Read April 6: And What Goes Around for Free Online Page A

to his suit.
    "And...
done," Barak said. "If they all run smoothly we shouldn't have to
come back out here until we are back in the Moon's shadow," he said,
satisfied and a little relieved they were done and Harold hadn't busted
anything new today.
    "They're such
simple reliable engines," Harold said. "I'll be surprised if any
fail."
    That was true, but
Harold was far more trusting of equipment than he was. April's grandfather,
Happy Lewis, had coached him on working in vacuum back when Jeff and Happy were
working on a ship together in the Lewis cubic. Happy didn't trust anything .
He always asked, "And what do we do if it fails?" Barak
intended to live a long time and keep all his extremities just like Happy.
    Harold held on to
the post for the safety line that ran back to the ship's lock and kicked it
with one boot and then the other. Ice tended to build up on the boots. They
were insulated but still warmer than the ice and it melted when compressed.
Barak chipped his accumulation off carefully with a screwdriver. It might not
be a lethal event, but if the mooring post for the safety line Harold was
kicking cracked off and sailed away from being repeatedly kicked it would make
it that much riskier to get back to the ship and they'd have to retrieve it and
reset it in the ice next to the motor.
    The slight gravity
of the ice moon could be harder to work in than zero G. Things stayed put if
you didn't push on them in zero G, but fell but here in slow motion. You
couldn't get enough traction to really walk or even hop well. It was borderline
whether you could jump off the ice ball, but for sure you could throw something
over the escape velocity.
    Harold unclipped
his safety line from the closest brace that ran down into the ice for the ion
engine mount. It should have then been clipped over the line to the ship, but
he elected instead to clip the end to his suit and let it trail behind him. You
had to pay attention and keep it sliding freely on the line or it jammed and
brought you up short now and then. Harold started back to the ship along the
line hand over hand. It wasn't that dangerous but it wasn't by the book either.
    Barak stopped and
let Harold get ahead a bit, taking the moment to look at Jupiter. It still took
his breath away filling half the sky. He didn't hink he'd ever get used to it.
Then he reclipped his tether on the line and followed Harold. Barak said
nothing about Harold's tether, following Deloris' advice.
    When they got to
the ship Harold waved him past. It was a work rule the supervisor came in last,
responsible for knowing he'd brought all his crew in. Harold had ignored the
rule as silly for just a two man crew, feeling it was intended for a group big
enough to require a head count, but been reminded of it by the captain, so he
was diligent about that one point now. He'd accept instruction from Captain
Jaabir, if not graciously.
    Harold grabbed the
line post below the lock again to knock the last of the ice off his boots. It
had a bit of ammonia and other compounds dissolved in it, which was a bonus for
value, but when it melted in the lock it stank like a wet dog and Harold hated
it.
    Barak leaned
around him and got a good grip on the line strung down from the lock to the
first post before unclipping and reattaching to it. He had to push off crooked
to get around Harold and then pulled himself back on course for the lock with
the taut line. The hatch was open to facilitate quick entry from their side if
there was an emergency. He grabbed the take-hold beside the opening where the
line terminated and twisted to rotate in. There was a brief loud noise on the
radio like somebody blowing on a microphone to test it. He transferred his grip
to the inside take-hold and leaned out to unfasten the safety line so Harold
could follow him in and they could close the hatch. When he looked down Harold
wasn't there.
    He looked along
the safety line running back to the engine they'd just finished working on,
thinking