The voice comes in over Bill's headset, loud and drowning in static "Hey Bill, you still alive over there?" He can't quite place the speaker, but the voice sounds familiar--and certainly less formal than he'd expect from a Sañiran inquisitor.

"Yeah, I'm doin' great" he coughs out.

"What's your O2 meter read?"

"Damn thing's busted--started showin' red fifteen minutes ago."

"We'll get you home. Just hold on a minute." Aboard [i]Bohr[/i], Fermi starts frantically searching the ship's supply locker. "We got any flashlights, Roman?"

"No. Your fault."

"Damn it." Fermi goes back to the comm "Hey Bill. You still got battery power? Can you switch on your lights?"

[i]Bohr[/i] is a fine orbiter craft, but it wasn't designed to dock with another ship. The thing didn't even have lights--none where needed, not even on the dark side of Asphodel. But [i]Gödel[/i] was designed to land on Akheron's surface, and Akheron sported more craters than the Taiben mountains. And these craters didn't glow. So landing in shadow wasn't only possible, it was the mission plan--the flattest surface [i]Gödel[/i] could find would be at the center of a crater.

No response from Bill, but [i]Gödel's[/i] lights switch on, and [i]Bohr[/i] is bathed in a neon blue haze. Fermi puts on his gloves and helmet and pulls himself into the airlock.

"Hey Bill, I'm gonna open up our airlock. Can you make your way over here?" Through the porthole he can see Bill's ship, a mere twenty meters away. Fermi seals the interior airlock and undogs the exterior. His tether attached, Fermi pushes off into the abyss.

He exists in a universe with only two other objects--[i]Bohr[/i], behind him, [i]Gödel[/i] ahead. Between and around them there is nothing. The neon blue light lances in through his faceplate, blinding him, and so Fermi holds up his hand to shield his eyes. To his surprise, the light goes away--entirely, as if the very act of shielding his eyes extinguished it. No haze, no reflection. The universe shrinks down to just him, one man drifting alone in the cold dark.

A sudden jerk--his tether. Panic rises in his chest and he pulls back hard, slamming himself into [i]Bohr[/i], frantically grabbing the handhold. Blinking back sweat, Fermi finds he is shaking uncontrollably.

[i]Gödel's[/i] hatch opens, and Bill floats out, his movements fluid. "Nico, is that you?"

"Y-yup."

"You wanna float over here and give me a hand?"

"N-n-no way in h-hell."

Dirac's voice comes in over the comms "I'll get us closer."

[i]Bohr[/i] lurches and Fermi sees Bill and [i]Gödel[/i] grow bigger. Gradually, they drift together. "Nico. I'm gonna jump here--" he gasps, coughing violently. After a few moments it abates "--I'm gonna jump here and you catch me, okay?"

"Got it." Fermi untangles his arms from the handhold, calmer now.

Ten meters away, and Bill pushes off, drifting gracefully toward Fermi's outstretched arms. Fermi reaches out to grab him but can't quite reach and suddenly Bill is drifting over him, past [i]Bohr[/i], into the black empty sky.

"Oh shit oh shit oh shit."

Fermi pushes off, up to meet Bill, and wraps his arms around the astronaut's leg. A moment later and the tether goes taut, then jerks back, and the two swing back over [i]Bohr[/i] the other way, slamming into the dorsal heat shielding. They are shaken, terrified, but alive, and manage to crawl back into [i]Bohr[/i], Fermi's muscles trembling from exhaustion and fear, Bill wheezing, barely conscious. The moment the airlock is pressurized he frantically unscrews his helmet, gasping. "Thank god. Let's go home."

"Hell no." Dirac replies, not taking his eyes off his instruments. "We're gonna map the moon first."

Bill, baffled, scowls, then laughs.

"You didn't think we came all this way for [i]you[/i], did you?"