BOUNDARY(136)

If they could have set the winch cable on something towards the top of the ridge, that would have been better, but nothing on top provided reasonable purchase. However, if Thoat could survive the first few dozen yards down, it would pass the outcropping to which the winch cable was attached. From then on, it would be able to use the winch to slow itself down the rest of the way. Bruce had walked the route several times, visualizing the moves he'd have to make.



"Okay, everyone, make sure you're well clear. If anything goes wrong you'll want to be far, far away."



"Understood." Madeline and the others moved to the far side of the main ridge.



"Everyone's clear, Bruce. The cable's fastened. Snug it up."



The winch turned slowly, until increasing tension made the rover quiver. "Stop! You got it. Now, I'm trying to program the thing to keep the tension constant."



"Don't get too fancy on me, A.J. I don't need your gadget to yank on me at the wrong time. Maybe I should do the controlling."



"Do you think you can do it well enough along with all the other stuff you'll have to do?"



There was a moment's pause. "Blowed if I know for sure, but I guess you might have a point. Just make sure that it won't be pulling me if it's sideways on, right?"



"Got you. Limit of angular deflection. All right, whenever you're ready."



The thin air didn't transmit much sound, but a faint whine and rumble could be heard from Thoat. With a lurch, the rover moved up and forward, eating cable as it progressed steadily up the slope. "Keep coming, keep coming . . . almost to the edge . . . another few . . ."



Bruce gunned the engine and manually overrode the steady pressure of the winch, giving it a momentary full-strength pull. Thoat popped up out of its former prison. The front two pairs of wheels smashed down onto the inclined stone, while the rear wheels dropped with a ponderous crunch onto the makeshift ramp.



Which promptly shattered and collapsed.



Thoat slewed sideways and skidded, nearly tipping, as Bruce fought for control. The independently suspended wheels spun, trying to keep a grip, as the rover staggered drunkenly down the rocks. A.J.'s program had cut out completely as there was no predicting the angle at which Thoat might be.



The rover almost plummeted past the rock where the winch cable was attached, and at that point Bruce hit the winch controls again. The winch screamed protest at the abuse it was suddenly being asked to take, but the composite-metal cable held well. Thoat slowed and stopped, and then, carefully, began to make a rear-first descent down the steep slope.



A few moments later, the rover was on level ground. "Cooo-eeee! Now that was a ride, blokes!"



"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Madeline said dryly. "Let's hope we don't have to experience it again, however."



"No worries, once was enough. Let's get moving, shall we?"



"Shut her down for now. We want to load all the equipment we possibly can into her now."



"Right."





About two hours later, the last of the equipment that had not already been in Thoat was finally stowed. Then Rich turned to the others. "It's . . . time."



Helen nodded. "We probably won't be coming back this way, at least not for quite a while. And there's no point in bringing him with us."



The rocky soil was not tremendously hard-packed, and they had excavation tools already. Digging a hole did not take long.



"Do you want to say a few words, Rich?"



Skibow stood at the edge of the grave, looking down at the body. "Ryu Sakai was a good scientist and an even better friend. I'd known him since he was a visiting student at my university. I remember he once insisted that I try out for one of the musicals they had at the college, a production of Little Shop of Horrors. I got the part of the dentist and he got the part of Audrey II, the plant. That surprised me— all of us in the cast—because none of us had known what a good singing voice he had."



Skibow cleared his throat. "Ryu was always that way. One minute, looking like a professor and insisting on proper protocol; then, the next, startling you with some joke or new skill you had no idea he had. He used to do sleight of hand tricks in class . . ." Rich trailed off, then continued: "But he was always focused in the end on his career. That's why he was here, because there was never any question about following any path he could get to the other worlds he'd studied by remote. Ryu Sakai would have rather lived, of course. But he would also be honored to be the first man buried on another world. And he wouldn't want to hold us back."



He choked suddenly, then cut it off, sniffed back tears, and nodded. "He'd give us his blessing, I think."