Miner Hugh Hensen and USNE ensign Carmen Samter emerged from an apartment and closed the door, slipping an RFID chip next to the hinge. Should Bates try to enter, an alarm would sound and they’d catch him. That is, if it wasn’t somebody else, and Bates was using doors, and he stayed inside until they could get him. There were more doors than chips, and more chips than time. Most of the personnel on both sides were feverishly preparing to fly out.

“We could be doing something useful,” Carmen snapped.

“Locating a homicidal maniac isn’t useful?” Hugh reasoned. “We’re fixing your shuttle.”

“Thanks for the favor, repairing the damage you did.”

“What was it doing down here in the first place?”

Carmen kicked open the next door.

*

In orbit, Reckall set the autopilot to follow a chunk of 1984 and went to the airlock. Going EVA with no pilot was against regs. He’d had to talk fast with Ishikawa to avoid taking one, once he realized that this search must not be witnessed.