Mallory had already made four kilometers toward lifeboat number five by the time dawn broke. He kept trying to radio the others, and the yellow point of the sun had begun poking through the canopy at him before he finally got a response.
“Father Mallory?” came Dr. Dorner’s voice.
“Yes, what’s your situation?”
“Dr. Brody is still unconscious, but Dr. Pak and I are both all right.”
Mallory thanked God that they had made it through reentry in one piece. “Good, that’s good. Have you heard anything from the
“No. But it took a while to get to the comm unit. We have a little problem.”
Mallory’s breath caught. “What?”
“We seem to be stuck in a tree.”
Mallory picked up his pace through the woods as he got the details from Dr. Dorner. Their lifeboat had made a softer landing than anyone had a right to expect. The unfortunate side of this was that, unlike Mallory’s lifeboat, lifeboat number five didn’t hit with quite enough force to break the trees it landed on. Dr. Dorner had managed to open the door and discovered that they were at least fifty meters up. There was rope in the emergency kit somewhere, but their perch was precarious enough that Dr. Dorner didn’t want to risk the movement that would be required to find it in the jumble of debris that filled the lifeboat. Even if they had the rope at hand, they had no way to safely get Brody to the ground.
“Can you see how the lifeboat is supported?”
“N-no.” Her voice was thick with fear.
“We need to get all of you out of that lifeboat,” Mallory said.
“I don’t know how we can.”
Mallory heard creaking wood over the open link. They had to get out of there before the support gave way. “Look, don’t worry about getting down. The immediate problem is getting Brody to a stable location. Look out the door. You must see other branches big enough to support you.”
He heard her suck in a breath, then the comm followed with rustling movement and more creaking. “I’m here.” Now her voice was cut with the sound of wind. More creaking, followed by a snap, and she gasped.
“Are you all right?”
“The lifeboat shifted,” she whispered.
“Do you see anything within reach?”
“I’m looking . . . There’s a branch below the door. It’s about a meter in diameter.”
“Perfect, can one of you get to it?”
“I don’t know if I—” Her voice was cut off by more rustling and creaking, and Mallory heard muffled voices he couldn’t make out.
“Dr. Dorner?”
“Leon said he can try.”
“Okay,” Mallory sucked in a breath. “What kind of shape is Dr. Brody in? Is he conscious?”
“No. We’ve tried waking him.”
Mallory sucked in a breath. None of the options were particularly good, but they couldn’t stay in the lifeboat. “Can you move him yourself?”
“I-I don’t think so.”
“Then you and Dr. Pak need to move him to the doorway. Then Dr. Pak can go outside and help you pass Dr. Brody through the doorway.”
