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been made primarily of materials mined on the moon and transported to the libration points. Al had been
on Descartes before, spending a day or two adjusting to its three-fourths of Earth gravity before returning
home.
Al had not been fooled by Ahmed's comments about settling down with Jane. Both Ahmed and Jane had
put in their applications for the interstellar flight. Ahmed too had watched the orbiting ship with longing
and Al was sure that, given the choice, his friend would not settle for an English estate.
Ahmed, although primarily an engineer, also had a lively interest in astrophysics. He had accompanied Al
and other astrophysicists to Lagrange to participate in a series of seminars and discussions, the first of
which had been held the day before. Since two of the most well-known people in the field, Herbert
Mallory and Irina Rostova, were living in Lagrange and could not travel without difficulty because of their
physical ailments, the gathering was being held here. Al supposed that the meetings could have been held
over a holovision link-up, but the change of scenery would probably be beneficial to the lunar scientists.
He thought of Rostova, whom he had met at the first meeting. Even with her parchmentlike skin, crippled
arthritic limbs, and clouded eyes, she was able to make everyone in the room almost tongue-tied. Her.
dark eyes, however clouded, would burn when she made a point or attacked an erroneous assumption.
The woman must be , he had thought,at least one hundred .
Mallory, in contrast, had been meek, almost obsequious. Dmitri Grol, who had met both people before,
had told Al what to expect. "Mallory," he had said, "is a wild speculator without a brain in his head who
is unfortunately correct much of the time. Rostova hasn't an idea to speak of, but she'll get rid of a lot of
deadwood in everyone's thinking, as you say, cut through the crap." The two old scientists had decided
to live together when they came to Lagrange. Although Rostova had been as hard on Mallory as on
anyone else at the first meeting, Al had noticed that she tempered her criticisms of the old man with a
gentle hand on his arm, which Mallory would reward with an adoring smile. The unlikely pair seemed to
get along and, in spite of their "retirement," were still contributing papers to the field. Al imagined that the
two were still intellectually active because neither of them, with their particular approaches to
astrophysics, felt the need to defend old theories or to rest on past achievements. The anti-aging serum,
unable to heal their bodies, had at least arrested their aging somewhat and kept their minds clear. They
had, unaccountably to Al, refused any other therapy. "They're from another age," Dmitri had said. "They
believe, I think, that it's time for them to die."
He and Ahmed entered the lounge, a brightly lit, pale green room with round clear plastic tables and
inflatable chairs in dark green and blue. Several sturdy individuals in tight overalls, probably workers
helping to build a new cylindrical colony, Pascal, next to Lagrange, were enjoying a liquid lunch at the
bar.
Simone and Jane were at the other end of the room, seated next to a window panel. The window
overlooked a curving, concave landscape of forests and planted fields. The colony was run by solar
power; a large, aluminum mirror outside Lagrange captured the solar energy. Parabolic mirrors at both
ends of the cylinder provided sunlight for the fields outside and could be closed during the "night." The
colony, with its fields and small lakes created by combining liquid hydrogen from Earth with oxygen from
lunar oxides, would soon be self-sufficient.
Simone smiled at Al as he seated himself next to her. "You look tired," he said.
"I am tired. Jane and I have been lifting weights. I shall awaken during our discussions this evening, of that
I am sure. The voice of Irina Rostova will be a splash of cold water."
Ahmed was whispering something in Jane's ear. The English woman bobbed slightly in her chair as she
laughed. "You are wicked, Ahmed," She said. Jane Gardiner was a pale, slender young woman with gray
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