8

You'll have to judge for yourself how best to handle matters when you get to Europa, but there's no harm in placating the man now. You start to reply when he cuts in. "Domes. Ice-tunnels. Whatever it takes," he says. "You need to maximize how many people that moon can handle."

You suspect that the other colonists might have other priorities.

When you meet back with Kosmo, he's hanging around the visitor's lounge of the G81 embassy, talking to his own version of Iza on his tablet. His takes a male appearance, but he's made the face the same shade of chrome as his own synthetic skin.

"—you gotta be kidding me, I'm not doing that—Oh, hey Voshinu!" he says. "Let's go deal with the botanists."

The pair of you bound along the inside of a tube connecting the wall of the dome to a nearby tower. A kilometer below, you can just about make out the traffic of carts down on the ground. With six times less gravity than on Earth and no wind, they can make the buildings as tall as they want in Moltke. The top of the tower is a rooftop garden. Plants spread out down the whole north face of the tower, which is placed among the other buildings in a pattern that maximizes its share of sunshine.

You walk through an olive grove and you hear the sound of argument. Through the foliage, you spot a man and a woman, both in their early 30s, both redheaded with freckled faces. The pair have English accents. They're dressed in overalls, hair tucked back, with heavy gloves on. It's clear that they're siblings.

"—even if I went to Pluto, it wouldn't be far enough away!" the man shouts. "I've had it up to here with your meddling!"

"My meddling?" the woman replies. "you're the one who told Emmeline about—"

"—your affair? She needed to know!" the man snaps back.

"Well, Chen needed to be warned about you and—" The woman suddenly stops short and lowers her tone. "I think we've got company…."

You and Kosmo walk into plain view and the pair shift in demeanor. The man smiles sweetly, while the woman takes off a glove and extends her left hand.

"Ah, you must be the, uh, President for the new Europa colony, right?" she says as you awkwardly clasp her hand.

"Palmer. It's Frank Palmer at your service!" the man says, stepping forward and taking your right hand at the same time, forcing you to cross your arms as you shake both at the same time.

"Flo, I mean, Florence Palmer, doubly at your service," says the woman.

Kosmo grins as you extricate your hands from the pair. "These two are both top in their field of lunar urban-agriculture," he says. "But unfortunately, we've only got room for one." He addresses the pair of them. "I can understand if you'd both want to decline. I wouldn't want to break up a family here…."

"NO!" the pair of them say at the same time.

"It wouldn't be a problem," says Frank.

"Chance of a lifetime, after all," says Flo.

"There'll be slots available in the second migration ship, arriving in the seventh year," says Kosmo, though the pair don't seem to need reassuring.

You take each one aside for some final questions. For the position, it's most important that Frank or Florence…

…have a specialty useful for life in the colony.

…have the interpersonal skills necessary for close-quarters living.

…have a proven research record in their field.

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