hands and thickly soled boots. They moved slowly, four men in a thin line that hung from the open air lock like a human thread. The ship poked into the sky behind them, tilting at a crazy angle, its blasting tubes a twisted jumble of metal.
The Moon sat like a stiff old man with a jagged, crooked mouth.
It was silent.
Dead silent.
There was no sound, no movement.
The stars glowed steadily behind it, a million eyes that watched Forbes drop to the ground like a dancer caught in a slow-motion shot. The pumice at his feet rose in a noiseless swirl and settled silently again. Dr. Phelps dropped down beside him. None of the men spoke, as if they had agreed beforehand to be as solemnly silent as the Moon itself. Dr. Gehardt clung to the bottom rung for a moment and then released it, dropping slowly to the ground. Ted dropped down beside him.
The night sky covered them like a black hood pinpointed with endless miles of bright white holes. The sky started abruptly where the land ended, with stars dancing on the horizon, almost close enough to touch, it seemed. Like a sprawling wisp of smoke above, the Milky Way trailed across the blackness of the sky.
There was a brittle feeling of crispness everywhere. Ted knew it was intensely cold outside, even though his battery-powered suit heater kept him comfortable. There was no dust, no cloud, no mist, no fog-no sound.
There was only a clear stillness, a stillness as deep and as cold as the void of space.
They stood together in a tight knot, the first men to land on the Moon. They said nothing, and Ted felt a sudden bond with the other men, a bond bred of the eerie silence.
“It’s… it’s awfully quiet,” Forbes said, his voice faintly distorted in the suit radio.
“Yes,” Dr. Gehardt replied.
“George would have liked this,” Forbes said, a tired remorse replacing the bitterness in his voice. Ted felt the same hopeless desire to know the man better, to share the inner workings of his mind.