No one in the control center moved or said a word.

"He went crazy and killed himself," Doug said, his voice still hollow with shock.

"He was trying to blow one of the hatches," Joanna said.

"And fragged himself instead," Anson added.

Doug shook his head. "I don't know if he meant to, but he committed suicide."

"That tall guy did a gutsy thing," Gordette said, "dragging him out of the garage like that."

"But I never meant for anybody to get killed," Doug said.

"It's not your fault," said Joanna firmly. "The idiot went berserk."

"He was trying to kill us," Brudnoy pointed out.

"But I never meant for anybody to get killed," Doug repeated.

The Norwegian lieutenant assumed command of the mission and sent a radio report Earthside.

"What happens now?" Edith asked him.

"We wait for orders from Peacekeeper headquarters," said the Norwegian, his voice low but even.

"I didn't get your name," Edith said.

His spacesuited shoulders moved slightly in what might have been an attempt at a shrug. "What difference does that make?"

TOUCHDOWN PLUS 1 HOUR 24 MINUTES

"Mexican standoff," Jinny Anson said. "They're not coming in, but they're not going away, either."

"We can sit tight inside the base longer than they can stay out on the crater floor," said Brudnoy, the slightest hint of optimism in his low voice.

"This won't do us any good," Joanna said. "We've got to get them to leave, go back to Earth."

Still sitting on the wheeled chair, Doug turned it around to face them.

"They're waiting for instructions from Earthside," he said. "This might take some time."

"How much oxygen can they be carrying with them?" Anson wondered.

Doug said, "They've suffered a casualty. That changes everything. We've got to give them an honorable way out, something that they can take back Earthside with them to show that their mission hasn't been a complete failure."

"Why bother?" Joanna scoffed.

"Because otherwise, even if this troop leaves, Faure will just send another force, bigger and better prepared. Or maybe he'll drop a few missiles on the solar farm, just to get our attention."

"They'll be out for blood next time.' Gordette agreed.

"Like they weren't this time?" Anson shot back.

"What do you suggest, Doug?" Kris Cardenas asked.

Doug took a deep breath. He had been thinking about this for more than four days now. The first part of his plan had been accomplished: the Peacekeeper troops had been kept out of Moonbase. But it had cost the life of their captain. That raised the risks for all of them.

"When I read about the Cuban Missile Crisis of Nineteen sixty-two, I saw that the American president was willing to make some concessions, as long as he achieved his major objective, getting the Soviet missiles out of Cuba."

"Ancient history!" Anson complained. "What's that got to do with anything?"

Doug looked up at her and refrained from quoting Santayana. He saw that Brudnoy understood.