“She turned on the projector,” Komov said finally.
It didn’t occur to me right away.
“What projector?”
Komov, without responding, pointed out a depressed button.
“Ah,” Vanderhuse said sadly.
I didn’t say anything. I picked up the tape and went over to the transmitter. To be honest, I had nothing to say. People have been noisily and dishonorably banned from space for far lesser misdeeds. Maika turned on the emergency flash projector mounted on the hoop. You can imagine what the cave’s inhabitants must have felt like when a tiny sun suddenly flashed in the otherwise eternal darkness. An unconscious scout can be found by the light of this flash from the orbit even on the light side of a planet… even if he is buried in rubble… This projector flashes in a wide spectral range, from ultravio
