Cookie nodded solemnly.

Nightingale tried to get up, but the painkiller hadn't taken hold.

"Careful." She held him in place. "You got jabbed a couple of times. You were lucky."

He didn't quite see how he was lucky. And my God, Biney was dead. How was that possible? And the others. Six all told.

It was a disaster.

He tasted the apple cider, let it slide down his throat.

"Will says you'll be okay." Will was Wilbur Keene, who'd been with Biney. He included an M.D. among his credentials, the principal reason he'd been selected for the voyage.

"They followed us all the way back," Tatia said. "Kept attacking."

"The bodies are still out there?"

"We waited until it got dark," she said. "Then we were able to recover them."

"Will says they had venom," said Cookie. "Thank God for the e-suits. He says it would have worked on us. Paralyzed us. Sent the nervous system into shock."

He slept. When he woke again they were getting ready to leave. "Who's in Tess?" he asked. He was talking about Gappy's lander. Its pilot and all its original passengers were dead. But they didn't want to leave it down here.

"Nobody," said Cookie. "But it's no problem. After we're on our way, I'll just tell her to come home."

The AI.

The cabin was dark, save for the soft illumination of the instrument panel. Tatia sat silently on the far side, staring into the darkness.

He watched lights blink on outside and lift into the night.

"Okay, folks," said Cookie. "Looks like our turn."

It occurred to Nightingale that Cookie, as the surviving member of the command crew, was now the captain.

The harness, adjusting for his prone position, slipped down over his thighs and shoulders. It was fortunate that it did, because a sudden gust of wind hit them as they started up, rocking the spacecraft.