“First, I wish to congratulate you on the most significant discovery in the history of the space age,” she said in flawless British English. Her voice was a silvery soprano; she almost sang out the words. “My question is: Which of you actually made the discovery, and how did you feel when you first realized that you had found life on Mars?”
Joanna turned doubtfully in the chair toward Ilona, sitting beside her. The face of the Hong Kong woman was replaced with Brumado’s, who would fill in the time until their response reached Kaliningrad. The sound volume automatically went down to a barely audible level.
“I can answer that,” Ilona said, forcing a smile. “Dr. Brumado was the first to realize that the forms she was examining in the microscope were alive. She is our biologist, and it is she who actually made the discovery.”
Joanna said, “Dr. Malater was with me. We were working together on the samples we had gathered that morning. I merely happened to be the first to examine them in the microscope, but we worked together on the collection and preparation of the samples. You would have to say that we discovered them together.”
Ilona took over again, her husky voice more than an octave lower than Joanna’s. “As for how we felt-it was the most exciting moment of my life. Better than sex.”
Pale as she was, Joanna flushed. “It was very thrilling,” she agreed. “I think that at the first moment neither of us could believe it. Then, when we finally convinced ourselves that it was real, that the specimen in the microscope was actually a life form, we looked at each other and could not say a word.”
“Which is very unusual for me,” Ilona blurted.
“We realized that this was one of the most momentous discoveries in the history of science. I felt… what is the word in English? Awed. Yes, that is right. It was an awesome moment. Truly awesome.”
“I felt like dancing,” Ilona said.
Jamie added silently, But you were too tired and weak to try.
“We must all remember,” Joanna added, more seriously, “that it was not merely Dr. Malater and I who made this discovery. Dr. Waterman was the one who recognized that this rift valley would be the most likely place to find life. The other scientists and astronauts-without them we could never have reached this place. All the men and women of this great expedition, all the men and women supporting this mission back on Earth, they have each played their role in this discovery. We are a team, a team that reaches across more than two hundred million kilometers of space and embraces two worlds. Each of us has played an important part.”
Jamie said to himself, She’s her father’s daughter, all right. There’s a future for her in the politics of science.
The questions were mainly superficial. Connors was asked by a bored-looking Frenchman how it felt to be the only black man on Mars. The astronaut grinned a one-word answer: “Terrific!” But once the screen showed Brumado talking with one of the opportunistic politicians, Connors muttered, “Fucking pissant.”
When Jamie’s turn came he was asked by an American reporter how it felt to be vindicated in his battle to change the mission plan and make the traverse to the Grand Canyon.
Wishing that Edith had possessed the clout to make it to the news conference, suddenly lonely for the sight of her blonde cheerful smile, Jamie replied to the pinch-faced man: “There was never a battle. We had a mission plan, but it had been made up on Earth long before we got here. Fortunately, the mission controllers and the expedition commander, Dr. Li-as well as Cosmonaut Vosnesensky and my fellow scientists-all saw the wisdom of altering the plan so we could take advantage of what we found here on the ground. We had the flexibility to change the plan, to take advantage of new discoveries.”
Jamie realized that there was another tremendous advantage to being on Mars: the interviewers could not interrupt you. Nor could they stop you from going on at length and giving the complete answer that you wanted to give.