LITMIR.BIZ

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assistance from a defense subcontractor.”

      “Do you know anyone?” Ace asked. “Or do you think this idea is bat-shit crazy?”

      “I like it. You know I don’t want some yahoo who thinks it would be cool to be a part of NASA to get the bid. Or some billionaire who has always wanted to be the first person to own property on the moon.”

      “Isn’t there a screening process designed to weed those out?” Ace asked. He heard the rancor in Dennis’ tone and knew the older man thought of these projects as almost sacred. Something that should only be pursued by men and women who are driven more by a love of exploration than a desire for commercial success.

      “Sure. But there are some civilians with too much money who’ve never heard the word no. I like this idea, Ace. So Molly would be the liaison between the ranch and the facility and you’d...well, if you’re not on the missions, you could be part of the training staff. How long are you in Houston?”

      “As long as I need to be,” he said. God, he hoped he was on one of the missions.

      “Let me make a few calls to some old contracting friends. I’ll see if any are interested in partnering with you. Most of the qualified companies bidding have worked with us before and I know that your land is a prime location for this project. Is it just you? Are you able to make this decision on your own?”

      “It’s not just me, but my partner has agreed to it,” Ace said.

      “Good. That’s all I need for now.”

      “I’m going to be on base for a little while. Text me if you hear anything.”

      “I will. We need to get moving on this for you to have any chance in hell of getting your bid in on time. You’re cutting it close,” Dennis said. You’ll need to work with an experienced defense subcontractor. Everyone submits their bids on the deadline so your timing is good.”

      He left the program manager’s office and stood there in the hot Texas sun. Even though it was May, summer was already on its way in Houston. He put on his sunglasses and acknowledged to himself that his health was the only reason why he’d ever thought of doing this.

      He was going to find a way to stay involved in the Cronus program on his own terms. Dennis had offered to find a place for him on his management team, but Ace wasn’t ready to accept that he’d be grounded. He had been training to meet the physical challenges of extended spaceflight since he first heard about the mission parameters. And Dennis had done his best to help Ace out, giving him every opportunity to log as much space-time as he could.

      Hemi pulled up in his ’69 Mustang. The man was a motorhead and spent a lot of his time between missions restoring the car.

      “Hop in, Ace. I told the guys you were in town and we’re all meeting over at Rocket Fuel for wings and suds.”

      Ace was glad Hemi had the top down because it didn’t encourage conversation. But they got caught in the lunchtime traffic of workers leaving the base and silence built around them.

      “What did you talk to Dennis about?”

      Ace filled him in about his plans for the ranch. He wasn’t ready to tell the whole base, but he trusted Hemi with his secrets and his life.

      “Good. You’d be a great director for the new facility. But I still want you with me on our next mission. I’ve been thinking about your bone-density issue since you left. I mentioned it to my mom and she sent me—” he broke off to rummage around behind Ace’s seat “—this. It’s a diet that works to correct osteopenia. I know Doctor Tomlin’s on it already, but a little more help can’t hurt, right? I even ran it by the doc earlier.”

      Ace took the email from Hemi and saw that Mona, Hemi’s mom, had addressed the body of the email to him.

      He smiled as he read over all her notes. She was a holistic healer in California, where she lived with Hemi’s dad. And her advice was different from what the program’s medical personnel had given him.

      “Thanks, man.”

      “No problem. Mom’s afraid if I go up there without you, I’ll get into trouble,” he said.

      Ace had saved Hemi one time during some equipment failure and the other man had never forgotten it. Hemi was the youngest in his family and they were all very protective of their “big warrior.”

      “I guess everyone’s waiting to see if the doctor’s theories about how to fix this pan out,” Ace said while they were driving.

      Hemi made a grunting noise under his breath. “You bet we are. You’re just one of the first who’s been out of Earth’s gravity that long, but we all need to know that the astronauts will be able to walk and function when they get to the way station and, later, to Mars.”

      “Exactly. Even though NASA has green-lit the long-term space facility, and has the first long-term mission on the books, if Tomlin’s theories aren’t proven effective, it could mean...” He trailed off. He didn’t want to say it out loud. The end of the Cronus missions until some sort of solution was found. Everything was riding on Ace and the three other astronauts who had experienced the effects of prolonged exposure in space and were being monitored by the medical team.

      “What about Candice? She’s been up there for nine months,” Hemi said.

      “Tomlin and Dennis didn’t say. But I think she’s doing well. She’s due back on base next week,” Ace said. Candice O’Malley was one of the longest-serving female astronauts. The new astronaut classes were more gender-balanced than they had been even ten years earlier when he’d first gone to astronaut training school.

      “I’ll talk to her when she’s back and text you,” Hemi said.

      “Better to email. The ranch has a really spotty cell phone signal,” Ace said.

      “That sucks.”

      “Yes and no. It will be kind of nice to be on the back of a horse working with cattle or on the fence line and have nothing but that chore to focus on. Sort of like being in space. There is no pinging of my phone, no texts coming in fast and furious. Just me and the land.”

      Hemi turned to look at him, leveling his steady dark gaze at Ace. “Dude, you are starting to sound like...a cowboy.”

      “I guess I was always one. Just forgot. Dennis thought going back would be the best therapy for me. Give me a chance to do some different work that would build my strength.”

      “I hope it works,” Hemi said. “Not just for you, Ace. I really want this long-term mission to be a go and I know that you and Candice are the ones they are looking at. Dev and Maury are already back in the training schedule, but they weren’t up there any longer than I’ve been.”

      “I know,” Ace said. “Don’t talk about this too much.”

      “I won’t,” Hemi said. “But most of our training group already has some idea of what is going on. Seeing you today will help them. I think they’re afraid you’re going to hobble in using a cane. Everyone is excited for the new missions and understands the associated risks, but you know it’s different to actually see them. And how you recover is going to affect everyone.”

      “Well, there’s nothing to see here,” Ace said. He was the leader of this group of astronauts. Had been since Dennis had started pulling all of them together. Ace knew that today it was important to make each of them believe he was still going to lead them on the first Cronus mission.

      Traffic started moving again and Ace realized that as much as the Bar T Ranch felt like home and Mick and Rina had been family, this was where his true family was. And as attracted as he was to Molly, as much as he wanted her, she didn’t know him the way Hemi and his fellow astronauts did. But as he ate lunch with the guys and listened to them talking, he also became very aware that his life had been one-dimensional for a long time. Just NASA. Just focused on training. He was surrounded by his astronaut family, but something was calling him

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