Time's Team (short story)

Time's Team was the ninth story in the Bernice Summerfield anthology A Life of Surprises. It was written by David A. McIntee.

Plot
Benny is due at a dig on the Koloppan moon where Braxiatel and a number of other people are waiting for her to take part in a HoloCast, but her shuttle is forced to stop at a maintenance station due to a technical malfunction. When Braxiatel contacts her and learns that it is quite possible that the broadcast will have to go ahead without academic clout or be delayed at considerable expense, he decides that they will have to fake her appearance at the dig.

Benny mounts a camera on a wall using a suction cup and, hoping that nobody will notice that the starscape behind her will not match the sky as seen from the moon, takes part in the documentary through editing and holograms. During a break, she goes to the bar and is recognised by the buffet steward, but she claims that she has been cloned many times and is not an archaeologist but a professor of biotechnics. Kreel, Carruthers and Bolland tell her that her image is being used on the HoloCast before realising that the stars do not match.

The three men agree to help Benny keep her secret in exchange for being allowed to participate in the HoloCast. Bolland tells the other passengers that the Benny on the screen is her sister, which convinces them. Twelve hours later, Benny arrives on the moon and apologises to Braxiatel for her lateness before asking if Kreel, Carruthers and Bolland can help with shovelling.

Characters

 * Bernice Summerfield
 * Irving Braxiatel
 * Vega the Dig
 * Proth
 * Halin
 * Mallory
 * Kreel
 * Bellman
 * Carruthers
 * Bolland
 * Barman

Worldbuilding

 * Benny can swear in more than a hundred languages.
 * One of the Koloppan constellations is a tree-squirrel.
 * Benny drinks white wine.

Continuity
to be added