Dead Man on the Moon Read Online Free PDF Page A

Linus knew, were just as adept as women at spotting good looks in their own sex—they just viewed them in competitive terms.
    Noah easily fell into Onus's better-looking category, and he was handsome enough to make Linus nervous. Handsome men tended to spark jealousy among their lovers, which meant potential violent crime, and the guys themselves often had egos the size of their—
    Noah tripped and fell. The kid hadn't adjusted to the low gravity yet, and he overcompensated when he tried to regain his balance. His arms flew forward to catch himself, but he had only fallen half a meter, so instead of hitting the floor, his hands hit empty air. The momentum of his outflung hands and arms pulled him forward a little faster, bringing him even further off balance. A nearby frat boy easily dodged out of the way and turned, grinning, to watch the fun. He had plenty of time. Noah fell and fell, and finally landed in a tangle of arms and legs. He lay still for a moment, face flushed with embarrassment. Then he made the mistake of trying to get back to his feet without moderating his strength. When he pushed off, his entire body leaped into the air like a startled salmon. The look on his face— wide eyes, open mouth—made Linus laugh, even though he remembered going through the same involuntary slapstick routine when he first arrived on Luna five years ago.
    By now a small crowd had gathered. Noah drifted down to the floor to land on hands and knees amid enthusiastic applause. Linus supposed he'd have to have a word with the kid about getting his Luna legs quickly. It was hard to command the respect of suspects and witnesses when they remembered seeing you stumble like Charlie Chaplin on crank-ups.
    The crowd was drifting away as Linus rose from the bench to greet Noah and offer him a hand up. The kid's face reddened even further when he realized the person standing over him was his boss, but there wasn't anything Linus could do about that. Noah took Linus's hand, and the chief pulled with exactly the right amount of force. It wasn't much. The kid couldn't have weighed more than one-fifty back on Earth. Linus suppressed another surge of jealousy.
    Even after swearing off fried food and exercising like a fiend five days a week, he wasn't able to rid himself of a small roll of fat around his midsection.
    "Nice to meet you in person, Noah," he said, pronouncing the name carefully. "Chief Inspector Linus Pavlik. Call me Linus, unless I'm pissed at you. Then you should call me 'Right away, sir!'"
    "Hi," Noah said. "Uh . . . great way to impress the boss, hey?"
    "You'll get used to the gravity," Linus said. "Some people wear weights and gradually taper them off, you know."
    Noah shook his head. "I want to adjust as fast as I can. I'll stumble, but no one ever died of embarrassment."
    "Then let me give you a piece of advice I wish someone had given me," Linus said, and paused. Noah leaned in closer to listen. "Until you're fully adjusted," Linus whispered solemnly, "sit down when you go the bathroom."
    Noah blinked at him. "Sit down?"
    "Low-gravity urinals take practice. Not for the faint of heart."
    "Ah. I'll take your word for it." Noah looked around. Overhead, the artificial sun shone like warm, liquid gold through jungle leaves. The boa had moved on. "So where's the crime scene?"
    Linus cocked a thumb at the heavy metal door behind him. "Out there."
    "Outside?" Noah's voice rose a little. "You mean—in vacuum?"
    "You're certified for outdoor activity, aren't you?"
    Noah nodded. Although many Luna City residents never set foot outside an airlock, familiarity with a vacuum suit was a requirement of residence.
    "Then let's go."
    Near the entrance to the airlock was a series of orange lockers. Linus set his palm against one, and it clicked open, revealing a pair of silver vacuum suits. He handed one to Noah, who took it wordlessly.
    "I almost forgot," Linus said. "By the authority granted me by the Luna City government, I hereby deputize