You know it’s a natural rock formation; it can’t be buildings. Why are you so goddammed stubborn?
But it might be artificial. It just might be. What the hell do we really know about this world? How much would a Martian scientist learn about Earth if he landed in the Sahara Desert and looked around for a couple of weeks?
The chances of those rocks being actual dwellings are a zillion to one. Why are you alienating everybody? What are you trying to prove?
What are they afraid of? For Christ’s sake, we’re here to explore the planet, to find out what’s really here. You can’t do that by sticking to a schedule they wrote back in Kaliningrad.
“Jamie? Is that you?”
He looked around, realized he was next to the wardroom. Sitting there in the shadows was the tiny form of Joanna Brumado. The only light in the area came from the softly glowing guide strips along the floor and the steady red eye of the always-working coffee machine.
He padded to the table where she sat, her hands wrapped around a big steaming coffee mug.
“What are you doing up at this hour?” Jamie asked, sitting next to her.
“I could not sleep.”
“So you’re having a cup of coffee?”
“The Brazilian tranquilizer,” she said. He could hear the smile in her soft voice even though her face was deep in shadow. “I need the warmth. It always feels cold in here to me. Especially at night.”
Jamie wore a dark blue sweatshirt bearing the discreet rocket emblem of the British Interplanetary Society and softly faded jeans instead of the project-issued coveralls. In the dim light he saw that Joanna was in a bulky turtleneck sweater and corduroy slacks.
“Why can’t you sleep?” he asked.
“I could ask you the same.”
He wanted to laugh, but there was no laughter in him. “I asked you first. Besides, you know why I’m pacing the floor.”
“You are waiting for an answer from Dr. Li.”
He nodded, realized she probably could not see the gesture, and muttered, “Uh-huh.”
“Are you so certain that what you saw really was a village?”
“Hell no! That’s the whole point: I’m not certain at all. That’s why we should go back and see it close up. Touch it. Smell it. Taste it, even. All the fancy instruments and equipment we use are just tools for giving us sensory information. Before we can decide just what that pile of rocks really is we need more information.”
She took a sip of her coffee.
“But you haven’t told me what’s keeping you awake,” Jamie said softly.
“Oh… many things. Loneliness, for one. I lie in my bunk and listen to the wind outside and remember that we are nearly two hundred million kilometers from home.”
“Does that frighten you?”
“No, it just makes me feel-alone. It’s strange. During the day we are busy and the dome feels crowded sometimes. But at night…”
“I know,” Jamie said. “There’s either too many people leaning over your shoulder or you’re entirely alone. It’s a weird feeling.”
“You feel it too?”
He scowled in the darkness. “Joanna, I am alone. I’m the outcast here.”
“No, that is not so.”
“That’s the way it looks to me. It’s not just this business of the cliff dwelling. I’m a substitute, a last-minute replacement. None of the others really accepts me as part of the team.”
He was surprised at himself for telling her so. For a long moment Joanna said nothing. In the shadowy lighting he could not even make out the expression on her face.
“I had thought,” Jamie heard himself say, speaking very low, almost whispering, “that you wanted me on the mission because of what happened at McMurdo. Now I realize that you didn’t want me here as much as you wanted to get rid of Hoffman.”
“Jamie…”
“It’s okay,” he said quickly. “I can understand how you felt. I know that Hoffman bothered you.”
She grabbed at the cuff of his sweatshirt and shook it slightly, like a schoolteacher trying to get the attention of a heedless student.
“Jamie, there were five other geologists that I could have recommended. They all had excellent qualifications. I asked my father to get you.”