"I'm not the head of the base anymore," Doug answered lightly. "And around Moonbase, everybody pitches in and does what needs doing."

"I thought you were Moonbase's director," Edith said, her grin replaced by a puzzled frown.

"I was, but I gave it up for the duration of this crisis."

"Then what's your title? How do I identify you for your interview?"

Doug lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "Damned if I know. Titles don't mean all that much around here."

"Call him the chief administrator of Moonbase," Joanna said, leaning forward slightly in her seat.

"Generalissimo," Brudnoy joked.

Edith was serious. "Chief administrator. That sounds good. And who's the director of the base? Or is there one now?"

"Jinny Anson," Doug said. "You'll want to interview her, too."

"And my wife's title is ambassador plenipotentiary," Brudnoy said, "while my own title is luggage handler."

Edith fingered the minicam in her lap. "I want to squeeze in an interview with you before you take off, Mrs Brudnoy."

"It'll have to be a quick one," Doug said, glancing at his wristwatch. "Liftoff's scheduled for twenty-six minutes from now."

With a laugh, Edith said, "Twenty-six minutes is an eternity in video news, Doug."

But she got down to business immediately and began questioning Joanna about what she hoped to accomplish in negotiations with Faure.

"It's very simple," Joanna said. "I'm going to New York to get the U.N. to recognize Moonbase's independence."

"And if they refuse to recognize it?" Edith prompted.

Joanna shook her head. "We are independent. Physically, we are self-sustaining. All we're asking is for the United Nations to recognize reality."

"And if they don't?"

For a heartbeat, Joanna did not reply. Then she said, "Then we'll have to prove to Faure and the rest of the U.N. that we won't be intimidated."

"Do you think the U.N. will send more Peacekeeper troops to try to take over Moonbase?"

"I hope it doesn't come to that," Joanna said.

"But it will," Doug added, realizing the truth of it as he spoke the words. "We've won the opening skirmish, but this war won't be over for a long time."

TOUCHDOWN PLUS 12 HOURS 52 MINUTES

Jack Killifer stood in the open hatch to the cockpit, trying not to sound as if he were pleading with the two pilots.

"You gotta let me ride up here with you," he said. "On the jumpseat."

The copilot's eyes were fixed on the control panel's gauges. He and the command pilot had lifted the Clippership from its landing spot on the regolith to one of Moonbase's rocket port pads, where the spacecraft was being refueled for the flight back to Earth.

The command pilot looked up at Killifer. "We're not supposed to take passengers up here. We got work to do."

Killifer wheedled, "Come on, guys. You're making a high-energy burn, aren't you? Friggin' flight's only gonna take nineteen hours, right?"