Dead Man on the Moon (26 page)

"Like a heart transplant," Karen said.

"We can hope," Linus sighed. "But since I'm at the bottom of all the lists . . . Well, better for me to lose my family through separation than for someone else to lose their family through death. It's still ... I still wish . . . well, you know."

Karen knew she should say something comforting, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Thank god she had kept her mouth shut about her attraction to him. Her face flamed hot at the thought of what she had almost done. Quickly, she patted his hand and stood up. "I should be getting home," she said.

"I thought we were getting coffee or something." His tone was hopeful.

"I can't, love," she said briskly. "I've got to get an early start tomorrow."

"Don't forget about checking the shuttle," he said. "I'll meet you at the port at eight, if you're still interested."

She had completely forgotten about the investigation. Her first impulse was to make an excuse and back out, but she realized it would sound weak and inane. And the scientific part of her mind admitted to continued curiosity about the murder. So she nodded at him, not trusting herself to speak, then turned and strode quickly away.

Noah stood backstage in a small crowd of people, shaking hands and smiling and trying to keep from committing murder. He had dealt with his share of technical screw-ups, but tonight... tonight was the worst. Lights and sound going out at the same time, leaving him stranded on stage with a full house. Did
anything
go right in Luna City? Wesley Yard was a dead man. Noah scanned the crowd. No sign of him. Yard was probably doing the smart thing and hiding in a closet somewhere.

"Great show," said an older man. He wore sharply tailored, expensive-looking clothes and he had a hard handshake. "Worth a trip to Luna all by itself."

"Thanks," Noah replied. "It was fun to put together." "Do you always make up your jokes on the spot?" asked a woman. Her handshake was limp and cold as a dead fish.

Noah smiled at her, falling into the old rhythm of post-show conversation. Some entertainers hid in their dressing rooms after a show, or even fled the theater. Noah preferred to hang around and meet people, talk to them. He supposed part of it was ego-stoking—praise was always fun to hear—and part of it was just that he liked talking to people. Most cops did, he supposed. Noah loved watching people, seeing how they moved, how they reacted. It was fun to fill in the blanks. This one looked shy and withdrawn. Had his girlfriend dumped him? That one carried herself stiff and rigid. Maybe she was on her way to interview for a job she desperately needed.

The woman—probably a professor—talking to him right now leaned a little too close, her voice a bit too cheerful. Probably overcompensating for something. Or maybe she was just one of those overly friendly people.

"I have a few jokes I keep in reserve just in case," he said. "But most of them I make up when I read the newsfeeds just before I go on."

"How do you
do
that?" the woman said. "Just make them up, I mean."

"Are you kidding?" he replied lightly. "How can anyone look at the newsfeeds and
not
laugh?"

That got a laugh all its own, for all that it was a joke Noah had told a hundred times. For a minute he felt like he was back in college. And then he realized he
was
back in college. It felt strange, as if he had walked backward through his life and arrived on Luna by mistake.

Roger Davids, the entertainment coordinator for Luna City, pushed his way through the group to shake Noah's hand. His blue eyes sparkled with enthusiasm, and delight lit his sharp, handsome features. "Noah, that was a great show. We'll want to have you back as a regular!"

"Thanks. Uh . . . how often? I mean, I start classes soon, and I keep getting these cases to investigate."

Roger waved this aside. "It'll only be twice a month, like I told you. Maybe more, though. The reviews are coming in, and they're great, just great!"

Noah had forgotten about the reviews—odd, really. When he'd done vaudeville revivals the first time, he'd rushed to the feeds after every show. Now the reviews didn't seem that important. Probably because he wasn't getting money for his shows up here, while down on Earth he'd depended on them to pay rent and buy groceries. Bad reviews meant poor attendance, and poor attendance meant less money. Up here, he could play to a totally empty house or a completely full one and it wouldn't matter in the slightest. He kind of liked that, actually. The lack of pressure made it easier to enjoy himself.

A pair of arms caught him from behind in a wild hug. Noah tensed and automatically drew up an elbow, ready to ram it into the person's gut. Lilac perfume wafted over him.

"That was so much fun!" Ilene said in his ear. "A great show, and believe me, I've seen
lots
of vaudeville revival."

He turned around and, before he could say anything, she kissed him. Scattered laughter ran through the crowd. Noah felt abruptly naked and exposed. He backed away from Ilene with a patently false smile on his face.

"What's wrong, guy?" she asked.

"You just startled me," he said, and wondered how many images of this would land on the feeds.
Gazillionaire Smooches Vaudeville Actor.
He felt at once uncertain and attracted. Ilene's outgoing, vivacious personality, he was learning, was a sword with two edges.

She smiled at him, then raised her voice. "Okay, everyone—our star is exhausted and needs to go home. Thanks for coming! Bye, now!"

Noah started to protest, but Ilene grabbed him by the hand and towed him away. A moment later, they were out the back door and heading into the domed area of Tourist Town. The Tourist Town dome was much smaller than the one that enclosed Dai Memorial Park, though it contained its share of trees and shrubs. Side corridors led to various entertainment facilities like the Sueyin Dai Memorial Theater, while other facilities were housed in dome itself. Now that it was evening, the place was crowded with students,
visiting parents, and university faculty looking for something to do. Lights glittered on the dome overhead, advertising places like the Loony Casino and the Fluffy Bunny restaurant. In the distance, Noah heard the faint rumbling of a roller coaster and the accompanying shouts and screams of the riders. Smells of fried food hung on the air. The place reminded Noah of a county fair back in Wisconsin.

Ilene tucked her arm under his as they walked. "You didn't thank me."

"Thank you?"

"You're supposed to say it as a statement, not a question," she said with mock severity.

"I mean that I don't understand why I should—"

"I got you away from those people who wanted to paw all over you. And I did it in such a way that you came off looking nice while I looked like the bitch." Ilene smiled winsomely at him. "Saves your reputation."

"Oh. Well. You know, I kind of
like
talking to people after the show."

"Really?" She leaned in and lowered her voice to a breathy whisper. "Would you rather talk backstage with them or go home with me?"

A delicious shudder ran through him and all his previous uncertainties vanished like a candle flame caught in a thunderstorm. "Am I going home with you?"

"In a while you are," she said in a voice that dripped promise like melted chocolate. "Ever ride a roller coaster in low-g?"

"What kind of roller coaster are we talking about?" he asked warily.

Ilene gave him a playful slap on the shoulder. "That's not until later, dear boy. I mean a
real
roller coaster. Come on! We can be little kids for a while."

She took his hand and towed him toward the rumbling noise. Wincing slightly at the tiny, dull ache in his injured ankle, Noah gave in and ran with her. They bounded and weaved through the crowd, and Noah became proud of the
fact that he didn't trip or fall even once. Noah whooped as he leaped and ran. His feet left the ground and touched down again, light as feathers and snowflakes. It was like running in a dream, with no restraint, no boundaries. Once in a while he jostled someone, but he barely paused long enough to give a laughing apology. Ilene skipped around people like a leaf swirling on a summer breeze. Calliope music swelled around them both, and the dome overhead just barely held back a trillion stars.

Ahead, the roller coaster bulged and looped against the sky. A long car started up the first hill and made the familiar clattering sound as the chain caught and towed it upward. The riders chattered and laughed. It was, Noah knew, entirely possible to make a silent roller coaster, but the quiet ones invariably died for lack of popularity. The clattering of chains and gears heightened the anticipation, and anticipation was half the ride.

An impressive line of people threaded their way steadily through a queue maze made of fake wooden slats cut to resemble rough fence rails. Overhead, an arched sign gave the roller coaster's name:
Moon Shot.
The car reached the top of the hill and slid down the slope trailing shouts and screams. Noah headed for the line, but Ilene caught his wrist. She was getting pretty good at halting him dead in his tracks.

"Not that way," she said. "Come on."

She loped to the roller coaster's exit and pulled aside the hinged slat that made a symbolic gate. The slat was marked
Line Jumpers Will Be Expelled From the Park.
Ilene held it open for Noah.

"Come on," she repeated.

Noah was about to point out the obvious, then thought,
What the hell,
and joined her. Ilene trotted toward the stairway that led down from the roller coaster's main platform. A group of riders streamed downward and around them. Several gave Ilene and Noah dirty looks, but no one said anything. Ilene climbed the stairs and Noah followed,
wondering how much trouble he could get into for this. What would Linus say if he got thrown out of Tourist Town? But he stayed behind Ilene.

An attendant was standing guard at the top of the stairs. "Did you lose something?
^,,
he asked, though his tone said,
Line Jumpers Will Be Expelled From the Park.

"We're good," Ilene said, and held up a plastic card. The attendant looked at it, then stood silently aside. She flashed him a friendly grin and brought Noah up onto the platform. It was divided into sections a bit like the starting gate of a racetrack. Riders could choose which seat they wanted. The roller coaster's front seat was the most popular.

"What was that card?" Noah asked.

"What's the fun in being stinking rich if you can't buy a few perks?" Ilene countered. "Come on—I want to sit in back."

There was no wait at all for the rear seat, and they got on the very next car, which was two seats wide. A padded safety harness dropped across Noah's upper thighs the moment he sat down, and a computer voice rattled off safety precautions. Childlike excitement made him bounce a little in his seat. He hadn't been on a roller coaster in years, and now he was going to ride one on the damned
moon.
Not only that, he was doing it with a beautiful woman who was obviously interested in him. As if reading his mind, Ilene shifted beneath her own harness and put her hand on Noah's knee.

"I feel I should warn you," she said. "I'm a screamer."

The car jerked into motion. It scooted around a bend in the track, then clattered up the first hill. A few people raised their hands over their heads. Something occurred to Noah—something besides the fact that Ilene was sliding her warm hand higher than his knee.

"How does this thing go so fast?" he asked. "Roller coasters get their speed from gravity, right? Up here, we shouldn't go faster than a baby buggy."

"They cheat," Ilene said. "It's motorized. You're supposed to pretend, silly."

Noah noticed something else. The higher the coaster climbed, the higher Ilene's hand climbed. For the second time that day, his groin grew tight and a coppery taste tanged his mouth. Ilene's hand caressed the inside of his thigh. Noah realized now why Ilene wanted to sit in the back—no one could see them. His excitement grew as the front of the car reached the summit, and he put an arm around her shoulders. Ilene's fingers made a quick, jerking motion, and Noah felt cool air wash over newly exposed skin. His heart pounded in his ears, and he shot a glance at the people in the seats ahead of them. The seat backs were high, but he could the see the tops of their heads. If either of them turned around, they wouldn't see much, but it would be obvious what was happening right behind them. The thought should have horrified Noah, but he was so hard and Ilene was so close that the situation only made him more excited. Her long hair brushed over his arm. The car continued to climb toward the top of the dome.