"But many other Explorers thought to pack uniforms. They were warned they might be marooned here, so they brought important equipment and valuable personal treasures." I looked at the trash strewn about the square. "It seems those treasures were not so valuable after all. When the Explorers were ready to go, they did not care what they left behind. They just tossed everything away to rot in the street… to get cold and wet and snowed on, because they did not really care about anything except themselves."

I stared up into the cold wet snow, suddenly feeling sad. "Even Festina went away," I whispered.

Uclod patted my hand. "Hey," he said in a soft voice, "I read your friend’s statement about what happened here. Ramos didn’t leave your planet willingly; and anyway, she thought you were dead."

"But I told her I could not die! I told her my people go on and on."

"Oar," Uclod interrupted, "you looked dead. Ramos couldn’t find a heartbeat, not even with topnotch Explorer sensing equipment. She decided to leave you among your own people, because that’s what shethought you’d want."

"But I was not dead! Not even a little bit!"

"Yeah, okay," the wee orange man said, "Ramos got it wrong. But even so, she didn’t just desert you — she took you back to that tower and laid you out all pretty. Hands folded, eyes closed, ax across your chest." He gave a little smite. "That’s what I thought I’d find when I came looking for you: a nice glass corpse I could photograph. I was even debating whether to lug your remains back to New Earth, so’s the lawyers could use you as Exhibit One. But when I got to where Ramos said you’d be, lo and behold, you were breathing. That’s why I asked if you were really Oar."

"Which I am!" I told him, suddenly feeling bright again. "You may rejoice, for I am not deceased after all."

The little man shrugged. "I’m thrilled for you, toots, I really am; but I gotta say, you were worth more to me as dead meat.