Luna Escapade Part 4

Ericsson was a large crater, over a hundred miles across and with a beautifully intact ringwall, so it took him some hours, even with the tractor he borrowed, to go as far as the edge of the crater. Jack Fisher was waiting for him in the surface dome when he returned hours later.

"Welcome back," he said, chewing nervously on his cigar. "I was wondering if we'd have to go looking for you." He looked relieved.

"How did she look?" he asked casually, as Dudley climbed out of his s.p.a.ce suit in the locker room.

Dudley peeled off the one-piece suit he had worn under the heating pads.

He sniffed.

"Chee-rist, I need a shower after that.... She looked all right. Pretty cute, in a way. Like she was happy here on Luna."

He picked up towel and soap. "So I fixed it so she could stay," he added.

"What do you mean?"

He looked at Fisher. "Are you asking as a friend or as a cop?"

"What difference does it make?" asked Fisher.

"Well, I don't think you could have tracked me with your radar past the ringwall, so maybe I just went for a ride and a little stroll, huh? You didn't see me bring back a shovel, did you?"

"No," said Fisher, "I didn't see you bring it back. But some people are going to get excited about this, Pete. Where did you bury her?"

"Blood-suckers!" said Dudley. "Let them get excited! Luna is full of mysteries."

"All right," said Fisher. "For my own curiosity, then, I'm asking as a friend."

"I found a good place," said Dudley. "I kind of forget where, in the middle of all those cliffs and rills, but it had a nice view of the stars. They'll never find her to take her back! I think I owed her that much."

"Ummm," grunted Fisher.

As Dudley entered the shower, the other began to unwrap a new cigar, a not-displeased expression settling over his square, pudgy face.

Under the slow-falling streams of warm water, Dudley gradually began to relax. He felt the stiffness ease out of his jaw muscles. He turned off the bubbling water before he could begin imagining he was hearing a scared voice pleading again for pa.s.sage to Mars....