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“If you run short of cash, speak to the office; they can get urgent messages to me, but I may be too busy to answer. Give my love to the children, and say I’ll be back as soon as I can. Oh, hell — here’s someone I don’t want to see — I’ll call from the Moon if I can — good-bye.”

Floyd tried to duck out of the booth, but it was too late; he had already been spotted. Bearing down on him through the Soviet Section exit was Dr. Dimitri Moisevitch, of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Science.

Dimitri was one of Floyd’s best friends; and for that very reason, he was the last person he wished to talk to, here and now.

Chapter 9

Moon Shuttle

The Russian astronomer was tall, slender, and blond, and his unlined face belied his fifty-five years — the last ten of which had been spent building up the giant radio observatory on the far side of the Moon, where two thousand miles of solid rock would shield it from the electronic racket of Earth.

“Why, Heywood,” he said, shaking hands firmly. “It’s a small universe. How are you — and your charming children?”

“We’re fine,” Floyd replied warmly, but with a slightly distracted air. “We often talk about the wonderful time you gave us last summer.” He was sorry he could not sound more sincere; they really had enjoyed a week’s vacation in Odessa with Dimitri during one of the Russian’s visits to Earth.

“And you — I suppose you’re on your way up?” Dimitri inquired.

“Er, yes — my flight leaves in half an hour,” answered Floyd. “Do you know Mr. Miller?”

The Security Officer had now approached, and was standing at a respectful distance holding a plastic cup full of coffee.

“Of course. But please put that down, Mr. Miller. This is Dr. Floyd’s last chance to have a civilized drink — let’s not waste it. No — I insist.”

They followed Dimitri out of the main lounge into the observation section, and soon were sitting at a table under a dim light watching the moving panorama of the stars. Space Station One revolved once a minute, and the centrifugal force generated by this slow spin produced an artificial gravity equal to the Moon’s. This, it had been discovered, was a good compromise between Earth gravity and no gravity at all; moreover, it gave moon-bound passengers a chance to become acclimatized.

Outside the almost invisible windows, Earth and stars marched in a silent procession. At the moment, this side of the Station was tilted away from the sun; otherwise, it would have been impossible to look out, for the lounge would have been blasted with light. Even as it was, the glare of the Earth, filling half the sky, drowned all but the brighter stars.

But Earth was waning, as the Station orbited toward the night side of the planet; in a few minutes it would be a huge black disk, spangled with the lights of cities. And then the sky would belong to the stars.

“Now,” said Dimitri, after he had swiftly downed his first drink and was toying with the second, “what’s all this about an epidemic in the U.S. Sector? I wanted to go there on this trip. ‘No, Professor,’ they told me. ‘We’re very sorry, but there’s a strict quarantine until further notice.’ I pulled all the strings I could; it was no use. Now you tell me what’s happening.”

Floyd groaned inwardly. Here we go again, he said. The sooner I’m on that shuttle, headed for the Moon, the happier I’ll be.

“The — ah — quarantine is purely a safety precaution,” he said cautiously. “We’re not even sure it’s really necessary, but we don’t believe in taking chances.”

“But what is the disease — what are the symptoms? Could it be extraterrestrial? Do you want any help from our medical services?”

“I’m sorry, Dimitri — we’ve been asked not to say anything at the moment. Thanks for the offer, but we can handle the situation.”

“Hmm,” said Moisevitch, obviously quite unconvinced. “Seems odd to me that you, an astronomer, should be sent up to the Moon to look into an epidemic.”

“I’m only an ex-astronomer; it’s years since I did any real research. Now I’m a scientific expert; that means I know nothing about absolutely everything.”

“Then do you know