“Yo, Jane, line three.”

 “Keep your pants on, Butch.”  Jane Hyde finished another sentence and grabbed for the phone, tucking it between her cheek and shoulder.  “Shoot, it’s your dime.”

 For a moment there was silence, then a woman’s voice came over the line.  “Ms. Hyde?”

 “That’s me.  Is this Amazing Grace?  I’ve got the release form right here.  I can drop it off at eight at the club where we met last night.”  Jane corrected another typo while she waited for a response.

 “No, I’m not Grace.  My name is Ruth and I believe you expressed an interest in coming up to Moon Base.”

 “Yeah right, and I’m the Mayor of Boston.  Is this you, Feinstein?  You move in on my hookers and I’ll make sure you get picked up for real.”  She snarled under her breath and retyped the last line for the fourth time.

 “Janey?  It’s Peter.”

 She stopped breathing and typing at the same moment.  No one could mistake that voice.  That warm, deep voice that had haunted her dreams for years until she stopped dreaming and got on with her life.

 “Peter.”  Well, at least she hadn’t gone mute.

 “Yep, I’m like a bad penny that keeps showing up.  How are you, Janey?”

 “Fine.”  She said automatically.  “Are you really on the Moon, Peter?”

 “I sure am.  We got your application for an interview and I talked Ruth into accepting it.  If you still want to, that is.”

 She’d never thought so quickly in her life.  This was the chance of a lifetime and she wasn’t about to screw it up.  “Peter, I’m putting you on hold and heading for my editor’s office.  Can you wait for two minutes?”

 “Sure, honey, no problem.”  He chuckled and she closed her eyes at the memories that brought back.

 “I’ll be right back.”  She hit hold and sat for a moment, shaking in her chair.  After all this time, she obviously still felt something for the man she’d dated right after college.  Taking a deep breath, she made a mental list of what had to be done and pushed back her desk chair.  Heading for the senior editor’s office, she didn’t wait for the great man’s secretary to announce her but just barged right in.

 “What the . . .” David Elliot looked up from a script and frowned.

 “You’re going to want to hear this, Sir.  Put line three on speaker.  Please.”

 Narrowing the piercing blue eyes under shaggy eyebrows that he’d made into his trademark on prime time news, he pushed speaker and then hit the lighted button.  “This is David Elliot.  To whom am I speaking?”

 “Sir, I’m Major Peter Hamilton on Moon Base.  We would like to have your reporter Janey Hyde come to the Moon and do a series of articles on our new settlement.”

 He looked at Jane and she nodded.  “Peter, you’re on speaker.  Is Ruth still there?”

 That rich voice came through the speaker with a laugh.  “Yes, Jane, I’m still here.”

 Even though she couldn’t be seen, Jane blushed.  “Sorry about the hooker thing earlier.”

 “No problem.  The question is are you free to come to Moon Base?”

 “Yes, she is.”  The editor said quickly.  “We’d also need to send a camera crew and another reporter along.”

 “The camera crew is fine but why another reporter?  Do you not trust your own reporter?”

 “With a story this big, I wouldn’t trust me to get everything.  It’s not a reflection on Jane.  Actually, I was thinking that I might tag along.”  Jane snickered at the look of absolute want on her editor’s face.

 “Well, I think that would be fine.  There are some ground rules though, David.  You’ll want to think carefully before you accept our offer.”

 “And they are?”

 “Some of our citizens may not want to be interviewed and I must have your word that if they say ‘no’ then you will cease and desist.”

 “Doable.  What else?”

 “Some of our technology is experimental and there will be places on the base that you will not be allowed.  We’re also actively mining at the moment and some parts will not be safe for cameras or crew.”

 “All right.  Anything else?”

 “Your camera crew will need to bring their own batteries because our electrical current is DC.  Unless they have cameras and microphones that run on direct current, then they could plug them in to recharge.”

 “Again, I don’t see a problem.”  David spoke while writing down notes.

 “Have you questions for us?”  The voice held a chuckle.

 “How long can we stay?”  Jane asked.

 “As long as you need to.  We have the facilities to broadcast from here so you can edit as you go.  Anything else?”

  Jane shrugged her shoulders and David shook his head before speaking.  “When do you want us?”

 “When can you be ready?”

 “It’s Wednesday afternoon,” David flipped the pages of his desk calendar.  “How about Friday morning?”

 “Done.  Come to the Air National Guard Base at 0600.  Bring ID and they’ll let you through.  I’ll call again tomorrow to see if you have any questions.  Is there a direct line to you, David?”

 Jane sat back and took a deep breath while her editor finalized the call.  She was going to the moon . . . in two days . . . where Peter was.  She couldn’t decide how she felt about that.

 “Well, Janey.”  Her editor exaggerated her name.  “What kind of history do you have with this guy?  And why didn’t I know about it before he called?”

 “I put in a request for an interview on their web site, along with about every reporter in the known world.  Would you buy luck of the draw?”  She pasted on a fake smile.

 He snorted.  “No.  Janey.”

 She grimaced.  “Okay, enough with the nickname.  We grew up together.  His brother Sam and I were born within a month of each other.  Peter is two years older.  We tagged after him all the time.  Drove him nuts.”  She smiled faintly at the memories of sunny days playing cowboys and Indians through the back yards down by the creek.  “Then we all grew up and went our separate ways.”

 “Anything else you’d like to share, Jane?”  His voice was gentle and his gaze kind.

 “Aside from being engaged to him for a year, I can’t think of anything.”  She took a deep breath and quelled the flash of longing.  “Nothing that will get in the way of the story.  I can promise you that.”

 “Okay.  Fair enough.  I’ll need to let the station manager know and clear it with the owners.  I’m thinking of taking Arnie and his men for the camera crew.  Any objections?”  He waited a moment and when she shook her head, nodded decisively.  “Then finish up what you’re working on.  See me tomorrow afternoon, same time, same place.”

 She nodded and left for her desk.  Sitting down heavily, she looked at herself in her computer monitor.  There was the same old reflection of curly black hair, pert nose, green eyes and high cheekbones that she saw every morning in the bathroom mirror.  But the woman who wore them so confidently still had some of that twenty-three year old pain buried deep inside of her.  Ten years was as nothing when she remembered handing back his ring and telling him that she wouldn’t take second place to his flying.

 It had been the right decision but sometimes the what-might-have-been came back to haunt her.  Jan shook her head and went doggedly back to her story about the Fifth Street prostitutes that she’d been interviewing for the past ten days.  These human-interest stories were her slice of the TV reporting pie and she was good at them.  With a supreme effort of will, she put the ultimate story on hold in her brain and finished up the hookers.

********************

 The van drove up to the security gate armed with soldiers with guns.  They all had photo ID’s on and the guards went through the entire van and all their bags with a fine tooth comb.  When David asked why, they just smiled and quoted the regulations.  Jan exchanged a long look with her editor.  It looked like there might be more than one story here.

 They had an escort down to the hangars and more security as they boarded.  The Marines were tight-lipped but pleasant.  One of them even mentioned how much he’d enjoyed her series on immigrant workers.  Jane wondered what they would say if they could speak freely.  It was a little game she played with herself, a game of twenty questions.  The exercise sometimes gave her just the right query that cracked her source open.

 But she couldn’t distract herself from the take-off and the pressure that pressed her into the seat for a few moments.  Then it was gone and she turned her head to watch the sky slowly turn black.  I’m in outer space, in a space ship crewed by eight foot tall aliens.  Purple aliens.  This story has Pulitzer Prize all over it.  Smiling, she settled back and watched the Marines lounging on the makeshift seats.

 Taking a good look at the seat she was sitting in, she realized that they were from an Earth airplane.  Even better, they were from first class.

 “Beats the hell out of a domestic flight.”  David smiled at her before giving low voiced instructions to their cameraman.  Raising his voice, he addressed the Marine nearest him.  “Is it all right to film the interior of this ship?”

 “Sure, no problem.  Ardol, our pilot, loves being photographed.”  He grinned.

 “Excellent.”  David released himself and stood up.  “The ship has gravity.”

 “Yeah.  It can be turned off if you want but it might be better if you’re going to be filming to leave it alone.”

 David agreed fervently and Jane hid her smile.  The next hour passed pleasantly enough while they explored the ship, heard a safety briefing and asked questions of the Marines and their pilot.  She quickly grew used to the hissing syllables and her notes reflected the unexpected sense of humor of the alien flyer.  She didn’t know why she was surprised.  It was a little lowering to admit to herself that she’d expected them to be more ‘alien’, not less.

Wrinkling her nose, she made a mental note to work on that prejudice.  But before she could ask further questions, they were told to strap back in and prepare for landing.  She could feel her palms sweat and couldn’t decide if it was because of their destination or the people.

Peter, the treacherous little voice inside her mind said.

 Be quiet.  He’s just an old friend, she reminded herself.

 Old lover, the little voice said.

 I’m not listening, she chanted to the interfering voice.  I’m here to do a job that I’m good at.  Interview the new inhabitants of the Moon and get a good story.  That’s it.  And mentally, she went over the list that she and David had created the previous afternoon.  What to ask, who to talk to, how to approach people.  They hadn’t known how much time they might have at the Base so they wanted to optimize their stay.

  While waiting in the air lock for the inner door to release, she could hardly quell the flutter in her stomach.  When the hatch slowly opened, the first person she saw was her old playmate, Sam.

 “Janey!”  He grinned and hugged her tightly.  “Oh, it’s so good to see you again.  What’s it been, two or three years?”

 “As you well know, it was the big 3-0 party that Liz threw for me.”  She hugged him back and remembered how she’d been afraid the broken engagement would alienate her from the rest of the family.  But not from Sam, never from her first friend.  “It is so good to see you.  I’ve got lots of questions.”

 He laughed out loud and left his arm around her shoulder before turning them both to the others who were waiting.  “That will never change, my friend.  Thank goodness.  Let me introduce you to Ruth.”

 “Jane Hyde.  Don’t pay any attention to what this character has told you about me.”  She held out her hand and accepted a firm handshake from the no-nonsense woman before her.  The pictures hadn’t done Ruth justice, she decided.  The scarring had healed to the point that it resembled an exotic tattoo pattern over her face and down her throat.  The eye patch was a little disconcerting but then, so was the silver eye that studied her in return.

 “Welcome to our home.  Why don’t we get started in the command center with your safety briefing?”  She gestured down the long curving hall and fell into step with David.  “I know you had one on Earth but the one thing we can not stress enough is safety.  This is an alien environment with no air but what we can produce.”

 “We realize that and I promise that we’ll observe all the rules.  Our story’s no good to us if we’re not alive to tell it.”  David looked down into the face by his side and Jane watched the little quirk come and go on the still lips.

 “How have you been, Janey?  Sometimes it feels like we’ve been cut off here for years instead of just six weeks.”  Sam gazed down at her and she returned his look.

 “I’m doing what I always told you I would be doing when I grew up.  Writing, trying to make living conditions a little better for those who can’t help themselves, you know.  All those dreams I used to spin for you in our tree house.  And how about you?  How did you wind up being a doctor on the Moon?”  She turned the question back to him.

 “It’s a long story.  Sure there isn’t something else you want to ask first?”  Those blue eyes looked into her heart the way they had done for so many years.

 “Is he all right?  Flying, I expect.”

 “He’s in seventh heaven.  We’ve converted the first two ships for humans and so far, he’s gotten as far as Mars before coming back home.”

 “Home?  Do you really think of this place as home?”

 “Oh, yes.”  His eyes went to someone in the room they were entering.  “Home is where the heart is and for the moment, that’s right here.  Let me introduce you to some of the others.  Marag, here’s the woman I first told my desire to be a doctor to.”

 “Welcome, Jane.  Sam has been so excited about you coming.”

 Jane shook hands and thought that she’d never seen a more beautiful woman in her life.  Tall, shapely and well-endowed, Marag made her feel like a shrimp.  “Well, I’m here and very glad to meet you.  The nicest thing about this settlement is the fact that families instead of soldiers are the ones settling in.”

 “Yes, Ruth feels very strongly that the future belongs to the children of Earth.  Peace instead of war, love instead of hate.  Hopefully, we can grow towards that ideal.”  She smiled and went to welcome the camera crew.

 Sam was steering her to a small knot of people and she wondered at the mix of ages.  One was obviously the Commander wearing a full Marine uniform and towering over Ruth.  The other was a short rather frail looking man who stood at Ruth’s shoulder.  The two men couldn’t be more opposite and yet . . . something told her that they shared more than they differed.  Intrigued, she promised herself a talk with both of them.

 “Colonel Griffin, this is Janey Hyde, my best friend while I was growing up.”

 Green eyes met hers and his smile was wide and genuine.  Holding out his hand, he shook hers with the firm grip that she was coming to expect from this crew.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Jane.  Please call me Seth.  We’re not as bound up here by the military protocol as we were on Earth.”

 “I’m looking forward to our interview, Seth.”  Jane allowed herself to acknowledge the sex appeal of this formidable man with a slight lowering of her voice.

 Sam twitched at her side and she caught a look between the two of them that intrigued her.  There were all kinds of cross currents here that she was really looking forward to untangling.  Sam introduced her next to the elderly man who was never far from Ruth’s side.  His faded blue eyes were kind and she felt instantly comfortable with him.

 For the next hour, she met more people than she’d met in a month on Earth.  Lunch in the dining hall was noisy but fun while she watched the children serve their elders with painstaking care.  The four year old girl who brought her more tea was a little doll and her smile grew a mile wide when she brought more cookies for the entire table but especially for Sam seated next to her.

 He teased her before sharing a cookie with her, alternating bites until it was all gone.  Jane watched with tender eyes while her friend hugged the little sprite.  She’d always thought he would make a good father and not for the first time, she wondered why she hadn’t fallen in love with him.  But she just grinned and shook her head.  ‘Friends first, last and always’ that was what they’d promised the summer they were ten.

 And it was still true today.

After lunch, the crew split up with half of the cameras following her while the other half went with David.  She sat in on one of the classes and watched the children get involved with a science experiment on the effect of radiation on plants.  She learned as much as they did and followed Dr. Reinbeau back to the laboratory where the real experiments were going on.

Most of what he was saying went right over her head but he had a knack at translating the terms to colloquial English that would show up great on the small screen.  When they were finished in the lab, they went next door to Sam’s sickbay and were lucky to catch a patient just being treated for a nasty burn.  After getting his permission, they took a few shots of Sam and the patient plus a commentary on the mining hazards that went along with working in an oxygen rich environment.

 Sam finished wrapping the gauze bandage around his patient’s arm and Jane sent the camera crew ahead to their next scheduled stop while she took down the vital statistics of the man who’d be on the news tonight.  Jim Horn was an Apache and proud of his heritage.

 Just as she was getting ready to follow her crew, Ruth walked into the room and came straight to the diagnostic bed and the suddenly sheepish patient.  “What happened?”

 Sam and Jim told the story in alternating voices while she held Jim’s bandaged arm with both hands.  Jane could tell that more was going on in the room under the cover of their words, she just couldn’t tell what it was.  Ruth shook her head and spoke so softly that Jane couldn’t hear her.  Jim nodded and hopped down off the bed, giving Jane a cheerful smile on his way out.

 But she was concentrating on Sam and the small woman he’d taken into a bear hug.  His words didn’t make any sense but she filed them away for further study.  “If I have to I’ll tell Grandmother Penelope on you.  Trust me, you don’t want me to do that.”

 “Oh, my god, is she up here too?”  Jane said with a gasp.

 Sam’s eyes twinkled over Ruth’s head.  “She came up Christmas day and has been terrorizing us all ever since.”

 Ruth released herself from Sam’s arms with the little quirk of lips that passed for her smile.  “It’s not nice to talk about your grandmother like that.  I may have to have a little talk with her myself.”

 He cowered back as if terrified.  “Oh, please, not the Inquisition.”

 Jane laughed out loud at the reminder of the summer they’d memorized whole skits of Monty Python shtick.  The Spanish Inquisition had been one of their favorites.  Ruth chuckled and came to her side.  “Come along, Jane.  We’ll leave the comedian to his reports.”

 “Oh sure, rub it in about the paperwork.  See you at dinner, Janey . . . I mean Jane.”

 Jane chuckled again and followed Ruth from the room.  “Was that your first accident?”

 “No, we’ve had our share of muscle strains and the occasional burn.  Thankfully, that’s it so far.  I’d like to think that we could be accident free but that’s not very realistic, is it?”  Her gaze was mesmerizing and Jane found herself blinking.  “Would you like to share a cup of tea with me?”

 There was something about this woman that drew her like a magnet, charisma or perhaps just that feeling of déjà vu, as if they’d met before.  She nodded and Ruth turned them down a corridor that hadn’t been on the original tour.  When they entered the suite of rooms, Joe was just placing a teapot and cups on the round table that nestled into an alcove.

 “There you are, mi’lady, fresh and hot.  I’ll be seeing you later at dinner, Miss Hyde.  Enjoy your tea.”  He bowed his head to them and left quietly.

 “I’m sensing a story here, Ruth.”  Jane took a seat and watched her sit down across from her.

 Pouring out the fragrant golden tea into the two glass cups, Ruth nodded.  “His story is interesting and one that shows the strength of a belief in powers greater than ourselves.  He tells it well so some time during your stay, you must approach him.”

 “I’ll make a note of it.”  Jane cradled the cup in her cool hands.  “What was it that you wanted to talk about, Ruth?”

 That little smile was back.  “Sam was right, you are sharp as a tack.  Will meeting Peter again be awkward?”

 Jane flinched and took a hasty sip of hot tea almost burning her mouth.  “Um, I don’t know.  When I first heard his voice on the phone, it was like the last ten years didn’t exist and I was that hurt 23 year old who’d just broken her engagement.  I thought I’d dealt with the emotions but they popped right back up.”

 Ruth nodded and waited for her to continue.  Jane wasn’t sure what else to say.

 “I know the feeling, Jane.  When I was young, I was in love with the most wonderful man in the world.  We were engaged but we had time for me to finish college and do some traveling before we settled down.  All the dreams that young lovers dream were ours.  When he was killed in an accident, I thought I’d die from the pain.  But years went by and I healed, opened my heart again and got on with my life.  But to this day, I’ll hear a voice or see a blond profile and that bitter-sweet pain rises up as if it were yesterday.”

 Jane was nodding and blinking back tears at the same time.  “That’s it, exactly.  It may be awkward at first but we’re not the same people we were then and we’ll have to find our way to a new . . . understanding of each other.”

 “And who knows, you may find that you have grown up and can have an even better relationship than your younger selves had.  Time has a way of leading us to the people we need in our lives.”  She took another sip.  “Just like this community which has grown with so many diverse people drawn to our promise.”

 “Was it planned or did people just . . . show up when you needed them?”  Jane blew her nose and stuffed the Kleenex back in her pocket.

 “Very good, Jane.  That’s exactly what happened.  The people we need are drawn to us and somehow get through the barriers we’ve raised to keep out those who don’t see our dream.”

 “I’ve heard about the dreams.  Past lives drawing your settlers to you from near and far.”  Jane wished she could pull out her notebook but this talk seemed too personal to write down.

 But before Ruth could answer her, a voice came over the speakers set into the ceiling.  “Ruth, they’re back.  Fifteen minutes until landing.”

 “Coming.”  She stood and beckoned Jane up.  “Well, it’s time to meet your past, Jane.  Peter’s flight is just back from the Asteroid Belt.  Are you ready?”

 Jane took a deep breath and nodded.  “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

**********************
End of chapter 26