16 SKULLDUGGERY

16 SKULLDUGGERY Lunar day 189 Afternoon Roddy didn't bother making an excuse to leave the memorial service. He just scurried right out the door. Kira was close on his heels, excited to investigate. I held back, though. If Daphne was the killer— which was hard to believe, but still possible—then she'd be dangerous. I tried to get Zan Perfonic's attention without being too obvious about it, waving at her.

She looked my way—but so did several other people. So much for not being obvious. I pointed out the door, trying to indicate it was urgent. Wait, Zan mouthed. "Dash!" Kira hissed from the hallway. "C'mon!" I reluctantly stepped out of the room, hoping Zan would follow. Kira was waiting in the hall, but Roddy was nowhere to be seen. "Where is he?" I asked. "He ran on ahead," Kira told me. "Why didn't you stop him?" "What am I supposed to do? Tell him we suspect her in Dr. Holtz's death?" Kira paused. "Is she a suspect in Dr. Holtz's death?" "I don't know," I admitted. "But she's definitely up to something." "Then maybe we should find her before Roddy does and messes everything up." I glanced back into the rec room. Zan was still watching me, but she didn't seem comfortable leaving the service yet. She hadn't taken a step toward the door. "All right," I said. "He went this way." Kira bounded toward the

main air lock. She tried to go quickly, but she was still having trouble in low g, so she flew too high and nearly banged her head on the catwalk. I caught her leg, yanked her back down, and helped her along. We hooked right through the staging area and quickly came upon Roddy. He was flattened up against the wall of the administrative offices, doing his best to stay out of sight. Kira and I stopped in our tracks. Roddy pointed through the office window and mouthed, In there. I gingerly took a few steps forward until I could see through the office window. Sure enough, Daphne was on the computer. She was typing frantically, bringing up page after page of information, pausing every few moments to touch her watch to the screen and download something. She certainly wasn't supposed to be there. She had the same look that Violet always has when she's sneaking candy without permission. I was about to step back, out of Daphne's range of sight, when Roddy sneezed. It wasn't a tiny sneeze either. It was a great big snot-blaster. In the otherwise quiet hallway, Roddy might as well have clashed two cymbals together. Daphne turned from the computer, saw me

through the window, and shrieked. This startled Roddy, who shrieked as well. Daphne clutched her heart in shock. "Holy cow! You guys almost scared me to death!" Kira opened the office door and asked, "What are you doing in here?" Daphne looked from Roddy to me to Kira, desperation in her eyes. She quickly tried to come up with a lie—and failed. "I'm... uh... I'm... Oh, fiddlesticks. I can't keep this up any longer. I'm a spy." "You?" I couldn't contain my surprise. It was impossible to envision Daphne as a spy. A kindergarten teacher, yes. Or someone who ran a bakery. But a spy? "Not like for the CIA or anything," Daphne said quickly. "I'm a corporate spy." "You mean, for a company?" Kira asked. Daphne nodded, then flushed in embarrassment. "For Maximum Adventure." "The tourism company?" Roddy screwed up his face in confusion. "Why? They're already running the tourism here." "They want to open their own hotel on the moon," Daphne admitted, "so instead of bringing

up just one family of billionaires at a time, they can bring up lots of them." "How long have they been planning this?" Kira asked. "Years." Now that her secret was out, Daphne seemed very relieved, like a weight had been lifted off her. She'd obviously been keeping everything bottled up, and now it spewed out of her. "They've suspected all along that MBA wouldn't really be the perfect vacation place—and now that the Sjobergs are so upset, they're worried all the others they have lined up to come here will start backing out. They've wanted to build a real resort here all along. With nice beds and good food and masseuses and low- gravity sports and stuff like that." "What are you doing for them?" I asked. "Getting information," Daphne replied. "About how certain systems work. Like the evaporators and the heating and stuff like that." "You're not getting information," Roddy corrected. "You're stealing it. NASA spent billions of dollars developing those systems and now you're going to give it all away?" Daphne hung her head in shame. "You're right. This is bad. Really, really bad. It's just that when

Maximum Adventure approached me, they didn't make it sound bad. I mean, no one was going to get hurt. And to be honest, I really needed the money. This gig doesn't pay all that well. I could have made ten times what I'm getting here if I'd stayed back on earth and worked for a private robotics company." Kira asked, "Then why'd you come?" "Why did any of us?" Daphne replied. "To go to the moon! To make history! And when Maximum Adventure offered me the money, I figured I could have it both ways: live here and cash out. But it's been terrible. Maximum Adventure has asked me to do far more than I thought they would. And I've hated living a lie. Just hated it. I like everybody here so much, and I've been going behind all your backs all this time. Look at me! I loved Dr. Holtz, and here I am, skipping out on his memorial to do this dirty work." "To be honest, you're not missing much," I said. Daphne heaved a huge sigh. "I can't believe I'm telling you all this. I'm the worst spy in the world." "Pretty much," Roddy agreed. "We're only kids and you cracked like an egg." Daphne laughed. "I know. But it just feels so good to tell someone. I've always hated lying. And now