Page 285 of Every Almost

Okay,Charlie thought.Okay. One more, and then I'm getting on that shuttle, and I'm going to find you, and you and I are going to talk about what you just did.

Then she got her hands under a woman's shoulders and started to pull.

Charlie feltthe tremor start in the soles of her boots.

She had time for one word.

No.

Her arm was already around the woman. She hauled her out from under it and got her clear.

Charlie tried to scramble up and out of the trench when the brace let go.

The corner came down the last quarter inch it had been leaning on all day and slipped.

And it caught Charlie Wickett hard across the side of the head.

She was on her back.

That's interesting. I don't remember agreeing to that?

She felt very heavy and the sky above her looked very brown. She heard somebody screaming a long way away.

Charlie thought to herself,Huh, that's Feodar, and he's supposed to be sitting down.

She turned her head.

Her datapad was lying in the dirt about four inches from her face. The screen woke from a small rock that rolled across. It lit up her whole field of vision with one line of text.

SENT BY: SOLAS, R.

"... oh," Charlie said. "Good."

And then Korallis Minor went out.

REYNA

Torvax gave her everything, she had to give him that. He didn't spare her one second of readouts and checkpoints reached as theshuttle landed back on planet.

Reyna stood in front of her chair and listened to her ground crew start the final phase of the mission. Crew retrieval.

"Shuttle is down. Ramp's open."Kess.

"Jesus, Kess just walked right out. Kess, wait for the—"Tavi.

"Bridge, this is Laith. We have visual on two. Repeat, two colonists at the ramp, both upright, both walking."

Then all the voices went silent.

"What happened?" Reyna asked.

"I'm not sure, Captain," Torvax said. "Readouts say they're all off the shuttle now."

"Bridge,"Maren. But her voice was wrong."We do not have Wickett."

Reyna went stone still.

"Say again, Laith," Torvax relayed.