(extract)
…
It’s after midnight when Beau slips out of bed, sliding down to the foot end to avoid waking the spouses either side of him. He pads downstairs and climbs into his suit. He shuts the front door silently, heads towards the Mansion exit, pulls on his lifepack and helmet, and goes out onto the surface. He shouldn’t be going out alone – it’s the rule – but he feels he can’t ask Marl, or anyone else, to accompany him.
He climbs into Jeremy – Ute 1 – and, after fiddling under the dash for a while, makes his way slowly up the east side of the Mansion. Even at this hour, several habs are casting a dim wash of light out onto the regolith. The ute’s lights are not bright enough to drive by: the vehicles are for daytime use, and the lights are only there for collision avoidance in dust clouds.
Once he’s past the last hab that’s showing a light he’s essentially driving blind: he can only see two or three metres ahead. Judging his position by the glow from the portholes in the Connector, he stops roughly where they’d parked on the two previous trips.
He gets out, leaving the ute’s lights on. (They aren’t going to help him much, but at least he’ll be able to find his way back to the vehicle.) He flicks on the light of his comm and moves hesitantly towards where he thinks the crime scene probably is. Only by holding his arm straight down and bending at the knees can he cast enough light to walk safely. In less than 5 metres he has the information he came for.
He returns to the Mansion, hoping that the sound of the showers isn’t really as loud as it seems in the sleeping town, and goes back to bed.
…