CHAPTER 12
Tarkos set the cruiser down a hundred meters from the Ulltrian ship. As soon as he leapt from the airlock and took a few crunching steps across the ice, a tidal shockwave shuddered through the surface, throwing him up and nearly onto his back. He found his balance as quickly as he could, and took big, exaggerated steps over the heaving frozen crust, hurrying to the Ulltrian ship.
The space gnasher glowed an insidious Cherenkov blue, making the ice beneath it appear gelatinous and green. He stopped in the sickly light.
“Pala?” he transmitted, speaking English. “Pala? Answer me. Are you OK?” Only silence came back. “I can’t receive any telemetry from your suit, but I’m hoping you have a radio, or even an implant, that can get this. Let me know you are safe.”
But still
