Sex on the Moon by Ben Mezrich Read Free Book Online Page B

really gotten the hang of the whole party scene.
    But then again, this was a place for reinvention. Sonya would understand. She’d want him to get the most out of this experience.
    “A pool party sounds like fun.”
    “First we’re going to go to the most important place on this campus.”
    “Where’s that?”
    Helms grinned, leading Thad out the door, making sure to shut it tightly behind them. Thad noticed there was a very high-tech-looking, computerized lock next to the door handle, consisting of a panel covered in raised, numbered keys. The minute the door shut, the computerized lock whirred, and a digital light began to blink.
    “The cafeteria,” Helms answered. “That’s the real nerve center of NASA.”
    Thad was still peering back at the strange computerized lock. Helms noticed, and pointed with his thumb.
    “You have to be careful, always make sure the cipher lock kicks in behind you. They take security really seriously here. You don’t want to get yourself kicked out before you even start.”
    Thad raised his eyebrows.
    “Then I’d never get to be an astronaut, right?”
    Helms groaned. “Ha, you want to go to the moon someday?”
    “No. I’m going to be the first man on Mars.”
    Thad wasn’t even sure why he’d said it. He felt a little foolish, but Helms just shrugged.
    “Maybe you will be,” he said as he led Thad away from the door. “If I don’t get there first.”

7
    The object was bright red and coming in fast—following a low, elliptical trajectory, spiraling as it went, spewing off droplets of clear, pearl-shaped liquid, like a comet tail painting its route through the electrically charged air. The speed of the thing was terrifying, and Thad had only a moment to get one hand up in front of his face—but it did him no good. The object went right past his fingers and collided square into his forehead. The impact knocked him back off his feet as a spray of ice-cold water exploded into his face.
    “Skylab, baby! That’s what happens when you’ve got a low orbit and too much gravity!”
    Thad shook the water out of his eyes as he fought to regain his footing in the shallow end of the pool. Helms was standing about ten feet away, crouching behind a pair of deck chairs, a second water balloon in his cocked right hand. There were girls sprawled across both deck chairs, pretty and blond and wearing bikinis. The one on the right was the same girl Thad had met in line outside of the Teague Auditorium—Sally Bishop, of the boyfriend who still hadn’t shown up, but was presumably on his way. The girl to Bishop’s left was equally blond, but average height; there was something a little more natural and soft about the way her body filled out her flower-patterned bikini. A sunburst of freckles trickled out across the bare skin of her shoulders and arms, and when she laughed, the area around her blue eyes crinkled adorably.
    “You refrigerated water balloons?” Thad coughed, shivering as the last remnants of the projectile trickled down the bare skin of his back. “That seems a little excessive.”
    “I never show up to a party empty-handed,” Helms started to reply—but he was cut off by another balloon hurtling past from behind his left shoulder, arcing high above the pool, then exploding like a mortar a few feet from the oversized barbecue grill on the other side of the cobblestone patio. Thad looked up and saw that the second balloon had come from one of the balconies overlooking the pool. There were more co-ops in bathing suits up on the second floor, many clutching bright red plastic cups, presumably filled from the keg that dominated the grassy area on the other side of the barbecue. All told, Thad counted at least thirty people at the pool party—and more were still arriving. He didn’t know what college parties were like, but this get-together was damn impressive.
    His attention shifted back from the balcony as the freckled blonde slid off the deck chair and lowered herself