[a time you had to remove a splinter]

Ray nodded, slowly realizing that the hole of information was deeper than
she thought. She'd just supposed that government censors had blocked out all
the really interesting bits, and since she didn't care to read the gossip
papers, she thought that might be all there was.

Ashanta looked at her, her face an inscrutable mask, but probing. After a
moment, she lowered her voice and said, "You want in?"

Ray wasn't sure whether it was her tendency to be an insatiable information
sponge or her current frustration with the powers controlling her
communication channels, but she said almost too emphatically 'Yes!'

For the first time in twenty years, Ray felt like the dome was too small,
and not just because she was a kid trying so very hard to escape watchful
eyes and explore, nor trying to escape to find a quiet place away from
people for a little solitude.

This time the dome was too small, too many familiar people and their
familiar attitudes. Things were different now, and Ray was beginning to
think she was the only one who could see it.

"Where can I show you how to get to one of the access points?" 

"Meet me in the comm cube in 15 hours?"

"Fifteen?"

"The radio blackout lasts that long."

"We are going to have to fix that."

Ray looked at her quizzically.

"There's a handful of the old Iridium satellites still in orbit. They should
be able to get a signal through if you aim right."

Ray fought to contain her astonishment. Ashanta just looked her with the
same inscrutable expression on her dark face.

They took a circuitous route to the communication cube, since the direct
route went straight through the center of the dome, and the endless
distractions on the way would only take more time, and she hadn't been this
excited in years.

Nobody else was there, though that was to be expected since there wasn't
going to be any communication with Earth for another fourteen hours, at
least not officially. Ray relished the thought. Not having to share the
connection was perhaps the biggest dream she'd had lately. With everyone
else's demands queued up, she couldn't get enough out of it for a live video
feed.

Ray locked the door to the communication cube after they entered, which she
usually did only if she left. It felt strange to seal herself in, however
temporarily.

The moment the door locked, Ashanta started firing off questions.  "What
kind of tranceivers do you have?"

"Raytheon Azimax."

"Wow. Nothing newer?"

"They don't exactly pay us much attention up here."

"You might be surprised."

Ray wasn't sure what Ashanta meant by that. The look that came with it said
there was a story there.

"How many antennas?"

"Thirty-eight. Two at the poles, and the rest spread around the moon like a
belt. There should be at least two in the shadows that can see earth at any
time, except when the moon's full from Earth's point of view. Then it's hit
or miss with the solar noise. There's no sheilding from solar storms.

Ashanta nodded, looking unsurprised.

"Narrow band or wide band tranceivers?"

"Wide."

"Good. We'll need them."

"Why?" Ray realized she was whispering, but realized Ashanta was too.

"The frequencies we use are all over the place. Frequency hopping sequence
that takes some real work to follow. How much processing power do you have?"

Ray pointed at the racks occupying the walls of the cube.

"How much for communications?"

"All of it."

Ashanta's face cracked into a brief smile.  "That's about as much as all of
Cascadia has right now. Energy's been on a tight budget since the war."

_So the moon has a few advantages over Earth. Good to know._ Ray thought.

Ashanta took a necklace off and cracked the pendant in half. It slid open to
reveal a memory stick.

"The frequency sequence. Can I get you to make a copy some place it can't be
found?"

"Of course." Ray started typing furiously for a moment.


------

Linda Dorlock was the first female officer in the EU to hold the post of
Commodore in the Air and Space force. she had trim, grey hair, and
everything about her was curt.

----