Dan Tighe grimaced. The old man hovered in the doorway of Dan’s office. Beyond his slim form Dan could see the relief crew from the newly docked Constellation at their stations in the command module. There was a lot of work to do, and Bianco was not making it any easier.
“Sir,” he said, keeping his voice even, “Trikon Station will need at least two months for repair and refurbishment. All the scientific work is stopped. Most of your scientists are demanding to go back to Earth.”
“I will remain here,” Bianco said.
“The shuttle Constellation will remain docked with us for eleven hours more,” Dan continued firmly. “You must be on it when it leaves.”
“It will do you no good to frown at me,” Bianco said, actually smiling as if amused with Dan. “It has taken me all my life to get here. I will not leave. Not now. Not ever.”
“As commander of . . .”
Bianco’s smile widened. “Oh yes, of course. As commandante of this station you can have me carried off and put into the Constellation. I assure you, that is what you will have to do to get rid of me.” The smile flicked off like an electric light. Bianco’s face hardened into an old man’s stubborn scowl. “And I assure you, Commander Tighe, that the instant I set foot on Earth once again, where I am no longer under your orders, I will fire you from Trikon. And then return here.”
Dan glowered, fuming. The old bastard means what he says, he realized.
Bianco turned on the smile again. “Commandante, I am a reasonable man. You be reasonable too.”
“But the work we have to do now…”
“I will not interfere with the repair work. Perhaps even the repair crews will work a little faster with me on board to peer over their shoulders, no?”
“You could be injured. We all were damned near killed.”
“Yes, and you saved us, Commander. It would be a pity to fire you after such heroism.” The smile made the old man’s eyes twinkle.
Dan had no response to that.
“Commander,” Bianco said kindly. “Dan—may I call you that?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Bene. Dan, look at me. You never knew me back on Earth, but observe me now.” Bianco gripped the sides of the doorway and drew himself up to his full height, almost.
“A week ago I was a tired, sick old man. I was dying on Earth. Now I feel strong, I feel almost healthy! I have not taken any medication since my first day here. Weightlessness agrees with me.”
Dan grudgingly admitted. “It certainly seems to.”
“It does. Ask your Dr. Renoir; she is astounded at how my blood pressure has gone down.”
“I know,” Dan said. “So has mine.”
“Do not send me back to Earth, Dan,” the old man said, his voice suddenly low, almost pleading. “Do not send me back to die. Let me live up here.”
Dan huffed out an exasperated sigh. “Now I know how you got to be Trikon’s CEO.”
Bianco beamed at him. “Mille grazie, commandante.”
The old man bobbed up and down in the doorway, happy and perky as a pup. Maybe he’s right, Dan said to himself. Maybe living in micro-gee will keep him healthy. Both of us. One thing’s for sure, he’d fire my ass in a hot second if I sent him back. No question about that.
Bianco had turned to leave the command module, but as Dan started to slide out of his office, the old man spun in midair.
“About Dr. Renoir,” he said to Dan.
“What about her?”
“Do you love her?”
Dan felt a jolt of electricity in his gut. He froze his emotions, clamped his jaw tight.
“Ah, you do, I can see it. Good. She is in love with you, very much. I think you two should get married.”
He sailed for the hatch to the connecting tunnel, leaving Dan hanging in midair. The crewmen at the command console grinned to one another, but carefully kept their commander from seeing it.
“I have failed you.”
Bianco looked into the dark, unfathomable eyes of Hisashi Oyamo. The Japanese biologist had asked for a private meeting before he left the station. The two men stood close enough almost to touch noses inside Bianco’s cramped sleep compartment. Bianco’s slippered feet were firmly tethered in floor loops. Oyamo hovered before him. Both men hung in the slightly crouched question-mark posture of microgravity.