"he couldn't have gone much farther than this, mac."

"we've got plenty of air, captain. i'm not giving up—"

the two figures soared on spurting jets a hundred feet above the surface of ganymede. when teejay went higher every few moments, she could barely make out the two spaceships, far away to the left. occasionally she saw the beaters working in teams of six, cumbersome tanks of oxygen strapped to their backs.

"did you hear the voice, mac?"

"no."

"had stedman been drinking?"

"that's ridiculous. the boy was with us, and you saw for yourself."

"true. and i've said that the voices of ganymede are no strangers to me, anyway. maybe i was trying to rationalize."

"we'll see when we find steve."

"if we find him. the fear can make you do crazy things out here, mac. like going for too long without sufficient oxygen."

"that's what i'm worrying about."