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original ICE pact and was angry now because the colonies were becoming successful and it didn’t have any of the action.
    I switched off the screen and took out one of my grandfather’s books, the first in his famous “Macdonald of Terra” series. But even the swashbuckling space adventures of Lieutenant James D. Macdonald (“And don’t capitalize the d in Macdonald, buddy!”) couldn’t keep my mind off what I was going to have to face in the morning.
    Finally I crawled into bed and spent some time using the meditation techniques my grandfather had taught me. They must have worked, because when my bed started shaking in the morning (alarm beds are great if you sleep as deeply as I do), I found myself trying to wake up—which meant I must have actually fallen asleep at some point.
    Two hours later I was standing outside Elmo Puckett’s office, trying to get up the nerve to go in.
    After the second time I had counted to ten, I took a deep breath and rapped on the door.
    â€œIn!” yelled a pleasantly feminine voice.
    I opened the door and floated through. For reasons known only to Dr. Puckett, he had chosen to locate his office and living quarters in the colony’s hub, where there was virtually no gravity. It was supposed to be a privilege, but considering what a pain in the neck it is to maneuver in those conditions, I thought it was more like a punishment.
    I decided his choice of locations probably had to do with his research—which just goes to show you how wrong a guy can be.
    â€œYou must be Rusty,” said the wildly beautiful woman who was floating in the center of the room. She was probably referring to my name, but she might have been referring to the awkward way I was moving in the null-grav situation. “My name is Dr. Chang. I’ll tell his nibs you’ve arrived.”
    Dr. Chang—Helen, as she later told me to call her—had jet-black hair, enormous amber eyes, and smooth skin the color of an almond shell. Her lab coat did little to hide the fact that she had curves an engineer would have given his eyeteeth to have designed. An odor of flowers seemed to cling to her, though it was tantalizingly faint. She flashed me a dazzling smile, left what appeared to be a test tube full of blood floating in midair, and touched a button on her belt. A puff of air moved her gently toward the door at the rear of the office.
    When she disappeared through that same door, I took the chance to look around.
    I had never seen so many books in my life! Every wall was covered with them. And I do mean every . Since there was no gravity here, there was no need to have a place to walk. Obviously Dr. Puckett had decided that under the circumstances a floor and ceiling were just a waste of good space. So he had put bookshelves everywhere except in the spaces used for doors.
    I’m fairly used to null-gravity situations, but this was a new one to me. It was weird to look up and see shelves full of books hanging over my head—especially since no matter which way I turned the situation remained the same.
    I was trying to make my way to one wall to look at some of the titles when Dr. Chang reappeared and said, “Dr. Puckett will see you now.”
    I could tell by the look on her face she was somewhat curious about that. After all, part of Puckett’s mystique was his inaccessibility.
    Without another word she recovered her test tube, which was still floating where she had left it. Then, using her air mechanism, she propelled herself through a door off to my right.
    I was alone in the room. Dr. Puckett was waiting for me behind his door.
    But getting to him was easier said than done. Unlike Helen Chang, I was not equipped with an air pack. I imagine I must have looked something like a wounded frog as I paddled myself across the room. I stopped when I got to his door.
    Should I knock, or just go in?
    That may seem like a stupid thing to worry about. But when