"Has it occurred to you that they—whoever they are—are just telling you what you want to hear?"
"What the hell was that all about?" Lamont demanded, grabbing Constance by the shoulder. She had slipped through the group of refugees as they scattered to resume their various activities, making her way toward a path that ambled to some other part of the garden.
"It's called 'motivation,'" the young woman replied, tugging her arm free. "After you brought me back from the down below, I languished for a spell feeling sorry for myself. Then I looked around and realized that nearly all of us were pining away here. Miss Anna had tried to keep the colonists together, and Clyde too, but they both fell short. I saw that if somebody was going to make a change, it had to be me."
"But how?" Lamont hissed. "By telling lies? Fabricating grand fantasies? Making promises that can't be kept?"
Constance looked indignant. "What lies? A ain't saying nothing except what's been told to me." She hesitated, glancing away. "Or at any rate, implied."
"By what? The statue?"
"The cloud of witnesses," Constance nodded.
"Has it occurred to you that they—whoever they are—are just telling you what you want to hear?"
Constance rolled her eyes and stepped close to him, whispering. "Of course, Monty. What've I been trying to tell you? But the point is that two can play that game."
Lamont looked down her, his head spinning. He had the distinct impression that he was lost. Finally, he said: "There's something I should tell you. About the moon down below."
Constance sighed and scratched her head. "Fine," she replied. "But hurry up. I'm hankering for a dip."
As briefly as possible, Lamont recounted for her his visit to the surface of the moon with Francis and Phobos, how they had gone to the base of the tower to look for an entrance to the blocked levels. He told her about the discovery of the human bones.
After he was finished, Constance stood and thought for a long moment, her lips tightening. Finally, she asked: "Is there anything else that you haven't gotten around to mentioning yet?"
"Isn't that enough?" Lamont countered.
"Enough for what?" Constance asked, lifting her hands. "Dead human bodies. The tower's told me there were other people here before."
"And what does it say happened to those people?" Lamont asked.
"I'm still working on that," Constance admitted.
"So am I," Lamont said. "I feel convinced that if I could access the lower half of the tower, we'd get some answers. But Rosemary and I found that the lift wasn't willing to take us much beneath the halfway point. Do you think you might have more luck?"
Constance shook her head. "Clyde just came back from trying the same thing."
Lamont's mouth tightened in disappointment. "I'm working on a plan for getting in," he murmured, "but I'm hoping to avoid it."
"Just promise me one thing," Constance said, stepping close to him again. "If you decide to go through with it, I want in. Believe it or not, I want to know too."