“We don’t know that for certain,” Bunny said. “Only that Captain Fiske was going to try to find his father, so he could still be alive.”
“Is Fiske’s father the company big shot who’s supposed to know more about Petaybee than anyone else?” Clodagh asked, pausing to lean against the stone.
“Yes,” Steve said. “He’s Dr. Whittaker Fiske, grandson of the Dr. Sven Whittaker-Fiske who developed the Whittaker Effect, the process that perfected the accelerated terraforming technique used to make Petaybee habitable.” When Clodagh gave Steve a long and thoughtful look, he corrected himself. “Or at least he thought he had perfected it.”
“Why didn’t he name it the Fiske Effect then?” Bunny asked.
“He named it for his mother, Dr. Elsie Whittaker. I guess he thought it was appropriate, considering the generative nature of the project.”
Clodagh gave a satisfied grunt and, pushing herself off the wall, was about to move forward again when she stopped, holding her hand up for silence. “Listen!”
The sounds were muted but obviously human. Bunny and Sinead dashed forward, Diego, with Dinah at his heels, just behind them. The voices had suddenly risen in excitement, and as Bunny turned the next bend, she stopped in surprise. Nanook had found Yana and was attempting to lick any part of her he could!
“Yana! You’re alive!” Bunny cried, but she had taken no more than one step before she realized that Yana was not the only inhabitant of the large, low cave. And judging by the way the camp had been set up, Yana and her companions had been here a few days. “Who’re all of you?” she demanded.
A sturdy man in a torn uniform and a bandage covering almost all his black hair stood up by the fire, where he had been stirring a pot. “Captain John Greene of the shuttle Sockeye,” he said with a wry smile. “Who’re you?”
“Buneka Rourke of Kilcoole,” Bunny said in stunned courtesy.
“From Kilcoole? Of all the bloody luck,” groaned a disgruntled voice, and a battered, blistered, half-naked, filthy man barely recognizable as the dapper Torkel Fiske rose painfully from his seat on the ground. He placed himself protectively between the rescue party and an older man, who had one arm bound across his chest.
Before either Bunny or Sinead could respond to Torkel’s hostile reaction, Steve Margolies, and Diego, and an excitedly barking Dinah rushed into the cavern, followed more slowly by Clodagh.
To the man behind him, Torkel said, “Just keep calm, Dad. I’ll handle this. These are the rebels I was telling you about. The ones who brainwashed Maddock into helping them.”
“Nonsense, son,” the older man said, stepping gently but firmly past his tottering son. “That’s Steve Margolies there, and Frank Metaxos’s boy, Diego. They’re no more rebels than I am.”
“Dr. Fiske,” Steve exclaimed, rushing toward the older man and pumping his good hand excitedly. “I can’t believe you survived.”
“Neither can I,” the older Fiske replied in a droll voice.
“Dr. Fiske, in the past few days, Diego and these people have showed me the most amazing developments. You simply won’t believe what I have to tell you …”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Dr. Fiske said. “Stop posturing for a moment, son, and sit down before you fall down.” He gently pushed Torkel back to the floor. “And for the love of Mike let these people clean you up and dress your wounds. You’re no damned good to me dead. You, young Diego, lend me a hand here to clean up my son’s wounds before they fester. I’ve only got the one that’s useful now, myself. I’ll debrief Dr. Margolies.”
“Yes, sir,” Diego said, taking over the bowl of water and the cloth. Having learned a few things from caring for his father, Diego went about the duty both gently and conscientiously, cleansing the portions of Torkel’s body that Torkel couldn’t have reached. The captain wearily protested every dab, as if Diego were deliberately trying to inflict more pain than was absolutely necessary. Diego’s private opinion was visible on his face: the captain was acting like a big baby.
Dr. Fiske settled down to one side of Torkel, and Steve hunkered down and began talking in a rapid-fire explanation full of words Bunny didn’t understand even when she could make them out.