“I don’t know,” she said. “There’s no one to help us and how can I know⁠—what we should do⁠—”

She was from the city. How could she know what to do on an alien, hostile world where armed explorers had died? She had tried to be brave before the Gerns but now⁠—now night was at hand and out of it would come terror and death for herself and Billy. They would never see Dale again, never see Athena or Earth or even the dawn on the world that had killed them.⁠ ⁠…

She tried not to cry, and failed. Billy’s cold little hand touched her own, trying to reassure her.

“Don’t cry, Mama. I guess⁠—I guess everybody else is scared, too.”

Everyone else.⁠ ⁠…

She was not alone. How could she have thought she was alone? All around her were others, as helpless and uncertain as she. Her story was only one out of four thousand.