Brudnoy ambled into the living room and sat on one of the little Sheraton sofas. "Are you sure we'll get to Savannah?"

Joanna looked up from her computer. "What do you mean?"

"We're being carried Earthside on a military transport. It will land at the Peacekeeper base in Corsica. Has it occurred to you that we might be held there, incommunicado?"

"Incom- what makes you think Faure would do that?"

Brudnoy shrugged. "It's easier to negotiate with someone when you have him in prison."

"Are you serious?"

"Very."

"Lev, I'm not some nobody that Faure can hide from public view. I'm Joanna Brudnoy! There'd be an uproar if he tried anything like that."

"Maybe. Maybe I'm just a worried old man. But," Brudnoy ticked off on his fingers, "One: Faure has controlled the news media very effectively. Two: As far as everyone Earthside is concerned, you are at Moonbase. Faure isn't telling anyone that you're returning with the Peacekeepers. Three: You would make a very good hostage."

"I'm sending word to Savannah right now," Joanna said. "The board of directors will know that I'm coming back with the Peacekeepers."

"Can you trust Rashid to inform the board?"

Joanna stared at her husband for a long, silent moment. Then she nodded. "I don't think he'd have the guts to keep this information from the board, but just in case, I'll send the word to each individual board member."

"Good," said Brudnoy.

"And the news media, too."

Brudnoy gave her a sad smile. "Don't expect a brass band when we arrive in Corsica. Or reporters, either."

"You really are a reporter for Global News," Doug said, feeling foolish even as the words left his lips.

"I really am," said Edith Elgin, sitting in front of his desk.

She was back in the coveralls that the Peacekeepers had given her: sky blue with white trim. The color showed off her thick blonde hair very nicely, Doug thought. Her eyes were her best feature: big, lustrous, emerald-green eyes. Startling eyes. Eyes that made you want to believe whatever she told you. Long legs. She must be almost as tall as I am.

Edith was studying Doug, too. She saw an earnest-looking six-footer in his mid-twenties (which she knew from checking his bio before coming to the Moon). Olive skin, nice smile, dark hair, gray-blue eyes. Broad shoulders. His coveralls were a couple of shades darker than her own.

"I'm glad you decided to come into Moonbase," Doug said, "although your presence here is a little awkward for us."

"Awkward?"

He made a gesture with both hands. "You don't have any clothes except what you're wearing. And I'm not quite certain what to do with you, now that you're here."

"Do with me? I want to interview you and the others here. I want to beam your story back to the news media on Earth."

"The media haven't paid any attention to us," Doug said. "They even ignored our declaration of independence."

"Declaration…? You've declared independence?"