“Well, roughly midi, ah, middle of the day. They took extra air tanks down, but they are on their last ones by now. Maybe they’re trapped in there.” Her voice rose before it pinched off.
A brief silence. Conflicting emotions boiled up in Julia’s mind in rapid succession: worry, fear, sympathy, rage, envy, satisfaction, then shame. Through the fog she heard Marc’s soft drawl.
“Ah, Claude, we’re going to talk about this for a bit and get back to you.”
“Oh, merde. Please, do not take too long. Zhey could die out there. It is not our fault, we did not make the rules for this trip…”
“Yeah, well, we didn’t either. And we’re a long way from the vent.”
Marc switched off. He swiveled in his couch and looked at the others quizzically. “Well?”
“Serves them right!” exploded Julia. “I warned that little cocksure bastard that it was dangerous!”
“How do you like that? They expect us to help them!” said Raoul grimly.
“I wouldn’t give them a sample, so they went to get their own,” said Julia. “They’ve paid the price of competitiveness.”
“They got what they deserved,” agreed Marc.
Viktor held up his hands. “First thing to do is find out if they need rescue,” he said mildly.
Julia took a deep breath, let her anger drain off. Slow…easy… She shot a grateful smile at Viktor. “Right,” she said. “Any ideas?”
“Try them again on radio, check sensors again.”
“Oui, mon capitaine,” said Marc. He turned back to the console. “We don’t even know what radio frequency they use, they were so determined to keep their plans so goddamn secret,” he said. “I’ll use a broad-band sweep.”
They all sat and waited, Julia’s mind whirling.
“Situation unchanged,” he reported after a long three minutes.
“Maybe they’re having cable problems,” said Julia. “It’s easy enough to get tangled, in those clumsy suits.”
“Maybe it’s a phony distress call, to get us away from base while they steal our fuel,” said Raoul.
“Why do they need it?” asked Marc.
“True, race is over,” said Viktor.
“Not quite,” growled Raoul. “What about Julia’s samples in the greenhouse?”
“But they’re in the vent,” protested Marc “They can get their own.”
“How do we know where they are?” Raoul shot back. “I wouldn’t put anything past that arrogant squint.”
Julia thought rapidly. After her accidents, Viktor would automatically object to her going back to the vent. But maybe this gave her the crack she needed. “Look, if the two of you stay here, Airbus can’t pull a surprise visit if they’re not at the vent. Then Marc and I can go see what the matter is.” She glanced at Raoul, added quickly. “Or if there is anything the matter.”
Viktor frowned, but said nothing.
“We owe them nothing,” said Raoul bitterly. “Still, the law of the desert says you don’t leave someone stranded on the side of the road.”
“They were eager enough to abandon us,” said Marc.
“That’s the difference between them and us,” said Raoul. “Where I was brought up, you didn’t.”
Marc considered for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. I don’t see a lot of choices here. Okay, I’ll go.”
Julia was aware that Viktor was hanging back while the rest of the team came back together. Careful now…you re still on pretty thin ice. “Well, we can’t just leave them out there.”
Viktor looked unhappy. “I agree. I think we must go see. But you two are not to make another descent, understand? It will be dusk when you get there. Too late to set up safely.”
“We won’t take any chances,” Julia said.
“We will monitor you on radio.” Viktor scowled at them both, one at a time. “Stay in touch. That is captain’s order.”
35
FEBRUARY 1, 2018
AS THEY REACHED THE VENT, PHOBOS ROSE IN THE RUBY WEST.
It was a lump of white, about a third the size of the moon’s disk, and if she had taken the time to watch she could have seen it crawl across the sprinkling of stars now poking through the gathering dark. She wondered whether she would ever have time to watch that happen again.
The Airbus climbing rig looked first class. Chen and Gerda had worked from a single heavy-duty winch, which meant they’d alternated their descents and ascents.
“I prefer one man, one winch,” said Julia.
Marc shrugged. “I’ve heard of these, never seen one. Look over here. The differential transfers power from one cable to the other depending on which one is sending a signal. Same idea as the rear axle in a car, actually. Hmm. Saves mass, I guess. Now where is the test switch?”
