In the end, Bates got what he wanted; a ride to Juno. But not the way he wanted it; he was carried in a spacesuit tied to the outside of Shuttle 2. “If he wants to escape,” said Lieutenant Reyes, “Let him.”

“Suppose he’s had EVA training,” Hart objected. “A determined man with the right skills could damage a shuttle in flight.”

“Are you saying you can’t defend a flying gunship from an unarmed man?”

*

In one of the greatest engineering projects of the century, Juno had been moved out of the asteroid belt into an orbit around Jupiter. A less-often trumpeted project was the terraforming of the new moon. This effort had quadrupled its original estimate, flooding the moon’s underworld with the fruits of corruption, and was still unfinished. However, enough atmosphere had been created to make Bates’ arrival on the outside of a ship fatal.

From orbit, Reckall signaled the Juno Detention Center. “Warden Holmes, I have a delivery for you. A homicidal maniac who’s good with his hands. Come and get him.”