Devon adjusted his breather and peered down into the chasm. Rock and ice made a crooked mouth below him, slanting inward to form a narrow passage through Pluto’s surface. Far below he could see the green glow of chemical lights illuminating the cavern floor. Seach was just to his right, dangling in a weighted harness and slowly creeping his way around a bulbous bit of rock face. They were both in thermal gear that had seen better days but Seach’s uniform in particular was a faded blue that bordered on gray. If it wasn’t for the bright yellow helmet Devon thought the man could have blended in with the rock quite easily.

Devon’s gear had a patch in the left knee that wasn’t totally sealed. He could feel frigid air leaking past the edges and freezing his skin. When they reached the bottom he would have to wrap it again. Normally he would have complained about the state of their gear, but in light of the fact that Jorry was saving for a new loader he chose to stay quiet. He could manage the cold.

“How you doing down there?” DeFrain called.

He felt his eye twitch and let his rope slip through his hands, lowering himself deeper into the cave. The other party meant to come on this trip cancelled at the last moment, leaving Matthew DeFrain and Patrick Ross as the only other two patrons. Their immaculate thermal gear spoke of wealth and vanity and Devon was hard-pressed not to envy them for it. Ross had taken one look at Seach’s faded gear and given the most derisive smile Devon had ever seen. Seach didn’t seem to care, which was the only thing keeping Devon from punching the man in the throat.

“I told you we should have gone first,” Ross said. His voice was already nasally, but combined with the tinny microphone filter built into the breathers he sounded dramatically worse.

Maybe that was why Ross had such a bad attitude, Devon thought. The man looked like the rough side of a moon’s surface, all pitted and pale, and Devon imagined people hadn’t been altogether kind to him. Still, that wasn’t much of an excuse. Just because the universe was awful didn’t mean he had to be.

“Give the kid a break,” DeFrain said. “It took you forty-five minutes to figure out the rigging on your first descent.”

Devon clenched his teeth.

This was not his first descent. The issue was the narrow passage and the shifting ice above them. Getting through without bashing his head into the cavern wall was tricky when the anchor above kept swaying. He thought about mentioning this but decided against it. DeFrain and Ross would understand soon enough.

He cleared the overhang, letting the rope slip quicker than he should have. His face barely missed the rough rock and he felt something tug on his lower left pant leg. A second later he heard a distinct ripping sound and the skin around his left calf froze as air seeped in. Devon cursed and caught the wall with his feet. He pushed off again, letting the line feed through his hands until he reached the bottom.

His legs felt mushy and awkward after nearly thirty minutes dangling in a harness but he ignored them for more pressing matters. The leak in his knee was negligible; the tear in his calf was not. If he let his skin remain exposed for too long he would get severe frostbite.

Shrugging off his pack, he knelt to the pebbly ground and started searching for his sealant. He always kept the tubular device in the outer pocket of the pack so he was able to locate it quickly. Grabbing the sealant, he turned his attention to the tear in his gear. It was three inches long and made a triangular hook at the upper edge. Devon sighed and opened the sealant, setting its tooth-like end against the lowest point of the tear and turned it on.

Three needlepoints went to work, two of them snagging the torn fabric and pinching it together while the third point mended the tear. He felt the vibrating hum of the device as it spooled thread through its points and dragged it up over the full length of the tear. Fabric bubbled up as it was mended, making another little scar in his gear, and Devon scowled.

Calm and careful, Jorry always said. The difference between life and death on a planet’s surface is always the gear you carry.

He was such an idiot.

“You all right?” Seach asked.

Devon finished with the tear, barely looking up at where his father had touched ground. “Yeah, just a nick in the gear.”

Seach unhooked from his rope and moved to crouch beside him. He glanced up at where DeFrain and Ross were now both negotiating the tighter portion of the cave entrance. To Devon’s annoyance, neither of them seemed to be slowing down. Either they were professional thrill seekers or they just didn’t care if they were brained on the rocks.

“You can’t let them get to you, son.”

“I know I just …” Devon shook his head. He closed the sealant and shoved it back into his bag, trying to articulate what it was about Ross that really bothered him. “I’m wishing the other group hadn’t cancelled or something. Then I wouldn’t have to focus on them so much.”

Seach grinned, his teeth looking sharp and almost green in the chemical lights surrounding them. “You don’t have to focus on them, Dev.”

Devon breathed a laugh and nodded agreement. Seach was right. Just because DeFrain and Ross were there didn’t mean he had to let them ruin the trip for him. He stood, feeling the weighted belt cinched around his waist dig hard into his hips. Pluto’s lower gravity made walking without a belt difficult outside the bubble domes peppering its surface so they’d all been supplied with one upon arrival with the team.

Grabbing his pack again, Devon slung it over his shoulders and strapped it back down tight. A trail of chemical lights led off into the recesses of the cave, each of them glowing greenish yellow against the deeper shadows of the space. It had been tight above them but here the cavern yawned out in all directions. He turned, letting his headlamp give him a clearer view, but the light could only reach so far and it only barely illuminated the far wall. Everything was pale rock and clay, rough to the point of danger and for a long minute Devon soaked it all in.

Every planet was different, right down to the way they produced atmosphere. On some planets they had harmonic piping laid out, but because of Pluto’s elongated elliptical pattern the pipes would freeze when they passed the sun. It just wasn’t economical to keep replacing broken pipes, so the Consulate designated Pluto a Class II inhabitable planet, which meant bubble-domes; lots and lots of bubble domes that held their own atmosphere.

“So where’s this river?” Seach asked.

Devon nodded to the trail of green lights. One of their intrepid leaders, Edison Collins, was acting as scout. The instructions were to reach the bottom, rest if you needed, and then follow the trail. They didn’t have to stay and wait for the others. The other leader, Steve Castillo, was behind DeFrain and Ross and was acting as the safety in this adventure.

Someone started cursing above them. Devon looked up in time to see a large bit of ice crash into DeFrain. There was more shouting but Devon couldn’t make it out, he was too focused on DeFrain, whose body smacked hard into the rock face.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” Ross’s voice, panicked and angry resounded through the chamber.

Devon watched in horror as the massive chunk of rock and ice smashed DeFrain against the narrow entrance. Pluto’s gravity took effect, dragging the heavy boulder toward the cavern floor far more quickly that Devon anticipated. He was already moving for cover when Seach grabbed him by the harness. They both staggered and jumped behind an enormous stalactite just as the icy chunk crashed into the ground. Devon felt a tremor through his boots and grabbed the stalactite to stay upright.

He looked up to see DeFrain falling belt-first.

“Matt!” Ross yelled. “Your belt, dammit!”

But DeFrain was limp, just falling, one side of his face a bloody blur to Devon. Seach cursed beside him and unsnapped his belt. An instant later Seach was airborne, soaring through the low gravity and propelled toward DeFrain. Devon watched as his father collided with DeFrain midair and began to plummet back down. They were a tangle of bodies above him, soaring toward the far wall at a speed that immediately alarmed Devon.

Devon abandoned the stalactite. He didn’t care if any more debris was coming; he was not going to just sit back while his father was in trouble. He heard Ross calling for DeFrain, heard Castillo on the communication line demanding to know what had happened, but ignored them both. He grabbed Seach’s discarded belt and ran for the far wall.

Leaping over a large remnant of the boulder that had fallen, Devon glanced up at his father. He saw Seach turn, positioning himself to take the brunt of the impact and ran faster.

God dammit, Dad.

His mind flashed through several scenarios at once; Seach with his head split open, Seach impaled on one of the sharper rocks, Seach broken and bleeding more than four hundred kilometers from the nearest hospital. Devon ground his teeth and looked up again, ignoring the fact that his foot slipped on a crushed bit of ice and his ankle rolled awkwardly. He felt a stab of pain through his leg but kept going, all of his energy focused above him.

At the last second Seach hooked DeFrain with his legs and lowered his hands to his sides, palms facing the approaching wall. It was such a strange move that Devon nearly stumbled but he managed to keep his feet under him and squinted up at the two men. They’d fallen a good fifty kilometers but had another thirty to go before hitting the ground.

Light flickered from Seach’s open hands. It was subdued under his gloves but Devon saw it and blinked. An instant later the light travelled up Seach’s arms. Like lightening hidden in clouds it passed over his spine and down his legs and suddenly Seach slowed.

Devon stopped running, too startled to move further.

Seach bumped harmlessly against the rock wall and grabbed a handhold somewhere. He still held DeFrain with his legs but now he was clinging to the rocks as well and for two heartbeats Devon just stared.

How the hell had Seach done that?

“Little help,” Seach grunted.

Devon shook his head and moved again, unsnapping his belt so he could make the leap to reach them. He floated through the low gravity, suddenly grateful for all his practice in Zephyr’s loading bay. He caught the wall just beside Seach and held on.

“Get his belt off and take him down,” Seach said.

Devon met his father’s gaze and held it. He wanted to ask questions but he could hear Ross and Castillo nearby and DeFrain was still dangling between Seach’s legs. This wasn’t the time or the place. Still, he frowned at Seach, promising without words that they were going to have a long talk very soon. Then he lowered himself, carefully negotiating the rock face until he reached DeFrain.

With one hand he removed DeFrain’s belt and let it fall to the cavern floor. DeFrain’s lanky, tall body outweighed him significantly and Devon doubted he’d be able to keep from collapsing when they hit the ground. Still, he took a deep breath and secured his hold on DeFrain. He didn’t want to look at the man until they’d reached the ground. He knew the injuries were substantial and that was enough for now.

He just hoped he didn’t cause any more damage on his descent.

Ross positioned himself just beneath them and Devon pushed off. They fell just as fast as he’d feared and he tried to brace himself for impact. He bent his knees as his feet slammed into the ground. Spikes of pain zapped up his calves and his legs buckled, sending him butt-first to the cavern floor. DeFrain crumpled against him, still limp and unresponsive and for a dazed moment Devon just sat there.

“I’ve got him,” Ross said, seizing DeFrain by the shoulders and dragging him off Devon.

Castillo had a medical bag already open and was speaking into his radio, alerting emergency services as to where they were. Devon slowly stood. His legs felt wobbly and awkward and for a moment he feared he wouldn’t be able to manage the belt again. But he saw Seach climbing down the rock face and forced himself to move. He got his belt and snapped it on, feeling an unpleasant tingle in his muscles as he walked to get Seach’s belt.

Blood smeared across his left shoulder, a brownish smudge reminding him of where DeFrain’s head had rested on him. Devon paused, touched the spot with shaky fingers and swallowed hard.

“We’ve got a pulse,” Ross said. He sounded grim and relieved all at once.

Half of DeFrain’s face was peeled back, revealing the white bone beneath. But Ross’s attention was focused on DeFrain’s head where he held an olive green compression bandage just above DeFrain’s hairline. Devon gazed at the two friends, suddenly abashed at his earlier dislike for them. They might be testosterone-driven adventure seekers but he would never have wished them hurt.

Castillo worked tirelessly at Ross’s side, stabbing DeFrain’s arm with some kind of injection and then moving to check for more injuries. Devon looked up at the mouth of the cave. He could see the dim glow of blue-white ice far above them and shuddered. Shifting ice was always a danger out on a planet’s surface but Devon had never seen an incident this bad before. He suddenly felt altogether small and insignificant, and not a little foolish.

Seach reached his side and took his belt.

“Hey, man,” Ross said, still kneeling beside DeFrain. He caught Seach’s gaze for a minute and nodded once. “Good catch.”

Seach nodded back but didn’t respond. A muscle jumped in his jaw and he turned to face Devon. For a second Devon thought he might yell. He looked angry, which made no sense because Devon certainly hadn’t caused the ice to shift or the rock to hit DeFrain. A second later Devon realized it wasn’t so much anger he was reading in his father’s face but fear. Seach was frightened of something.

Seach fastened his belt again and turned away, his expression smoothing into stony passivity. Devon watched him a moment longer, more afraid than curious about the secrets his family was keeping.

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