this was no time to bask in the warmth. They had to get busy.
Everything they needed was hauled outside—tools, food, dietary supplements, water, inflatable tents, oxygen tanks. They had to hurry before dawn came.
At one point Wolverton found himself working with the duplicate Nozaki.
"You shouldn't stare at people,” she said.
"I'm sorry,” Wolverton replied. “It's just that I...."
"You've never seen the same person in two places at the same time,” she said. “I know. I've heard it since the day I came back and found my double here in the compound. Frankly, I'm getting a little tired of talking about it."
It was strange, but this version of Nozaki didn't seem as kindly disposed toward him as the other one. Everything else about them was the same, right down to the identical birthmarks on their throats. The difference must have been due to the experience he'd shared with the other version of her.
"We need those units stacked by the airlock,” Zaremba said, interrupting Wolverton's reverie.
" Vite! Vite! ” Duvic cried from behind him. “It's coming this way!"
"And it's moving fast,” Nozaki said. “There's no time to gather everything up. Just load the rovers and pray that the hoppers get here before it's too late."
"The wieldos...,” Labutunu said, dismayed. “We can't build without them!"
"I know, but we've got to get going."
All the rovers were unfolded, battery packs attached, and the ore boots filled with whatever supplies could be carried. Wolverton jumped into a rover next to Nozaki. Now that both versions of her were suited up, he wasn't sure which Nozaki it was.
Twenty-six rovers drove in a column away from the encroaching sunrise, a scarlet corona behind them on the black rim of the horizon.
"My God,” someone said over the radio.
The fear in that voice caused Wolverton to turn and look behind him. There was the digger, churning up the surface, seeming even more gigantic than the first time he'd seen it, and growing larger by the second.
Just as the images from the flyby had suggested, it was headed straight toward the compound. Its angular legs churned, propelling it forward at a furious pace.
Much of base camp was below ground, only its lead-lined roofs visible from this distance. Wolverton saw the monster take its first bite. He got a brief look at part of its underside where the ground dipped in front of the airlock. Huge spiraling blades sliced into the bunker and the debris fell into its enormous scoop.
Everything was sucked up inside it. There was no sound, only a vibration.
It was like an earthquake, and the rover careened wildly before Nozaki got it back under control.
Refuse shot out through the digger's backside. Jagged pieces of base camp drifted for a moment against the black and red sky and then fell slowly to the surface.
The silence inside Wolverton's helmet made it all the more terrifying. He could hear his own breathing and pulse—but nothing else—as he watched the compound being destroyed.
The caravan veered away from the digger's path, and soon the black colossus was out of sight. Wolverton thought about the few mementos he'd brought from Mars; they were all gone, along with everything else that fifty-two people had called home.
Panic overwhelmed him. Where would they go? It would take at least three hoppers to get everybody off the asteroid, and there weren't three of them close enough to get here any time soon.
"Oh, God,” he said.
"Take it easy, Wolverton,” Nozaki said. “We're not dead yet."
"We might as well be."
"Don't start with that defeatist stuff. That's why you didn't make it back through the bubble."
"The bubble...."
"It's our only chance."
"Do you think we can find it in time?"
"If we're lucky,” Nozaki said.
Wolverton could see her mouth through her visor. She hadn't spoken. It must have been the second Nozaki on the open channel. Or was this the second Nozaki he was riding with? He had no way of knowing if he didn't ask. He
Everything they needed was hauled outside—tools, food, dietary supplements, water, inflatable tents, oxygen tanks. They had to hurry before dawn came.
At one point Wolverton found himself working with the duplicate Nozaki.
"You shouldn't stare at people,” she said.
"I'm sorry,” Wolverton replied. “It's just that I...."
"You've never seen the same person in two places at the same time,” she said. “I know. I've heard it since the day I came back and found my double here in the compound. Frankly, I'm getting a little tired of talking about it."
It was strange, but this version of Nozaki didn't seem as kindly disposed toward him as the other one. Everything else about them was the same, right down to the identical birthmarks on their throats. The difference must have been due to the experience he'd shared with the other version of her.
"We need those units stacked by the airlock,” Zaremba said, interrupting Wolverton's reverie.
" Vite! Vite! ” Duvic cried from behind him. “It's coming this way!"
"And it's moving fast,” Nozaki said. “There's no time to gather everything up. Just load the rovers and pray that the hoppers get here before it's too late."
"The wieldos...,” Labutunu said, dismayed. “We can't build without them!"
"I know, but we've got to get going."
All the rovers were unfolded, battery packs attached, and the ore boots filled with whatever supplies could be carried. Wolverton jumped into a rover next to Nozaki. Now that both versions of her were suited up, he wasn't sure which Nozaki it was.
Twenty-six rovers drove in a column away from the encroaching sunrise, a scarlet corona behind them on the black rim of the horizon.
"My God,” someone said over the radio.
The fear in that voice caused Wolverton to turn and look behind him. There was the digger, churning up the surface, seeming even more gigantic than the first time he'd seen it, and growing larger by the second.
Just as the images from the flyby had suggested, it was headed straight toward the compound. Its angular legs churned, propelling it forward at a furious pace.
Much of base camp was below ground, only its lead-lined roofs visible from this distance. Wolverton saw the monster take its first bite. He got a brief look at part of its underside where the ground dipped in front of the airlock. Huge spiraling blades sliced into the bunker and the debris fell into its enormous scoop.
Everything was sucked up inside it. There was no sound, only a vibration.
It was like an earthquake, and the rover careened wildly before Nozaki got it back under control.
Refuse shot out through the digger's backside. Jagged pieces of base camp drifted for a moment against the black and red sky and then fell slowly to the surface.
The silence inside Wolverton's helmet made it all the more terrifying. He could hear his own breathing and pulse—but nothing else—as he watched the compound being destroyed.
The caravan veered away from the digger's path, and soon the black colossus was out of sight. Wolverton thought about the few mementos he'd brought from Mars; they were all gone, along with everything else that fifty-two people had called home.
Panic overwhelmed him. Where would they go? It would take at least three hoppers to get everybody off the asteroid, and there weren't three of them close enough to get here any time soon.
"Oh, God,” he said.
"Take it easy, Wolverton,” Nozaki said. “We're not dead yet."
"We might as well be."
"Don't start with that defeatist stuff. That's why you didn't make it back through the bubble."
"The bubble...."
"It's our only chance."
"Do you think we can find it in time?"
"If we're lucky,” Nozaki said.
Wolverton could see her mouth through her visor. She hadn't spoken. It must have been the second Nozaki on the open channel. Or was this the second Nozaki he was riding with? He had no way of knowing if he didn't ask. He
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