“As I said, I was in another chamber…there was one passage. There might be others.”

“And there are other access vents,” Makali said.

All heads turned toward her. “Of course there are other vents,” Weldon said, not bothering to disguise his impatience. “The surface is riddled with them.”

“They were firing like RCS jets, too,” Harley said.

“I’m not talking about those,” Makali said. “We detected more vents like Vesuvius, where it appears you can actually reach Keanu’s interior.”

Finally Zack lost patience. “Everybody shut up! How many did you find, and where are they?”

“We never had a complete revolution of Keanu to observe,” Makali said, happy to be an analyst rather than a combatant. “It was only once Keanu performed its venting-capture maneuver that we were able to detect differences in some of the vents.

“But we identified four where the spectra indicated outgassing of atmosphere rather than propulsive material. Vesuvius was one of these.”

Shane Weldon wasn’t ready to let the matter drop. “It would have been nice to know before Zack and his crew—and the Brahma crew—found out the hard way.”

“I’m going to guess,” Zack said, “that Makali’s team didn’t know until we were already on EVA.”

“Even later,” she said. She turned to Weldon and gestured to Nayar, including him. “Or we surely would have shared that information.”

“Fine,” Harley said, “we’re all going to sing campfire songs now. What the hell does it mean?”

“One thing’s obvious,” Zack said. “Keanu is large enough to contain several habitats the size of this.”

“We agreed on that some time ago,” Weldon said.

“Okay, then, Shane, if our habitat could be reached through Vesuvius Vent, then it makes sense to assume that these other habitats might also be reached by these—what did you call them, Makali? Access vents.”

“Of course,” Nayar said. “And while all knowledge is helpful, what use is this?”

Now Zack knew what he wanted to say. He could feel his spirits lifting even before he said the words: “It means we might be able to reach these other habitats. We aren’t trapped in this one. And Keanu has some amazing capabilities—we might find the control center for the whole operation.”

He could see them all—each in his or her fashion—imagining the possibilities. Weldon was the first to reset to skepticism. “I don’t see how we reach these other vents, even if they happen to be within walking distance. We don’t have EVA suits, or maybe you forgot.”

Weldon’s tone infuriated him, but Zack remained calm. These people were just as tired and fried as he was. “I’m not saying we have the entire solution in our hands. I’m just saying…we have a literal opening.”

Now Makali Pillay was nodding enthusiastically. “We should not only search for a way out and to the other habitats, we should go back to the vesicles.”

“The what?” Weldon said.

“Vesicles,” Makali said patiently. “It’s a term from biology and means a bubble, which is sort of what brought us here—”

“The term isn’t important, Makali,” Nayar said, “but this is: Our…vesicle was literally dissolving as we disembarked. What do you suppose is left of it?”

“Ours, too,” Weldon said.

“Probably not much,” Makali said. “But we have all these people, and while keeping us fed and watered will occupy most of us…some should take the time and go back, find out what’s there, what can be used…whether or not those landing chambers give access elsewhere.” She smiled. “Sorry, I’m babbling. It’s probably the hunger.”

“Haven’t you gotten anything to eat yet?” Zack said. He searched for Xavier, who was just a few meters away. “Hey,” he said.

“Way ahead of you, boss,” Xavier said. He held out a vege-fruit to Makali. “One of the leftovers, ma’am. Sorry we didn’t have one earlier.”

“Not a problem!” Makali said, biting into the item without delay and with considerable relish. With her mouth full, she said, “I just hope the blight doesn’t destroy these…vege-things.”

Weldon was like a gardener intent on killing a weed. “Even assuming we can get out of this…tin can,” he said, “I don’t think there’s a high probability—by which I mean over one percent—that we’ll be able to take control of this vehicle.”

“We don’t have to take control,” Zack said, seeing another possibility that he had failed to present. And beginning to resent the fact that he was doing all the heavy conceptual lifting here. “We just have to be able to send a signal to Earth.”

“You’re thinking of, what, a giant signal fire? Maybe in the shape of an SOS?” Nayar said, joining the fun.

The group’s manner had changed, from serious skepticism to outright mockery. It was a defense mechanism Zack recognized; he was prone to it himself. The only response was to play it straight and not get angry. It made you look like the dull kid on the playground, but sometimes you had to do it. “I don’t think rescue is out of the question,” Zack said.

“Let’s run those numbers, then,” Weldon said, moving from mockery to outright hostility. He must be tired out of his mind, Zack thought, trying to be charitable—and functional. “The world’s entire near-term—by which I mean for the next couple of years—capability for sending manned vehicles to Keanu is three. Two Destiny-Ventures, one Brahma.” He turned to Nayar. “Unless you guys have a secret stash somewhere.”

Nayar was shaking his head. “We would be lucky to launch Brahma-2 in two years.”

“Even if you launched all three vehicles uncrewed, that’s twelve seats. Okay, you can squeeze one extra body…call it fifteen. We have a hundred and eighty-seven souls on board! What would you do? Have a fucking lottery?”

“Actually,” Harley said, “it’s a hundred and eighty-six.” When no one responded, he added: “Minus Bynum.”

That brought a savage smile to Weldon’s face. “Well, that improves the picture. So we’d only have a hundred and seventy-one people condemned to death—”

“Shut up!” Makali Pillay placed herself in front of Weldon, who, probably to his great surprise, did not tower over her. Rather the opposite…she actually pushed the man back a step. “Since when does NASA run away from a challenge?”

“Since I’ve been around,” Harley said, in a voice so low only Zack could hear. And he couldn’t help laughing a little.

“Shane, you sound like my mother.” Makali turned to Nayar; she wasn’t going to spare him, either. “And you, too. Zack is talking about a chance, that’s all. He can do the math; he knows we can’t be rescued.

“But some of us could be! And the others…wouldn’t it be great to be resupplied from Earth? Be back in touch? We might be exiles, but we wouldn’t be alone! And how would this be any different from being colonists on the Moon or Mars? Fine, we didn’t volunteer…but here we are! Let’s make the best of the situation!”

The combination of youth, beauty, vehemence—and righteous fury—was successful. Weldon actually blushed. “Good point,” he said. “Sorry, Zack, I—”

“No problem.” It was probably valuable to have let Weldon have his say. He was the great soldier type: full of complaints and justifiable worries, but once allowed to vent…ready to take the hill. “So, do we have a plan for tomorrow?” Weldon said. “Election, then most of the company engaged in finding food, water, and shelter while some of us become scouts?”

The agreement was universal, but muted. Zack was amazed to see how quickly everyone’s enthusiasm waned. His, too. Five minutes ago he had been ready to venture to the far ends of the Temple…now all he wanted to do was sit back down.

As he sank against the wall, Xavier sidled up to him, a half-smile on his face. “Say, boss, you know this vege-fruit everybody keeps talkin’ about? Like it’s alien food?”

“Yeah?”

“Any of them ever seen a pawpaw before?” Xavier giggled. “’Cause that’s what they are.” He waddled off, pleased with himself…and Zack couldn’t blame him. All the supposed brainpower on display here in the Temple wasn’t a match for a teenage fry cook from the bayou.