The external temperature and ductivity were at their maximum, almost half the temperature of the surface of the sun in this system. They had only passed 0.3 g, but it already felt heavy. He had spent too much time with low g-forces. He really should take a break from space travel.

  "Still all right?" he asked.

  "Yes, really, it's not very heavy." Good to hear.

  They were about to cross the equatain, now heading north. This time there should be no energy harvesting satellite nearby. He still stared at the dispy. But they crossed the equator and nothing happened. He rexed at least mentally, his body had a hard time even with the 0.72 g.

  They were zooming north again, still at about 20 times the local speed of sound. But slow enough for the temperatures to drop and the psma to fade. "Bckbeard, open the cockpit shutters."

  The outside psma was still glowing solid e. But the brightness was fading fast and he saw them passing the terminator. In the sun, the psma glow was faint enough to see through. Their deceleration was increasing, now that the aerodynamics had finally started to work and they were no longer falling like a meteorite.

  They were still 45 km over the surface of the p and a little too far north. However, this was all well within the iable error margins of iial navigation. Now the forces were building up and adding a teral po as they began to slow down by flying in wide turns. All as expected, and following he numbers in the simutions. Still, the numbers did not prepare him for the weight. 1.4 g was on the dispy.

  "Are you really Ok?" he shouted down, his voice strained.

  "Yeah, a bit heavy but fine."

  He was not that good. "Bckbeard, how are the sves?"

  "Hibernating, acc to the little information I get. I am already using the excess heat to warm the cargo hold and I am stantly rep their status to the cargo troller. I only monitor their status and the atmosphere there."

  "Bckbeard, I see." Even an AI needed an alibi.

  They would decelerate like this for another 0060. He breathed heavily. Not just because of the g-forces. He had so much responsibility this time, he must not fail. And he promised himself to get fitter before his rip.

  "Marik", oh, he had almost passed out. It was only the sed time the AI had used his name.

  "Bckbeard, yes."

  " you take over, please? Just for a few moments."

  "Bckbeard, yes, I am ready." He gripped the trols as he had done in so many simutions i two days.

  "Thank you. I need a quick refiguration before nding. Also, clear some larding the guest." There was a suspiciously long pause after the 'also', but he had to trate on their small re-entry corridor.

  "Bckbeard, ok. Just check the glide path too."

  "firmed."

  He had only been at it for less than 0010 and he was already sweating, every tiny push on the trols was immediately answered with very different forces. It took a few more attempts before the corres were smooth again and the flight path went where it was supposed to go. He was denched i from the forces and stress. But it was his job, and regardless of why the AI had chied out, he had to deliver now.

  "Marik, I am back. Shall I take trol again?"

  "Bckbeard, yes please."

  "firmed."

  He sat back exhausted. This had been one of the toughest times of his life. He was breathing like he had just finished a marathon.

  "G-forces at peak," the AI announced.

  1.57 g read the dispy. It felt like someone was sitting on him. High time for that oo get off. But the g forces reduced very slowly.

  "Hello, Silen from Samur, you hear us?"

  "Yes, we hear you." He checked the status. "We're getting your data too. Ok, tinuing data dump. Estimated time of arrival is 0019. Runway clear?"

  "Yes, we are all ready and."

  "Sorry, what about wind?"

  "No wind was ordered for today."

  This whole unication was not going acc to the manual. Well, screw the manual.

  "Good to hear."

  "As I said, we are ready and happy to wele the new settlers."

  "Ah, yes, well, acc to my status, they are still sedated. It may take some time for them to wake up. I guess it will require your code to wake them up."

  "Don't worry, this is the third arrival this year. We brought you some cabbage and some thugwrath and some nice food too. I am not sure how good it will taste to you. We have not had a human visitor for some time."

  "Er, I see, thank you. I, uh, have to take care of the ship now, over and out."

  He ehe e and sighed. They really were deprived of any news from the gaxy. The data dump robably worth more to them than the sves in the back. Imagiing news from the outside only three times a year. This system robably one of the most isoted pces that still appeared on normal star charts.

  By now, they had dropped below the 1.2 g mark and their altitude was below 10 km. The atmosphere was now dense enough to cause steady vibrations.

  "Landing in 0010," he called down.

  "Still ok," she replied, more quietly this time.

  "Any problems?"

  "No, nothing urgent."

  At any other time, he would have been worried. But now the runeared in the distance.

  "Marik, your turn," the AI said. "I'm not good with ndings."

  "Bckbeard, what, yes."

  "Ok, you are in trol."

  Damn, this AI was really weird. He did not believe a word from it. Still, he could do it, there were enough indicators to keep their glide path correct. He went through the checklist on the dispy to deploy the nding gear. Many small corres now, there was indeed no wind, but they came in a little too low. The flying earlier had helped, although he did think the AI had pnned like that. It looked not bad, they had enough speed aouched down almost on the mark, just like in his best simutor run. The brakes pushed him forward into his harness, the chair no longer swivelled. He heard a loud crag noise and swearing but kept his eyes on the runway until they stopped. It took a few moments to get out of his harness and stand in the 0.62 g that this p provided.

  He breathed deeply another five times, and he climbed down the dder, which had bee when Lalleli was suddenly pushed forward. She had also wrecked the table, bending the two support rods and tearing the tabletop in half. And then she had slid forward, free from the hold the table had provided. He body was heavy enough to have bent the dder where she now y. But there was no blood.

  "Are you all right?"

  "I'm sorry for destroying your living quarters."

  "Not hurt?"

  "No, nothing bad."

  He stepped carefully over her waist to her human torso and hugged her to get her to her feet. Given her weight, a symbolic gesture. " you stand?"

  She stood but held on with the fieress of a survivor ging to her rescuer. He felt his bones creaking.

  * * *

  "Great, you have nded. we open now?" came over the radio.

  He climbed bato the cockpit and checked the status. "I don't think so. The temperature of the tiles is still over 800 Kelvin." The AI showed him cooling profiles. "You'll have to wait for another 0700 before I open the bellyside p." Which he did not even know they had, seds ago. He had just read the AI's written suggestion. "Maybe you tow us back to the start of the runway in the meantime?"

  The other side sighed. "You're no fun. Still. Yeah, of course. e on, boys." Now he saw that all four of them had the same body as Lalleli wheurheir backs to the s.

  "There are hooks on the rear nding gear," he read out the AI's instrus. But there was no response. Just ay s. They had left without diseg.

  "Here they e." Bckbeard caught them on an outside camera. They were almost galloping down the runway. "Bckbeard, is there a s in the mess where we follow this as well?"

  "Yes, of course."

  So he went down. Lalleli was sitting where she had been before. But she had removed the broken tabletop from its supports, and in doing so she had probably also torn off the supports from the floor. All that was left was a small, twisted metal pte. She looked miserable. "I'm so sorry, I just wao take the top off."

  "Lalleli, don't worry about the table. Have a look."

  The fuys (no doubt) from the ground crew had arrived at the ship. The outside must still be very hot, because they had removed their shirts. One of them crouched down (because of the heat) and tied a rope to the left and right underwing nding gear. The other end was hooked into a harness, some wide belt they all wore above their front legs, where the human and the animal parts met. Then they worked hard, thick muscles on their fs were swelling. The ship was heavy but it moved slowly, with only the occasional light jolt. Lalleli clearly ehe show. Returning to the start of the runway under muscle power after a journey among the stars. What a trast. What a backwater world.

  When they were nearing the end of the runway where the trol barrack was, they unhooked a out of sight.

  Lalelli shuddered, then turo him. "Sorry to bother you, but I really have to go. We are no longer in spad"

  "'Ok, ok. I see. Bckbeard, do we have buckets?"

  "One colpsible bucket, 15 litres. Locker III, 3f."

  At least, the AI was very well anised. In locker III, third rack, there was a ft piece of pstic. The sides could be rolled up into a bucket. Tiny spires folded up from the bottom held the rim up.

  Lalleli looked quite frighte the fragile thing. Uandable, after actally tearing off the table support. "You mean"

  "Aer idea?"

  She took a deep breath then looked determi bucket. If the bucket had been alive, it would probably have colpsed under her gaze alone.

  He positiohe buckets between her hind legs and then climbed up to get her privacy.

  "Done," she sobbed.

  She had not moved. The bucket was half full. Very carefully he lifted the heavy, smelly bucket and tried to pour it into the toilet. And then up the spsh.

  Lalleli was nicely distracted by the sight of the four who were returning to their ship. She could use some good eai in her fi. They still wore no shirts, even though it was just above freezing out there.

  She still could join them. But he would not reend it, this world was too isoted, and not seeing a woman here was not a good sigher.

  One of them was holding up a headset. So he climbed up into the cockpit. Their video feed was still showing the empty inside of the trol hut, but there was audio. "Hello, please ahis should work."

  "Yes, I hear you."

  "Great. Pretty heavy your ship. you open now?"

  "Yes, thank you. I still he code to ge the atmosphere, then I open."

  "Here's the code," he held up a piece of pstic with some kind of 2D checkered pattern.

  "So primitive," he muttered. "Bckbeard, you read it?"

  "Yes, it works, I have trol now."

  "Ok, the AI has the code. Should take about 0015. And they are still not awake. And I 't open the cargo hold hatch from the i's not properly banced for pary ndings." Which was true, the hatch was tilted backwards quite a bit, as was the floor and the whole ship. Without hydraulieical support, he would not be able to open it. "But I get out through the airlock. I need a moment to ge into my protective gear."

  "See you then."

  "Over and out."

  He climbed back down the dder, already exhausted even by the lower-than-normal gravity of this p. He expio Lalleli that he had to go outside to greet them and also to che the ship, especially the heat shield. He did not add that he had no idea what to look for, other than gaping holes. And even if there were holes, he had no way of repairing them. Still, he should check for their safety, in case they would have to return to this p in an emergency.

  So, he put on a jumper and long trousers, his thickest socks, a light protective suit and a breathing apparatus. Before he could get a heat stroke, he was in the airlod soon was climbing dowended dder. The dder did not go all the way down, it e knee level. He would have to jump down to the p. He hesitated. Even standing o step of the dder, the natives towered over him. They were taller than Lalleli or any of the sves in the back. "Sorry, I am Marik. I have not been on a p for some time." His voice was very faint ihin atmosphere, certainly not helped by the breather. Then he jumped. Not elegantly, but all seemed well. He could stand.

  They smiled friendly. "Yo, you're not the first spacer to be missing pary legs. I am Lart, in charge of the spaceport." He held out a hand almer than his torso.

  They were monster-sized. "Yes, you are a little bigger than I expected."

  "Ha, sorry, these mods were not very stable. We are sed geion, our parents were no bigger than your passengers."

  "Passengers? This is a cargo ship, the ma even says sves." He was not sure if he should upset them. But surely they knew and should know, that he koo.

  "No, tract workers, settlers, our future. They will get their plot or more, even after two years. Most of them have had a miserable life. Otherwise, they would not have signed up. And after the start, almost no one pins. Most of them are very happy to start afresh here. e and ask them."

  The group went around and trudged up the open ramp to the cargo bay.

  He waited outside at the bottom of the ramp, not because he was afraid, but because there was absolutely no room left. He was useless. "I o check the ship for damage first," he announced, just in case they were listening.