Frank Schätzing - Limit

Tautou suggested that the Guide Michelin should be extended with a chapter on ‘Non-Terrestrial Regions’. What could be more apt than awarding their stars up here ? But he didn’t have the effrontery to pour this thin analogy into each person’s ear; his enthusiasm for it would gradually tire as the game terrine with cranberries, fillet steaks, potato gratin and an unctuous tiramisu were passed around, one after the other.

‘And no garlic, no beans, or anything that causes wind! Escaping bodily gases are a real problem in close conditions like these; people have become violent for far less. Also, what you’re eating here would seem over-seasoned on Earth, but in space your taste buds are weakened, on the back burner so to speak. Oh, yes, and make sure you eat nice and slowly. Pick up every bite carefully, lead it to your mouth with intent, put it in quickly and decisively, then chew carefully.’

‘Well, the steaks were works of God, anyway!’ said Donoghue approvingly.

‘Thank you.’ King made a bow, which resulted in him tipping over and doing a somersault. ‘In actual fact they were sterile synthetic products from the molecular kitchen. We’re incredibly proud of them, if I may say so.’

For the next ten minutes, Donoghue fell silent, in a state of deep contemplation.

O’Keefe suckled at the champagne.

He made an effort to maintain his peeved expression. He had noted happily that Heidrun was seated next to him, or rather that her legs were wedged into the braces provided for that purpose. As much as it pleased him, though, he was punishing her with his lack of attention, chatting pointedly with the surprise guest. For her part, she made no attempt to speak to him. It was only once the group began to compare their experiences of the day and the general conversation broke up into individual exchanges that he finally deigned to address her with a hissed remark:

‘What the hell were you thinking of this morning?’

She hesitated. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘Shoving me out of the airlock.’

‘Oh.’ Heidrun fell silent for a while. ‘I get it. You’re angry.’

‘No, but I’m wondering whether you’ve taken leave of your senses. That was pretty dangerous.’

‘Nonsense, Finn. I may act like a big kid sometimes, but I’m not crazy. Nina had already told me yesterday that the suits were remote-controlled. Do you seriously think they would leave all-inclusive holidaymakers, people whose greatest sporting achievement was getting a badge for swimming two hundred metres, to their own devices out there?’

‘So you didn’t want to kill me? That’s comforting.’

Heidrun smiled mysteriously. ‘Sweetheart, I just wanted to find out where Perry Rhodan stops and Finn O’Keefe begins.’

‘And?’

‘Well, it’s quite fitting that you play him as a bit of a dope.’

‘Now hang on a minute!’ protested O’Keefe. ‘A heroic dope.’

‘Yes, of course. And it never took you long to work out whether there were any females in the vicinity who might be willing to mate with you. Pleased with yourself?’

He grinned. As he paused, he heard Eva Borelius say: ‘But that’s not a theological question, Mimi, it’s about the origins of our civilisation. Why do people want to cross borders, what are they looking for in space? I sometimes feel inclined to join in the chorus of anger clamouring about the trillions of people who are starving, who have no access to fresh water—’

‘By now, sure,’ he heard Tautou exclaim from another conversation, only to be put back in his place by a pistol-shot retort of ‘No, you haven’t!’ from Karla Kramp.

‘—while all the fun up here devours vast amounts of money. And yet we have to research. Our entire culture is based upon exchange and expansion. At the end of the day, what we’re looking for in the unknown is ourselves, our meaning, our future, just like Alexander von Humboldt, like Stephen Hawking—’

‘I wouldn’t be here if I had anything against the spread of the human race,’ said Mimi Parker sharply.

‘Well, it sure sounded like it just then.’

‘No, not at all! I’m just contesting the bigoted desire to discover something that’s already obvious. I, for my part, am just here to marvel at His work.’

‘Which, according to you, is six thousand years old.’

‘Well, it could be ten thousand. Let’s say up to ten thousand – after all, we’re not dogmatists.’

‘But no more than that? Not at least a few little million?’

‘Absolutely not. What I expect to find out here—’

Aha, thought O’Keefe. I knew it. Created in our own image, just as the boss did it six thousand years ago. Mimi was here to represent the creationists.

‘And what do you expect to find here?’ he asked Heidrun, who was laughing at something Carl Hanna had just said.

‘Me?’ She turned her head. Her long white ponytail swung softly behind her. ‘I’m not here to expect anything.’

‘Then why?’

‘Because my husband was invited. Whenever that happens, people get me too, whether they like it or not.’

‘Okay, fine, but now you’re here?’

‘Hmm. Regardless. I don’t set much store by expectations. Expectations blind people. I prefer to be surprised. And so far it’s working out great, in any case.’ She hesitated and leaned in a little closer. ‘And you?’

‘Nothing. I’m just doing my job.’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘What is there to understand? I’m here to do my job, and that’s it.’

‘Your – job ?’

‘Yes.’

‘You mean you’re just letting yourself be used by Julian?’

‘That’s why I’m here.’

‘Good God, Finn.’ Heidrun shook her head slowly, in disbelief. He suddenly felt embarrassed, getting the feeling he’d pressed the wrong button. ‘You’re such a jerk! Every time I’m just starting to like you—’

‘Why? What have I done this time?’

‘This detachment act of yours! Nothing affects you, right? Hat pulled down over your face, standing aside from the rest. That’s exactly what I meant before: Who is O’Keefe?’

‘He’s sitting right in front of you.’

‘Bullshit! You just have this vague notion of who O’Keefe is supposed be, if he wants to make everyone think he’s really cool. A rebel, whose problem is that he doesn’t actually have anything to rebel against, except boredom perhaps.’

‘Hey!’ He leaned forward. ‘What in God’s name gives you the idea I’m like that?’

‘This stupid attitude.’

‘You said yourself that—’

‘I said that I didn’t have any expectations, which means I’m open to everything. That’s quite a lot to be going on with. You, on the other hand, made out that it was nothing more than a job to you. That you’re just buying into the story that Julian’s lovely and the Moon is round, and then we’ll all hold hands until the cameras get turned off and we can finally go and get pissed. That’s lousy, Finn! Are you really that jaded? Do you really intend to tell me, in all seriousness, that you’re just in it for the money Julian’s throwing your way?’

‘Nonsense. I’m not getting paid for it.’

‘Okay then, last chance: What are you doing up here? What do you feel when you – well, when you look down at the Earth?’

O’Keefe paused as he gave it some thought. He stared intently through the glass floor below. The problem was, he couldn’t think of a convincing answer. The Earth was the Earth.

‘Distance,’ he said finally.

‘Distance.’ She seemed to be tasting the word. ‘And? Good distance? Bad distance?’

‘Oh, Heidrun. Call it attitude if you really want to, but I just want to be left in peace. You think I’m some bored, arrogant type who’s lost any interest in getting into a debate. Maybe you’re right. Today I’m soft and compliant, the nice Finn. What are you expecting?’