17 MOONWALK

17 MOONWALK Lunar day 189 Evening The way I figured it, Dr. Holtz had sent the robot out to hide his phone somewhere around panel 36B in Solar Array 2. After all, the robot was dispatched shortly before Dr. Holtz stepped through the air lock. Who else besides him (except whoever had forced him to go outside) would have been awake at that time? And it was the perfect place to hide something. If Dr. Holtz's killer suspected he'd hidden evidence somewhere, they'd most likely

search the base—but not outside it. When I explained my theory to Kira later, she admitted that not only did it make sense, but she'd been thinking the same thing. There was only one problem: Getting the phone wouldn't be easy. The surface of the moon is deadly. Therefore Kira and I—as well as every other kid on base—were banned from going out onto it. Despite this, Kira was still eager to go. "It was amazing out there yesterday," she told me. This was an hour after we'd confronted Daphne. The memorial was over; everyone else's speech about Dr. Holtz had been much shorter than Nina's. (Mom's had been the most touching by far.) Now Kira and I were huddled in a corner of the staging area while most everyone else mingled in the rec room. Kira asked, "Didn't you think it was incredible when you were on the surface?" "Of course," I replied, although the truth was, since it had been six months since I'd trudged from the rocket to the air lock, my memory of it had faded greatly. After all, the walk had only taken a few minutes and there had been lots of distractions. "So let's go," Kira said. "It won't take more than

ten minutes to get to the solar array." "This isn't like sneaking behind the scenes at the art museum or the zoo," I warned. "This is dangerous." "Not if we're careful. It's perfectly safe out there with our suits on." "Dr. Holtz just died out there with his suit on." "Because someone forced him to go out with it on wrong. Someone who's still on the loose here in the base, because the evidence against them is out there." Kira pointed out the air lock in the direction of Solar Array 2. "That's only a guess," I said. "Well, it's a good guess." Kira gave me a frustrated stare. "I can't believe you're trying to weasel out of this. I thought you were going stir-crazy in this place." "I am." "So? Think how awesome it would be to get outside again, even for just a few minutes. There's no good reason we're not allowed out there. It's just a stupid rule that ought to be broken." "It's not stupid," I protested. "And if we break it, we're going to get caught. We'll end up in big trouble."

"Not if we find Dr. Holtz's phone," Kira argued. "We'll be heroes." I sighed and looked out through the air lock window. Kira was right. I did want to go out there again. And I didn't want to wait another two years and six months until my return rocket home to do it. But it was far more dangerous than Kira seemed to understand. Or she was far more reckless than I'd realized. "There might be another way to get the phone," I said. "You mean like sending a robot?" Kira asked. "No. I don't know how to do that, and we can't ask Daphne to help." I looked down the hall, to where Daphne was standing with my parents and Chang. Daphne had already revealed her secret to everyone. As she'd promised, she'd told Nina right after the memorial, and word had spread quickly. Nina wasn't happy, of course, and told Daphne there'd be some punishment, but everyone else seemed okay about it. After all, Daphne was probably the most-liked adult on the base. The fact that she'd owned up to her mistake and seemed genuinely ashamed only seemed to make everyone

like her even more. My father and Chang were teasing her about it at the moment, humming the James Bond theme and calling her Special Agent Merritt. Kira asked, "So what's the other option, then?" "We get an adult to do it." Kira looked annoyed. "Who? Your parents?" "No," I said. "They wouldn't break the rules like that. And besides, they still think Dr. Holtz was crazy." "Then who? We can't ask my dad. He'd get lost out there and we'd never see him again." "I can't tell you." I knew Zan was the right person to approach about this. She was an adult and she was determined to find out who'd killed Dr. Holtz. She'd be thrilled to hear I'd learned where the phone was hidden—and she probably had all the security clearance she needed to go out onto the lunar surface. But she'd also made it extremely clear I couldn't tell anyone about our collaboration, no matter how much I wanted to. "What are you talking about?" Kira demanded. "Don't you trust me?" "Of course." "Then why can't you tell me who you're going

to?" "I just can't," I said. Kira gave me a long, hot stare. "Fine. Whatever. But if this secret friend of yours says no, then we go, okay?" "They won't say no." "But if they do... we go. Tonight, after everyone's gone to sleep. There's no time to waste. Whoever killed Dr. Holtz is going to find out about the robot soon enough." "Sure," I said. "We'll go tonight." "You promise?" Kira stuck out her hand. I shook it. "I promise." I fully meant it. I just didn't think I'd have to. I never got to talk to Zan Perfonic. I saw her. The first time, she was standing with a bunch of scientists after the memorial service. The second time, she was at dinner in the mess with the other temps. And both times she saw me, too. After the memorial, I signaled that I desperately needed to talk to her. She mouthed, Not now, so I backed off, expecting her to come around sooner or later, but she didn't.