DAY FIFTEEN
Joanna’s call woke Doug. He almost told the smart wall to answer it without canceling the video, but Edith stirred drowsily beside him and mumbled, ‘What’s that?’
‘Nothing,’ he whispered, bending over her and kissing her bare shoulder. ‘Go back to sleep.’
Doug slipped out of bed and padded to his desk on the other side of the partitioned room. The phone kept on chiming softly, insistently.
The chair felt cool to his bare rump. He picked up the old-fashioned receiver and spoke softly, ‘Stavenger here.’
From the delay he realized the call was coming from Earthside. His mother’s voice asked testily, ‘Where are you? Why isn’t there any video?’
A smile creased Doug’s face. ‘Because it’s almost four a.m. here, Mother, and I’m not dressed.’ He pressed a stud on the phone console and his mother’s features appeared on the wall screen opposite his desk, slightly larger than life.
‘Are you all right?’ he asked, and heard the same question from her, almost at the same instant.
‘I’ve had a long talk with Rashid. He’s as much as admitted that he’s working toward a merger with Yamagata.’
‘A merger?’ The thought alarmed Doug. He had never considered that Masterson Corporation might be taken over by another company.
‘It would be a buyout, really. Lord knows how much cash Yamagata’s promised him under the table.’
‘What can you do about it?’ Doug asked.
He knew her answer before he heard it. ‘I’m rallying the members of the board. If Yamagata wants us, it’s going to be a hostile takeover, and we intend to fight it every inch of the way.’
‘Do you have enough votes?’
As he waited for her response, Doug realized he didn’t know the board well enough to count the votes himself.
‘It’ll be close,’ Joanna admitted. ‘Rashid’s got a solid bloc on his side. But I think I can turn some of them around. Tamara Bonai might be the swing vote.’
‘Tamara?’
A slight smile turned the corners of Joanna’s lips. ‘It might be worthwhile for you to visit her with the VR system. She’s a year or so older than you, but a little sweet talk might help us.’
Doug stared at his mother. Despite the smile, she meant it.
‘Mom,’ he said, thinking of Edith sleeping in his bed, ‘I’m no Romeo.’ He couldn’t help smiling.
But Joanna was already saying, ‘Faure’s been ducking me, as usual. His office has set up a meeting with two of his underlings, so I’m sending Lev to meet with them.’
‘We want to send some of the people here back Earthside,’ Doug said. ‘The dance troupe . . . and there’s at least a dozen others who want to get home as soon as they can.’
Joanna nodded once she heard his words. ‘I’ll tell Lev to see what he can work out. An evacuation flight might be good publicity for us. Faure won’t be able to turn down such a request. If he does-‘
‘Speaking of publicity,’ Doug interjected, ‘are Edith Elgin’s reports doing us any good?’
Her face lit up once she heard the question. ‘Are they! She’s going to get a Pulitzer, you mark my words.’
‘Great,’ said Doug. ‘But are they having any effect?’
‘Everybody knows you’ve declared Moonbase’s independence,’ Joanna said excitedly. ‘All the talk shows and newsheets are full of debates about it. I’ve gotten three U.S. senators to ask the White House to request a hearing in the World Court. Faure’s turning blue over it!’
‘Good,’ Doug said. ‘Great. How soon will the World Court take up our case?’
Joanna’s reply came three seconds later. ‘We’re pushing for an emergency session of the court. Otherwise it’ll have to wait until November, when they convene again. At least they’ll put it at the head of their agenda, even if it’s November.’
‘November? That’s more than six months away.’
‘I’m trying to get to them sooner.’
Doug felt his brows knitting. ‘Faure could do a lot of damage in six months.’
Once she heard him, Joanna nodded. ‘But at least the public knows what’s going on now. Here in the States, especially, it’s the hottest thing in the media. You tell that reporter that she’s done more for Moonbase than a thousand troops could do.’