‘You mean General Esterhazy and Mr Stewart.’

‘If that’s who they were.’

‘That’s who they were.’ The doctor watched Dreyfuss sip more water. ‘Throat sore?’

‘A little,’ said Dreyfuss. ‘Listen, I meant what I said back there. When can I get up?’

‘Just hang on in there.’ A pencil-fine beam of light shone into Dreyfuss’ left eye, then his right. ‘What do you remember about the accident, Major?’

‘What accident?’ Dreyfuss smiled at the doctor’s look of alarm. ‘Only joking,’ he said. ‘I remember a ball of flame; it really did look like a ball, too. I felt like I could have given it a kick. I didn’t, though. It kicked me instead. Then I suppose I must have passed out.’

‘And where were you when this happened?’

‘On the shuttle, of course. The shuttle was called Argos, and we were coming in to land, and there were six of us.’

‘And what had the shuttle been doing?’

Dreyfuss made a show of trying to think.

‘Major?’

‘I … don’t seem to remember that,’ he lied, though why his instincts told him to conceal his returning memory was a mystery.

‘Well, don’t worry about it.’ Dreyfuss caught Nurse Carraway staring at him fixedly. But when his eyes met hers, she slapped a smile onto her face again. ‘Do you remember the names of the other crew members?’ the doctor was asking.

‘Let’s see.’ Dreyfuss tried to look as though he was thinking hard. He wondered why Nurse Carraway was so intent on his answer. ‘Heinemann,’ he said at last, ‘Adams, Marshall, O’Grady, Wilson.’

‘Good, Major Dreyfuss. Now think back.’ The doctor began to check his pulse. Dreyfuss had the idea that this was less even than a routine check; that it was a cover under which the doctor could ask his questions. Without knowing exactly why, he had the feeling that there was a good reason why he shouldn’t tell him everything he knew. ‘What,’ the doctor was saying, ‘is the next thing back that you remember before the fire?’

This was perfect: they expected – wanted – him to have amnesia.

‘Major?’

‘Well …’ Dreyfuss started, licking his lips. He stared at the lavender walls, at a concerned Nurse Carraway, at anything that might appear to be jogging his memory. ‘I remember taking off, the whole thing with ground control, with Cam Devereux – he was my contact on the ground. Everything was going according to schedule. But … I’m not sure why we were up there in the first place. No, wait, we were launching a satellite, right?’

The doctor smiled.

‘That’s right, Major. Launching one of our communications satellites. Don’t worry.’ He patted Dreyfuss’ shoulder. ‘It’ll come back to you in time. This sort of thing is quite usual in cases of trauma. And you took a few nasty bumps when you landed.’

‘Nothing serious, though?’

‘No, nothing serious. You just need to rest. Does your head hurt?’