Their first expedition outside the ship didn’t lead to any zoological discoveries. Whether this was due to a lack of fauna in the vicinity or their arrival during winter hibernation season, Jude couldn’t say. The daylight hours were short enough for it to be winter, he thought, but who knew?
He busied himself collecting rock and soil samples. The trail where they’d skidded to a halt was nearly free of snow and therefore a good place to start. It took quite a bit of prying because the ground was frozen solid, but he eventually got a nice collection of samples. The area looked promising for bauxite, so he imagined the boss would be pleased. At least this whole adventure was good for something.
Actually, it was good for two things, if you counted Cal’s delight at playing in the snow. Some o
