the decision for her.
'If you don't mind my asking, Dr. Aldridge, what is it that you've been hired to do?'
'Psychoanalysis,' she mumbled, her head hung low.
'Psychoanalysis of whom?'
His question caused Laura to think. Slowly, she looked up at Dr. Krantz. 'Actually, I'm not entirely sure.'
Laura had the car stop just outside the tunnel to Krantz's facility.
She got out into the darkness. The empty road was cut out of the hillside above a desolate island shore. She edged her way down the hill toward the dark ocean and sat on the exposed volcanic rock above the beach.
At other times, the steady rhythm of the ocean waves and the fragrant breeze off the water would have been Laura's idea of paradise.
But she was stricken with a crippling sadness, and they meant nothing to her now. She poked and prodded the dull pain she felt, trying self-abusively to assess its nature and cause. The feeling seemed to be wrapped tightly around Laura's false idol — around the sad child who had grown up to be Joseph Gray.
This was more than just a case of failed expectations, Laura realized. Gray was more to her in every way than anyone had ever been. The old Gray of her fantasy world held the promise of all the great things yet to come. She felt her loss of that Gray almost as grief, and she lay back against the rough stone and gazed up at the stars.
Time slipped by, measured only by the sound of the waves.
Laura knew she had to find Gray. To find him and tell him she was leaving. But she couldn't bring herself to budge from the spot.
The beach lit up in a blazing white light. For a moment she felt a rush of fear on seeing the chalky white illumination. But the cascading roar of the rocket's thunderous launch broke over her, and she turned to see the fantastic plume of flame ascend toward the heavens. Despite the considerable distance of her vantage, Laura's ears itched from the full-throated fury of the engines' noise.
Slowly, the fiery trail receded into the black sky as it arced [garbled] toward the equatorial horizon. Then all was quiet again.
Laura brushed off her jeans and headed up to the car. The time had come for her to do the right thing.
27
'He's gone,' the smiling woman said, slurring as she swilled champagne from a slender goblet. Everyone in the Launch Center was celebrating.
'I guess this means the launch was a success,' Laura said glumly.
'Picture-perfect,' the beaming woman replied. 'If you're looking for Mr. Gray, I'm sure the computer can find him.'
Laura headed out to the car.
Gray had said they would talk at dinner. She would resign then. Sitting inside the motionless Model Three, she formed the words in her head. They would be seated in Gray's palatial dining room — just the two of them. 'Mr. Gray,' she would say, 'I have major ethical problems with what you're doing here, and therefore…' or something like that.
'Computer, please take me to Mr. Gray.'
The electric car sprang to life, its speed rising in time with the motor's whine. It whisked Laura past the assembly building and the computer center and up the gentle rise toward the Village. It didn't head toward Gray's house, however, but turned instead toward the coastal road that ascended the mountain above the airport. The car finally emerged from the tunnel in the empty quarter, taking Laura along the same route as earlier that day.
The robotic car slowed as it climbed a hill. It pulled to a stop behind another Model Three that was parked squarely in the middle of the road. The door opened with its familiar [garbled] a tide of cool mountain air. Laura looked all around but could see no one. When she climbed out of her seat, the car just in front took off. Laura nervously watched her own car, but it remained motionless on the road where it had parked.
Suddenly, a bright light shone down on the road from above. 'I'm up here!' Gray called out, the light shining briefly in her eyes before falling to illuminate the steep slope. Laura recognized the place immediately. She had been there only hours before.
The climb up the bare rock would've been easy if it weren't for the burden of her purpose. At the top, Laura stepped into a puddle of light that flooded the small, flat ledge. A large electric lantern cast its beam downward onto a thick quilt that Gray had spread over the rock. Gray's profile was dimly visible just outside the tight circle of light.
'Have a seat,' he invited from the semidarkness.
Laura lowered herself to the soft quilt. The wind cut right through her light sweater and T-shirt, and she raised her knees and tucked her arms inside her legs for warmth.
'Here,' Gray said, unfolding a blanket and draping it over her shoulders.
Laura took a deep breath. 'Mr. Gray, I have something to say.'
The text was prepared, but still she found the words very difficult to speak.
'I would appreciate it if… if we could put that off just a little while,' he said, his voice sad and lifeless. It was as if he knew what she had come to say.
Laura complied with his request, postponing the formal end of her dreams for a few minutes longer.
'I know you have questions,' Gray said from the darkness beside her. 'You met with Dr. Krantz, I suppose?'
'Yes, I did.' She turned to look at his profile, annoyed that she couldn't quite see his face. His eyes. 'You said you were just making electricity with that reactor.'
'And that's true,' Gray replied. 'I bought the fissionable material on the black market in Russia.'
'Oh! My mistake. I thought for a moment you might've been up to something shady.' Laura heaved a loud sigh. His attempt at an explanation had made her task somewhat easier. 'Mr. Gray—'
'I thought you were going to call me Joseph.'
'I'd prefer Mr. Gray right now, if you don't mind.' He said nothing, his head bowed as he waited. 'Look, what you're doing here is wrong!'
'What is it that I'm doing that's wrong?' he asked quietly, as if he really didn't know the answer.
'You're building nuclear weapons, for God's sake!'
He looked up at the sky. She could see nothing, however, of the expression he wore. 'They're not weapons, Laura.'
'Right! They're devices, I forgot.' Laura heaved a sigh of frustration. 'Do you feel threatened by the establishment or something? What would possess you to build nuclear weapons?'
'You don't sound like you're ready to know the answer to that yet,' he replied.
The weak excuse rang hollow in her ears. But it didn't matter to her anymore.
'I quit,' she said simply. 'I can't work like this. I've got to leave.'
'But I need you,' he said, his voice low and urgent. In the darkness Laura shook her head and ground her teeth, determined not to be manipulated into staying.
'That's not good enough,' she said, shaking her head again. 'And neither is a million dollars, or two, or ten.'
'Why? What is it you absolutely must not have to stay and complete your work?'
'I've told you! I have to know! I have to know what you're doing, or I won't be a part of it.'
'Why do you have to know?'
She heaved a sigh of exasperation at the stupid question. 'Because! Because if what you're up to is… is wrong, then I won't have anything to do with it! And let me tell you this right now. What I do know doesn't look very good, Mr. Gray.'
'And I have to tell you everything or you'll leave?'
'Yes!'
'Then I am sorry. I…' He faltered but quickly cleared his throat. 'You were making great progress. I thought
