They walked single file toward the lander, Josh in the lead. Fortunately, the sand had not totally buried it. The top half was visible. It took an hour to dig out the rest with the portable shovels they carried in their packs.
When the door opened and the ramp descended, Josh breathed a sigh of relief. After shedding his pack, Josh sank into the pilot’s seat and contacted Wong who assured him the Marco would be in position to dock with the lander within the hour. All they had to do was take off, maneuver themselves into orbit and circle until the rendezvous time.
“Roger,” he said to Wong and glanced at Paris in the copilot seat. The Teneran nodded that he understood.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Josh said. Without information on how often those sandstorms occurred, he wanted to get
