"Of course."

"Hutch, I found her."

He sounded grim and her heart sank. Hutch sat propped against a wall, tired, trying to catch her breath. Her air was beginning to get stale.

"She's dead," he said softly. "Looks as if she was killed outright. I don't think she suffered."

Hutch squeezed her eyes shut.

"Hutch, you reading me?"

She killed her transmitter until she could get control of her voice. "Yes." Another long silence. "Can you get her free?"

"I'll need a couple of minutes. You doing okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"Kellie tells me she's been trying to reach you."

"Signal's not getting through. What's the situation?"

"I'll relay it. After Kellie's done, Marcel wants to talk to you, too."

Kellie sounded frightened. "The woman passenger's dead," she said. "MacAllister's okay."

"How about the lander?"

"Wrecked."

"No chance at all?"

"None."

Three dead. And the rest stranded. My God. "Okay," she said. "We're talking about the Wildside boat, right?"

"Yes."

"What about the other one? The one that fell in the chasm?"

"Haven't looked."

"We'll want to look. Maybe we got lucky."

"Hutch," Kellie said, "how are you doing?"

"I'll be fine as soon as I see daylight again. You know about Toni?"

"Chiang told me. I'm sorry."

"We all are."

After a while, Chiang got on again: "I've got Toni out, and I'm cutting into your wall. Stay as far away from it as you can."

"Okay. I'm clear."

"Putting Marcel on."

"Thanks."

Marcel tried to sound encouraging. "Chiang tells me he'll have you out in a few minutes. You're not hurt, are you?"

"No." She looked around at the rubble.

"The Boardman's nearby. Should be here in a few days."

"That the best we can do? A few days?"

"Yes. Sorry. It's all we have." And lucky to have that, his voice told her. "Hang in there, Hutch. We'll have you all off as soon as we can."

Bill came back: "I have some mail for you. Did you want to see it?"

"Sure." What better time? "Go ahead."

"Hello, Priscilla. This is Charlie Ito."

She projected his image into the center of the chamber. This was a man who looked as if he'd enjoy collecting taxes. He had an unctuous smile and was vaguely familiar."You remember we met at your aunt Ellen's birthday party last spring. You might recall that at the time you mentioned how you'd like one day to move to Cape Cod. As it happens, an incredible deal came up yesterday, and I thought of you right away. We have a luxury seaside home that just came on the market. And I know what you're thinking, but bear with me a moment-"

She went to the next message.

"Hi, Prisctila."

It was her mother. Bright, beautiful. And as always, arriving with impeccable timing.

"I'm looking forward to seeing you again when you get home. It would be nice if we could take a few days and maybe go to the mountains. Just us girls. Let me know if that's okay, and I'll reserve a cabin.

"I know you don't like my bringing up men, but your uncle Karl recently introduced me to the most gorgeous young architect. I'd say he has a brilliant future-"

She tried again:

Hi, Hutch.

This one was audio only. Audio transmissions were less expensive.

"I know it's been a while since we've talked, but I just heard you were on Wildside when it got diverted to Deepsix."lt was from Frank Carson, an archeologist with whom she'd been through a lot in what now seemed another lifetime. "Sounds as if you're in on the action again. I envy you. I'd give anything to be with you. We're still digging into Beta Pac, and beginning finally to translate some of the local languages. But you don't care about that, right now. I just wanted you to know I was thinking about you. You're a lucky woman."

She managed a smile.

"Ms. Hutchinson."

Another audio only. With a deep baritone this time.

"You might remember we met at the United Pilots Association Conference last year. My name's Harvey Hutchins-that's right, same as yours, which is how we got talking. Anyhow, I'm a program manager for Centauri Transport. We're looking for experienced pilots. We haul supplies and personnel throughout the web. I can guarantee you challenging work, a generous signing bonus, and a wide range of fringe benefits. The openings won't last long, but I can get you in if you like-"

And a young woman with a cloying Boston accent: "Hello, Ms. Hutchins, I represent the Northeastern University Alumni Fund-Raising Committee, and we wanted to ask for your help again this year-"

There were a few more, all more or less impersonal, all from people who knew her just well enough to evade the antijunk filters that never seemed to work anyhow.

There was nothing from any of the occasional men in her life. Times like this, she wondered if her charm had failed altogether. But she understood that nobody was anxious to accept a relationship with a woman who was never home. It was a lonely existence. And maybe pulling out after this was over wasn't a bad idea. Go home and get herself a normal life.

She could hear Chiang getting close. Then light broke into the tunnel.

She helped him collect Toni's body and get it up into the tower. The twenty minutes or so they spent doing that, moving her through the narrow passageways, trying not to drop her, struggling up those irritating dwarf staircases, were possibly the longest twenty minutes of her life. The e-suit was still on, so the body still felt warm and alive. She kept looking down at her, imagining Toni's eyes, behind her lids, watching her accusingly. You brought me here…

She was trembling when they finally got her up to ground level, took her outside, and laid her in the sunlight.

MacAllister lifted Casey in his arms, and they started back. Kellie had rummaged through the burnt-out lander, collecting whatever was left that might be useful: some clothes, a few snacks, and an extra cutter. The reddimeals were fried, so they'd have to survive on donuts for the time being.

They tried to divide the load, although only MacAllister was strong enough to handle Casey. The others attempted to spell him occasionally, but they stumbled along with the body until his patience gave way and he insisted on taking care of her himself. So he carried her and they simply took frequent breaks and moved at his pace. Chiang met them about halfway, after which he and MacAllister took turns.

When they got back to the tower, they found Hutch sitting stone-faced by Toni. They laid Casey beside her.

"What about the Star boat?" Kellie asked her. "Did you look for it?"

She nodded. Kellie saw no hope in her expression. After a minute, she walked out to the chasm.

The lander hadn't fallen far. Only about fifteen meters. It was wedged between the rock walls, over a long drop to a snow-filled bottom. There was no trace of Wetheral.

Eliot Penkavic was captain of the Athena Boardman, outbound for Quraqua, hauling solar mirrors, DNA samples of over eleven thousand species of fish, birds, plants, grasses, and trees; and of more than thirty thousand assorted insect types. He had a full manifest of equipment for the ongoing effort to terraform Quraqua, and sixty-four experts and technicians of various stripes. He was three days away from his destination when the distress call arrived from the Wendy jay.

It was not a side trip he wanted to make. But the code of conduct, and the law, was quite clear. When an emergency was formally declared, when lives were reported in jeopardy, vessels were compelled to assist. After several weeks on Boardman, no one was going to be happy about his extending the flight by another nine days or so. Especially lan Helm, who was going out to the new world to take over as director of operations.

He checked his database, looking for another ship that could go in and bail out the Academy group. There were a couple in the area that could get there, but nobody with a lander. Except the Boardman.