if any of them had survived. He tried the shuttle’s communicator, but
it was as dead as his suit’s.
“You won’t raise them," Mipp said, shaking his head. “You can’t raise the dead. I heard them; they cut off, while they were
running. I was
trying to tell them—"
“Mipp, they changed channels, that was all. Didn’t you hear Kraiklyn. They swapped channels because Lamm was shouting so much."
Mipp crouched in his seat, shaking his head. “I didn’t hear that," he said after a moment. “That wasn’t what I heard. I was
trying to tell them
about the ice… the size of it; the height." He shook his head again. “They’re dead, Horza."
“They were well away from us, Mipp," Horza said quietly. “At least a kilometer. They probably survived. If they were in shadow,
if they’d run
when we did… They were further back. They’re probably alive, Mipp. We’ve got to go back and get them."
Mipp shook his head. “Can’t, Horza. They must be dead. Even Neisin. Went off for a walk… after you had all gone. Had to leave
without
him. Couldn’t raise him. They must be dead. All of them."
“Mipp," Horza said, “it wasn’t a very
big
nuke."
Mipp laughed, then groaned. He shook his head again. “So what. You didn’t see that ice, Horza; it was—"
Just then the shuttle lurched. Horza looked quickly to the screen, but there was only the glowing light of the cloud they
were flying through, all
around them. “Oh God," Mipp whispered, “we’re losing it."
“What’s wrong." Horza asked. Mipp shrugged painfully.
“Everything. I think we’re dropping, but I’ve no altimeter, no airspeed indicator, communicator or nav gear: nothing…. Running
rough
because of all these holes and the doors being open."
“We’re losing height." Horza asked, looking at Mipp.
Mipp nodded. “You want to start throwing things out." he said. “Well, throw things out. Might get us more height." The shuttle
lurched again.
“You’re serious," Horza said, starting to get out of the seat. Mipp nodded.
“We’re dropping. I’m serious. Damn, even if we did go back we couldn’t take this thing over the Edgewall, not even with one
or two of us
just…" Mipp’s voice trailed off.
Horza levered himself painfully out of his seat and through the door.
In the passenger compartment there was smoke, mist and noise. The hazy light streamed through the doors. He tried to tear
the seats from
the walls, but they wouldn’t move. He looked at Lenipobra’s broken body and burned face. The shuttle lurched;
for a second Horza felt lighter
inside his suit. He grabbed Lenipobra’s suit by the arm and hauled the dead youth to the ramp.
He pushed the corpse over the ramp, and the
limp husk fell, vanishing into the mist below. The shuttle banked one way, then
the other, almost throwing Horza off his feet.
He found some other bits and pieces: a spare suit helmet, a length of thin rope, an AG harness and a heavy gun tripod. He
threw them out.
He found a small fire extinguisher. He looked round but there didn’t seem to be any flames and the smoke hadn’t
got any worse. He held on to
the extinguisher and went through to the flight deck. The smoke appeared to be clearing there,
too.
“How are we doing." he asked. Mipp shook his head.
“Don’t know." He nodded at the seat Horza had been sitting in. “You can unlock that from the deck. Throw it out."
Horza found the latches securing the seat to the deck. He undid them and dragged the seat through the door, to the ramp, and
threw it out
along with the extinguisher.
“There are catches on the walls, near this bulkhead," Mipp called, then grunted with pain. He went on, “You can detach the
wall seats."
Horza found the catches, and pushed first one line of seats, then the other, complete with straps and webbing, along the rails
fixed to the
shuttle interior, until they rolled out, bouncing on the ramp edge and then spinning away into the glowing mist.
He felt the shuttle bank again.
The door between the passenger compartment and the flight deck slammed shut. Horza went forward to it; it was locked.
“Mipp!" he shouted.
“Sorry, Horza," Mipp’s voice came weakly from the other side of the door. “I can’t go back. Kraiklyn would kill me if he isn’t
dead already.
But I couldn’t find them. I just couldn’t. It was only luck I saw you."
“Mipp, don’t be crazy. Unlock the door." Horza shook it. It wasn’t strong; he could break his way through it if he had to.
“Can’t, Horza…. Don’t try to force the door; I’ll point her nose straight down; I swear it. We can’t be that high above the
sea anyway…. I can
hardly keep her flying as it is…. If you want, try closing the doors manually. There should be an access
panel somewhere on the rear wall."
“Mipp, for God’s sake, where are you
going.
They’re going to blow the place up in a few days. We can’t fly forever."
“Oh, we’ll ditch before that," Mipp’s voice came from behind the closed door. He sounded tired. “We’ll ditch before they blow
the Orbital up,
Horza, don’t you worry. This thing’s dying."
“But where are you
going.
" Horza repeated, shouting at the door.
“Don’t know, Horza. The far side maybe… Evanauth… I don’t know. Just away. I—" There was a thump as though something had fallen
to
the floor, and Mipp cursed. The shuttle juddered, heeling over briefly.
“What is it." Horza asked anxiously.
“Nothing," Mipp said. “I dropped the medkit, that’s all."
“Shit," Horza said under his breath, and sat down, back against the bulkhead.
“Don’t worry, Horza, I’ll… I’ll… do what I can."
“Yes, Mipp," Horza said. He got to his feet again, ignoring the ache of exhaustion in both legs and the stabbing pain in his
right calf, and
went to the rear of the shuttle. He looked for an access panel, found one and prized it open. It revealed
another fire extinguisher; he threw it out,
too. On the other wall the panel led to a hand crank. Horza twisted the grip.
The doors started to close slowly, then jammed. He strained at the
lever until it snapped; he swore and threw it out as well.
Just then the shuttle came clear of the mist. Horza looked down and saw the ruffled surface of a gray sea where slow waves
rolled and
broke. The bank of mist lay behind them, an indeterminate gray curtain beneath which the sea disappeared. The sunlight
slanted across the
layered mist, and hazy clouds filled the sky.
Horza watched the broken handle tumble down toward the sea, becoming smaller and smaller; it stroked a mark of white across
the water,
then it was gone. He reckoned they were about one hundred meters above the sea. The shuttle banked, forcing Horza
to grab the side of the
door; the craft turned to head almost parallel to the cloud bank.
Horza went to the bulkhead and banged on the door. “Mipp. I can’t get the doors closed."
“It’s all right," the other man replied faintly.
“Mipp, open the door. Don’t be crazy."
“Leave me alone, Horza. Leave me alone, understand."
“God-
damn,
" Horza said to himself. He went back to the open doors, buffeted by the wind curling back in from the slipstream. They seemed
to be heading away from the Edgewall, judging by the angle of the sun. Behind them lay nothing but sea and clouds. There was
no sign of the
Olmedreca
or any other craft or ship. The seemingly flat horizon to either side disappeared into a haze; the ocean gave no impression
of being
concave, only vast. Horza tried to stick his head round the corner of the shuttle’s open door to see where they were
going. The rush of air forced
his head back before he could take a proper look, and the craft lurched again slightly, but
he had an impression of another horizon as flat and