The Year's Best Science Fiction 15th Annual by Gardner Dozois

Author:Gardner Dozois
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2011-10-27T03:28:58+00:00

PART I

He turned with a cry of surprise, falling helplessly with a silky slowness she would never forget. Piotr had caught his boot and when he tried to free it he managed to trip as well. His second yelp rang in Ann's suit corn when he bit the ground and his ankle snapped. His right arm smacked down vainly as he tried to break the fall. The impact sent plumes of red dust arcing up into the thin atmosphere. She trotted to him in the long, gliding steps that covered ground best in the deep gravel and low gravity. The dust began its lazy descent as she bent over Piotr and said, "How bad?"

"Da ... Felt it go. Foot .. ."

She unfastened the bottom of his insulated legging and ran her hands lightly over the ankle cuff of the thin pressure suit underneath. "Suit looks OK, no breaches. How's your air?"

The damned dust had settled on his faceplate and she couldn't see him, but knew he would be checking the readouts on the inside of the helmet. "Normal."

His voice was thin and strained. "Good. How do you feel?"

He shifted slightly, groaned. "Like yesterday's blini. Light-headed. My right foot hurts like hell."

Keep him talking. Can't risk shock.

She kept her tone light. "That's what you get for doing cartwheels."

"Unh. I can't move it."

She frowned, wondering how difficult it was going to be to get him back into the rover. Help was more than 35 klicks away, and she was driving the only vehicle on the planet. So the two of them had to manage it on their own. From the rover she could contact the other two members of the team, for moral support if nothing else. If she could get him there.

"Let's get you up."

"Awright." His slightly slurred voice worried her. They were all worn down after months in this cold, raw landscape and shock could be setting in.

She bent over and slipped her left arm clumsily around his waist, feeling like a kid in a snowsuit.

Suit-to-suit contact had a curiously remote feel about it, with no feedback from the skin. Still, she liked hugging him, even this way. They slept together in a close embrace, ever since the launch from Earth orbit a year ago.

"I've got some great stuff in the rover that'll make you feel like a new man."

"Good. Ajeee."

He heaved himself up onto his left leg, leaning heavily on her. Together they struggled for balance, threatened to go over, then steadied. She had long ago stopped counting how many times the 0.38 gees of Mars had helped them through crucial moments. It had proved the only helpful aspect of the planet.

"Whew. Made it, lover." Keep the patter going, don't alarm him. "Ready? I'll walk, you hop as best you can."

Like a drunken three-legged sack-race team, they managed to stagger slowly up the crater slope.

"You will work as a team," the instructor at mission training had said, but she hadn't anticipated this. Over corn came deep, ragged gasps. Hopping through gravel, even in the low gravity, was exhausting Piotr.

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