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across from his old mentor. In their first assignment together, Roth had been Luke’s instructor pilot.
    “Thanks, Luke. But nobody calls me colonel anymore, and frankly, I prefer it that way.”
    “So what do they call you? Professor? Doctor Higgins?”
    “The students feel obligated to use Doctor . But why don’t you and I stick with Roth? So what brings you here? Just passing through or did you get hit by a wave of nostalgia? I wouldn’t have thought that of you.”
    Luke shrugged as if uncertain how to start. Might as well plunge right in. “Frankly, it’s a job opportunity.”
    “Oh? Okay.” Roth nodded. “You need a recommendation or something? That’s not a problem.”
    Luke smiled at the misconception. “No, but I appreciate the thought. I meant this is an opportunity for you . It’s science oriented. I guess you could say it involves space science. I’d like to show it to you today, if you have time.”
    Roth was surprised. “For me? No. Thanks anyway, Luke. I’m perfectly comfortable here. My schedule is accommodating and on weekends I’ve got a fishing boat I can take out to Lake Mead. I’m not interested in starting a new career.”
    “Understood. I figured that’s what you’d say. I felt exactly the same until recently. This gig was sort of pushed into my lap. Before this I was the airport director up in Baggs. You know Baggs?”
    “Couple of hours east of Reno, isn’t it? You drive down here to see me?”
    “That’s it. Small town. But I didn’t drive. I came down here in a Gulfstream 450. Helps take the sting out of travel.”
    Roth smiled and sat back in his chair. “You trying to suck me in? I’ve been in executive jets before.”
    Luke grinned and leaned forward, his elbows on Roth’s desk. “Yeah, I know. You used to fly around on those tiny Citations with some two-star. But not like this one. This is beyond first class. Come on. At least let me show off a little. I’ll have you back here tonight; I promise.”
    Roth chuckled. “You must have some fancy lab if you want me to see it that bad. You gotta understand, Luke; I’m not interested. I’ll come take a look for old time’s sake, but I’m telling you, nothing’s going to impress me that much.”

Day 61—Population 3
    Luke watched the emotions play across Roth’s face in the Moonbase One hangar. They had just gotten out of the shuttle and Luke knew from experience that Roth was still struggling to come to grips with everything he’d been told during the trip from Earth.
    Roth looked at his watch. “I guess I was wrong about not being impressed,” he whispered to himself. “Thirty-three minutes from takeoff. That’s around five hundred thousand miles per hour.” He gave Luke a quizzical glance. “So what do you have in mind? I haven’t said yes, though, by the way. But this…”
    Roth trailed off as Luke guided him through the food court toward the training room. A disheveled Annie met them coming the other way. She was pushing a huge stack of heavy furniture without apparent effort. Luke explained that sensors reversed the gravity under the pile of furnishings to slightly negative as Annie pushed it along and then changed it back to one gee once she passed.
    “Hi,” Annie greeted them cheerily. “Did he take your offer yet?”
    “Not yet. Roth, this is my colleague, Annie Daniels. She’s our finance director. We recruited her from Royal Deutsche Banque.”
    That wasn’t strictly true, he’d recruited Annie from a cheap diner in Baggs, but a formal version might be more palatable for someone like Roth. Not that she looked much like a financier in her current condition.
    “Please hurry and say yes, Professor. He won’t hire anyone else until you’re onboard. In the meantime, I’m doing all the grunt work.” She didn’t stop to chat further, just kept moving down the corridor.
    The two men watched her retreating figure for a moment and then stared at each other, unsure what to say.
    “Is