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Skip that the date had everything to do with the earth’s orbit and
timed encounters with the space station and nothing to do with
serendipity. “But I am cautious. And concerned.”
    “You should be a little more like your
namesake,” Skip said, his grin baring slightly yellowed teeth. “I
knew Deke Slayton personally when he was in the Apollo program and
a bigger thrill-seeker you never met.”
    Deke angled his head in acknowledgment. Skip
loved the fact that Deke’s parents were such space fans that they’d
nicknamed their firstborn son after an Apollo astronaut. But he
wasn’t here to talk about history.
    “I don’t find anything about safety control
thrilling, I assure you.”
    Skip waved a thick-fingered hand. “We’re in
good shape, Deke. Been through that bird fifty times myself. We
won’t have any trouble meeting that date.” When he squinted into
the sun, Skip’s creases deepened and the bright light emphasized
the age spots around his mouth.
    He suddenly looked less of a legend who knew
the earliest astronauts and more like a weary old man.
    A rush of sympathy surprised Deke. “I know if
anyone can get that shuttle ready to fly around the world and up to
the station, it’s you,” he said softly.
    Skip looked like he might roll his eyes.
“Cool the flattery, Stockard. You’re the next big thing around
here. What do you want? I’m not changing my meeting time.”
    Sympathy was wasted here. Deke leaned on the
concrete tabletop. “I’ve been living in Endeavour ’s
fuselage, Skip. There’s got to be more worn insulation than what we
found in there.”
    “Nope, we got it all. There isn’t any more.”
Skip crunched an empty bag of chips and shoved the remainder of a
baloney sandwich into a paper bag. “You’re searching for phantom
problems.”
    “I’ve looked at Columbia , too,” Deke
continued. “I saw evidence of electrical arcing between exposed
wires and one metal screw head that’d seen about twenty-two
missions. What if one of the backups had failed? That second
computer was the only thing that saved that ship.”
    Skip shook his head. “It wouldn’t have
exploded.”
    “But they could have had to land manually,
dead stick, without a computer,” Deke insisted. “Which could be
just as dangerous.”
    “We can’t do anymore wire harness
inspections. The space station equipment is nearly packed.” Skip
winced as he stood up to drop his trash into a nearby container.
“You just worry about your own mission on Atlantis in
May.”
    Deke watched Skip fight his arthritis as he
tried to straighten his back. Maybe it’s time to pack it in,
Pops, and let the young blood do your job.
    Standing, he picked up the book Skip had left
on the table. “I know you don’t want an astronaut anywhere near
your domain, but let me just fill you in on a secret. You’ll get
sick of me when Atlantis is in the sling.” Deke smiled to
cover the edge in his voice. “I’m a real bastard when I have to fly
the damn thing.”
    “You’re a real bastard when you don’t.” The
strained smile didn’t soften the insult. Maybe Skip’s renowned
jealousy of astronauts wasn’t just NASA folklore. Maybe he really
did resent the fact that he never got to go up.
    But that didn’t explain his vague answers or
the holes Deke kept seeing in what logs he could find. Someone was
screwing around with the whole inspection process, but he couldn’t
believe Skip would do that deliberately. Especially since he had to
know a little about the drama unfolding on the space station.
    “Since I can’t be there today, Skip, why
don’t you forward me the latest logs?”
    “Just get what’s in the system. It’s all
there.”
    Deke remembered the frustration he’d
experienced earlier in the day when he’d attempted to do just that.
“I tried. Couldn’t get in.”
    “Really?” Skip looked surprised. “Somebody
must have deleted your password.”
    “Imagine that,” Deke said dryly.
    Skip nudged Deke with