Halloran nodded. “But we never figured it into anything.”
“Well, that’s where we’re going,” Keene said.
“We?”
“Don’t you want to get out of this, Harry? You’ve seen how bad it’s getting already. You think that’s the end?”
“But where is there to go in it?”
“A new world. To Saturn. Get us a pilot. I don’t know about who else you want to bring. You know how many the shuttle will take. Just get to San Saucillo. I’ll be there.”
“But how do we know the Osiris will still be there?”
“Let me worry about that.”
Halloran started to reply, but Idorf interrupted to warn that the Osiris was losing contact. Moments later, the connection was broken.
Keene turned to confront the astounded faces around him. He felt light inside, suddenly, the feeling that comes of knowing that one has finally done what some instinct that knew best wanted all along. “Well, there it is,” he told them. “Scratch me off that list and let somebody else have the place. I’ll see you in orbit later.”
Nobody tried to argue, not even Sariena. Keene could have sworn that he saw a tear in her eyes when he looked at her, half expecting an objection. But at the same time there was a look that knew him finally, and accepted that it couldn’t have been any other way.
37
When the winds eased, it was found that a fallen gantry had fouled the overhead doors of one of the Boxcar launch bays. A crew went out to haul the obstruction clear with a tow tractor. The shower of rocks and gravel had slackened, but the hazard had not gone away completely. Within fifteen minutes one of the crew was killed outright. A dozen others stepped forward to fill the place. Getting the two Boxcars away had become a point of pride for all of the launch staff and workforce.
Meanwhile, loading went ahead of the first Boxcar, which would be taking the Kronians, the balance being made up of family groups and mothers with children, the children who had become separated, the expectant mother, and after them, the names heading the draw. The second Boxcar would be launched as soon as its covering doors could be opened. After that, the facility would be shut down and the remaining personnel, including General Ullman with his wife and two daughters, flown out in the Samson transport that had been held back. They would head for Peterson Air Force Base at Colorado Springs, where accommodation had been promised in the underground complex at Cheyenne Mountain. The only problem with that was that more people who had missed the evacuation by road for one reason or another were beginning to appear from among the shattered base-area buildings, many of them injured or in shock, and there was only so much room in the Samson. A search was being made for more ground vehicles, but many had been damaged and it was still far from clear how the situation would be resolved. Lieutenant Penalski with his six Marines and their pilot, Sergeant Erse, would wait for the launches, then endeavor to return in the Cessna to their unit at Twentynine Palms. Keene talked to Mitch, who agreed to detour via Texas and Montemorelos before attempting to rejoin the Eastern administration in Atlanta. Colby said he might as well go too. “I can’t think of anywhere else that appeals to me right now,” he explained. “Besides, I always wanted to see Mexico.”
* * *
Sariena and Gallian stood outside the tunnel leading through the bunkerlike concrete walls to the boarding ramp in the Boxcar launch bay, while behind them the other Kronians waved farewells and disappeared into the entranceway. General Ullman, who had come to see them off with a short, official message, watched with some of his aides. Keene stood with Colby, Mitch, Penalski, the Launch Supervisor, and others from the launch crew. He shook Gallian’s hand solidly, then took both of Sariena’s. “Well, I guess this is it again. . . . How many times have we done this? Saying good-bye to you is getting to be a habit.”
She nodded, unable to do more than whisper a low “Good-bye, Lan” in reply. Her expression and her manner conveyed as clearly as any words could have that she expected this to be the last time. Keene didn’t want to dwell on it.