Solar News Headquarters, Selene

DANIEL C. TOWNES IV GOT TO HIS FEET LIKE A LONG, LANKY ladder unfolding.

“That’s about it,” he said. “Sam’s already aboard his torch ship. Ingrid and I will shuttle out to it an hour from now.”

Jade sputtered, “But... two Sams?”

The physicist nodded somberly. “I don’t know if one solar system is enough to hold two Sam Gunns. Maybe one of them would be better off going through that black hole.”

He turned toward the door to Jade’s office.

“Wait!” she cried, getting up and starting around her desk. “I’ve got half a million questions I need answered!”

Townes shook his head. “Sorry. No time. I just thought you ought to know what Sam’s been up to since he returned to Selene.”

He dipped his chin in a brief nod, then ducked through the door and was gone.

Leaving Jade standing in her cubbyhole office, her thoughts in a whirl.

Two Sams? she asked herself. Can I believe that? Was Townes telling the truth?

She sank back into her swivel chair. For a long while she simply sat there while her mind spun out questions to which she had no answers.

But at last she muttered to herself, “Sam’s here. In Selene. One of them is, at least. He’s here. And I’ve got to find him.”

But how? she wondered. I need help. And then it hit her: There’s somebody else who wants to find Sam really badly. Turning to her desktop console, Jade said, “Phone, find Senator Jill Meyers. I need to speak with her.”