“Maybe so.” It was hard for her to remember the reverence she’d brought there for those guys. But it was remarkable what a deep change of attitude could be induced by a couple of months of being snubbed by a person. “All they talk about is flying,” she said, peevish. “And goose hunting, and racing their Corvettes in from their cute little houses in El Lago.”

“Well, how do you expect them to behave? Those guys are basically test pilots.”

“But I’m not going to be taught how to fly! Anyway, it’s more than that. Even the science activities we want to do are frowned on.”

“By Chuck Jones, too?”

“By Jones especially. Like, do you know Bob Gold, in my group?”

“Sure.”

“Bob wanted a leave-of-absence faculty appointment at the University of Texas, to start next year. Ben, when we were inducted we were all promised the chance of appointments like that — back at our home universities, keeping our careers alive. Well, Jones wouldn’t do it. He said he needed Bob here! For what, for Christ’s sake? To make up the numbers in the Crew Compartment Fit and Function tests? Ben, for some of this work all they need is a warm body. You don’t even have to be conscious Anyhow, now Bob is thinking of quitting.”

“Then let him.” That restlessness she’d perceived in him seemed to be getting closer to the surface. “Look, I hear what you say. But you’ve got to work this out for yourself, Natalie—”

York wasn’t done yet. “And there’s more. Maybe you’re sitting in the office trying to catch up with your reading. Then some grinning asshole walks in and says, ‘Hey, Natalie, there’s a meeting over in Building 4 on EVA overshoes, or S-band antenna mounts, or some other damn thing, that I think you ought to attend.’ So what do you do?”

“You attend,” said Priest firmly. He set his beer can on the bedside table with a kind of finality. “Listen to me, now, Natalie, for once in your life. You need to come to a decision. All this damn griping… If you want to go back to academic life, back to your old work, then just pick up and go.”

“Plenty have.”

“Sure. And plenty more will. But if you want to stick around, you have to play the game. By their rules, the Old Heads, or whatever you want to call them. Jack Schmitt was the most successful scientist-astronaut in the sixties. How come?”

“Because he was the best geologist?”