Peter was awoken by a notification from the computer, which interrupted the music.
"Dr. Bowman, Dr. Arnfried would like to speak to you."
When Peter was able to gather himself, he responded.
"Answer, audio only."
A chirp indicated that the audio line was live.
"Hi, Alena. What can I do for you."
"I hope I didn't wake you up," a female voice responded.
"No, I just must have slept longer than I had meant to. I had a hard time getting to sleep last night. What time is it, anyway?"
"Almost 7."
"That's when my alarm goes off, so no harm done."
"I'm calling you to give you an urgent message from HQ."
"What is it?"
"You need to report to the Antares Project committee at the ISP office on Venus. You need to leave as soon as you can."
"The Antares Project? What does that have to do with me?"
"They wouldn't give me details, at least not yet. I do know that they're going to brief you on a new assignment before sending you off to the Jupiter station."
"Jupiter station? That's an almost eighteen month trip from here! I can't leave now, in the middle of the Dyson Project."
"Sorry, Peter. Don't shoot the messenger."
"Tell them I just said 'no.' There's no reason to go."
"You know you can't do that. They're the ones funding the Dyson Project. They own it. They can easily take you off of it."
After a pause, Peter spoke again.
"Damn it."
"Pete, I know you want to see this through, but the Dyson Project is in a very stable situation right now. Other engineers can manage what you've started, and it's not like you can't communicate with them remotely. And you can come back to it later-- They'll be working on Dyson until long past the end of your natural days. They're not going to finish it without you, at least not while you're still alive."
"Fine. If nothing else, I can go to Venus and talk to them. Maybe I can get them to change their minds."
"At least hear what they have to say first."
"Right. Was that it?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Okay. Talk to you later, Alena."
"Bye, Pete."
"Computer, end call."
A chirp from the computer indicated that the call was over, and the music continued. Peter looked over to the closed shutters, staring until he was able to motivate himself to stand up and get ready to leave.
