"We've been on this planet for 130 days, but somehow that seems like nothing... compared to the 81 we've been stuck in this dome." "For some of us, the cabin fever was so bad, we'd take any excuse to get away, even another scouting trip." "The scouts were day-long boring forays to find food, fuel, and, most important, a safe way out of these never-ending mountains." "We needed to find a route our vehicles could travel that took us to the westerly limits of this range, and it had to get us down below the snow line quickly enough... so we couldn't get pinned in by another storm." "This is as good a place as any." "You guys check out the other side of that ridge." "I'm gonna help Bess look for some food." "What's the point?" "Every ridge we top, there's another ridge right behind it." "This was the ultimate irony of our situation- as much as the planet seemed to want us gone, it kept us trapped here with its own mountains, its own cold, and its own endless variety of perils." "These shrubs are beginning to bud." "I think spring's almost here." "I'll believe it when I see it." "Hey,John, take a look at these." "Wow." "It's the first color I've seen in three months that wasn't a shade of gray." "Think they're edible?" "Who cares?" "They're beautiful." "Yeah." "Those stalks might taste pretty good if you cooked them long enough, huh?" "Just smell them, Danziger." "They might help you forget your worries for a second or two." "Awful.!" "Well, they're not edible." "Not by me anyway." "Ugh.!" "Hey, Danziger, Bess." "Come here.!" "Come on." "Danziger, get over here." "What are you yellin' about?" "What do ya got?" "Here." "Check it out." "If you look between those peaks, follow the shoulder down from the tree line." "It runs down the dry wash to that valley on the far side of the range." "Think our vehicles can make it through that far?" "Been as far as that shoulder in the A.T.V." "It's rough, but it's passable." "I think you've found it, boys." "Yeah." "I think you've found a way out of here." "Come on." "Let's get back, and tell the others." "It looks like you've been eating puff pastries." "That's not possible, is it?" "Morgan, let go of me." "So there are no ravines in the way?" "No rivers?" "Oh, the road gets bumpy every now and then, but for the most part, it's pretty smooth sailin'." "I'd say it's our best chance to get out of here." "Great." "Just when I get the perimeter monitors up and working." "So we're really outta here?" "There's nothin' stopping us." "Not anymore." "We're headed back to civilization." "Static loft mattresses and auto-tropic temp control... and 5,000 channels of omnistimulation." "Morgan, the colony ship is still two years away." "Who cares?" "Every step we take away from this place is another step closer to home." "Well, I'm gonna miss this place." "I'm not." "Hey, what's the matter, Devon?" "You're not celebrating." "Well, I think it's great news." "I'm just not sure we're ready to leave here yet." " Why not?" " Well, for starters, we don't even know if winter's over yet, and I would not wanna get stuck in another blizzard." "Not to mention the fact that by leaving here, we would be leaving the blackout zone... that's shielded us from detection by Reilly." "Well, we gotta deal with Reilly sooner or later." "Might as well be sooner." "And it has been getting a lot warmer lately." "Uh, Danziger and Bess found spring "fl"owers on the scout this morning." "Spring "fl"owers." "All right, why don't we start packing tomorrow, and if it continues to get warmer, we'll..." "leave." "Agreed." "There you go, Devon." "I don't feel so good, Morgan." "What's wrong?" "I don't know." "Please halt." "You are approaching the perimeter." "Laser defense engaged." "Please halt." "You are approaching the perimeter." "Laser defense engaged." "Warning." "Laser defense engaged." "Laser defense engaged." "Warning." "Laser defense engaged." "Ow!" "Ow, my leg!" "Perimeter intrusion." "Perimeter intrusion." "Step back from the perimeter." "Bess?" " "Step back from the perimeter. "" " Bess?" "Perimeter intrusion." "Perimeter intrusion." "Hey, what are you doin' out here?" "Come on, look." "Move back, okay?" "You're gonna set it off again." "Okay." "Honey, what's wrong?" "What happened?" "What happened?" "I don't know." "I told you that thing was dangerous!" "I set the warning volume at top level." "Listen to it." "Bess, why don't you" " Now, move back before you set it off again." "Well, turn it off!" "." "Bess, why didn't you listen to the warning?" "I don't know." "You don't know?" "What were you doing out here?" "I" " I don't know, Morgan." "You don't know?" "How can you not know?" "I guess" " I guess I was sleepwalking or something." "Julia, check her leg." "She got burned by the perimeter laser." "Looks fine." "Fine?" "She's got a six-inch gash here" "The pant leg is burnt, but her leg looks fine." "Well, you were screaming." "I thought that it burned you." "So did I. Well, you're lucky." "The laser could have done a lot of damage." "Oh!" "What's wrong?" "Oh, my stomach!" "I can't breathe!" "I have a pain in my stomach." "Ow" "Well, I can block it, but it'll make it very difficult to diagnose." "Block it!" "Block it!" "Morgan" "Hang on, Bess." "Hang on." "Julia, hurry, please." "Okay, breathe in." "Is that better?" "Yeah." "Yeah." "Better?" "Let's get her back to the tent." "Will you give me a hand, please?" "You all right?" "I could have been" "This is strange." "I wouldn't have thought this was possible." "Well, what is it?" "Well, I'm" " I'm just going by your hormone spectrum." "It's early to say, but I think you're pregnant." "Pregnant?" "Y" " You mean, pregnant pregnant?" "I'd like to do an abscan." "But judging by your gonadotropin levels," "I'd say it's pretty likely." "Is that why my stomach's been hurting?" "Let's do an abscan." "At least for now, everything looks pretty normal." " Morgan, I thought you were taking your suppressors." " I-AskJulia." "She was making them for me." "Well, my synthesizing equipment isn't all it could be, but" "I mean, it's possible that the compound was faulty." "Well, that's fantastic." "That's unbelievable." "That" " That's fantastic." "Are you sure that this is a good idea, out here in the middle of nowhere?" "Can we do this?" "Well, it's not ideal, but it's perfectly safe." "Earth pioneers delivered babies with a lot less technology than we have." "Wow!" "Congratulations." "Julia, come quick!" "There's something wrong with my dad." "Hurry.!" "Come on.!" "Hurry!" "Something's wrong, Doc." "My gut's killin' me." "Hold off on the pain block." "I need to pinpoint the problem." "Oh, God, make it quick." "It's okay, True." "Julia's gonna fix him." "I'm going to run a quick cell scan." "What's the matter, True?" "It's okay, baby." "Pain's goin'away." "Whoa." "There's something" "He has the same H.C.G. levels that you have." "What the hell is going on?" "I've never seen that before." "Does this mean I'm not pregnant?" "I don't know." "Have either of you encountered anything unusual lately?" "An insect bite or a strange animal or plant?" "Yeah." "Yeah." "Hey, hey, careful." "It waited till we were right on top of it last time before it sprayed." "It must be heat- or motion-sensitive." "Ooh." "Think that's what made us sick?" "I don't know." "Your stomach pain suggests you were poisoned in some way, but I didn't detect anything foreign in your bloodstreams." "And now that your symptoms are gone" " Yeah?" "So what does that mean?" "I need to run some tests on this powder." "I'm sorry, sweetie." "But maybe it's for the best." "I... just don't think it's the right time for us." "It's not that, Morgan." "I didn't have enough time to get attached to the idea of having a baby." "It's just" " I wanna get out of this place." "But I thought you were sad about leaving." "If we're gonna go, I want to go." "I want to take the north route and just get away from here." "Well, the route doesn't go north, but" "Come on,you guys." "Let's go." "Let's get back." "I want to scan this powder while it's still viable." "Preliminary bioscan revealed no familiar organic" "Julia searched the powder for answers." "She would search all night, knowing, as always, she labored with instruments and learning... that belonged to another world." "None of us knew that more answers were hidden... in a few idle words from Bess about traveling north." "Julia found nothing that night." "But the truth was close at hand, only waiting for us to see." "What are you doin' here?" "I had to see it." "Me too." "John, look." "What the hell is this stuff?" "Hey." "Julia, get this out of me!" "What is it?" "What are you doing?" "I don't know, but I want it out.!" "It's trying to get back into you." "Let's get you on respiration." "It's actually fighting to stay." "I don't want to turn up the suction." "It might damage your lungs." "John." "John!" "You might have suffered some oxygen deprivation." "Take it easy tonight." "Keep this with you." "Okay." "You all right?" "Yeah." "It's dying." "How do you know?" "Can't you feel it?" "Bess, I need you to lie down here, please." "I know it looks painful, but it's not that bad, right,John?" "Yeah." "It's great." "Honey, what's wrong?" "Nothing's wrong." "I'm fine." "Bess, this organism does not belong in your body." "Then how come I've never felt healthier in my life,Julia?" "I can't explain that." "I can explain that if you do not remove it now, it's going to be harder to do it later." "What if I don't want to remove it?" "I think you'd make a mistake." "Well, I guess I'll have to be the judge of that." "Thank you." "Either that stuff comes out ofher, or she leaves the camp." "Since when are you making the rules, Baines?" "Since my butt got put on the line." "Does anyone remember what happened when that dead Terrian got into Danziger?" "Yeah, I remember." "You locked yourself in a trans-rover." "What are you tryin' to say?" "Stop it!" "Whatever this stuff is, it's got us beat if we can't even talk about it without killing'each other." "Julia, what do you think we're dealing with here?" "I wish I could tell you." "It's unlike any toxin or parasite I've ever seen, even on this planet." "Then what is it like?" "Well, that's just it." "Right now, what it resembles most is human blood, which is why my scanner missed it at first." "You mean, it's camou"fl"aging itself?" "So it sneaks into a body and takes it over." "Nothing is taking over my wife's body." "All she did was say "No, thank you" to a vacuum tube down her throat." "Morgan, it triggered pregnancy hormones in Bess's bloodstream." "And that may be just an atypical response in a human host, but it may be that the vapor is trying to make her feel protective of it." "W" " Well, wait a minute." "What if- What if this thing is contagious?" "Then you should hope that she gives it to you." "Bess and Danziger both said they've never felt better in their lives." "John, is that true?" "Well, not so much since Julia pulled it out of me, but for a while there, yeah." "Look, I don't care how good she feels." "That stuff scares me." "So what do you wanna do?" "You wanna tie her down and stick a vacuum tube down her throat... even though she doesn't want it, even though she says she's never felt better in her life?" "That's the idea, Morgan." "Well, I'm sorry, but it's her body." "Devon?" "Morgan is absolutely right." "We can't force a medical procedure on anyone, especially if there's no proven threat." "It's a beautiful day, isn't it, Magus?" "Yeah, right." "I feel good today." "Hey, guys." "Let's go, Gail." "Bess, don't pay any attention to them." "They're confused." "It's okay, Morgan." "It doesn't bother me." "Ow, my hand!" "What happened?" "Oh, I don't know." "I crushed it on the crate, Morgan." "Well, let me see this." "Be careful." "It hurts." "I just want to make sure there's no fibercomp in it." "Ow!" "Ah!" "Ow!" "Oh, my eye." "Morgan, are you all right?" "Morgan, let me see." "What happened?" "Look,just back off." "Gimme a little room." "Let me take a look at it, Morgan." "Sit down." "Morgan, honey?" "Oh, you've got a nasty burn." "And a cut on your cornea." "What happened?" "It was the vapor." "The vapor attacked him?" "It came out of her mouth and went after him." "Oh, Bess." "Bess, now do you understand why everybody's... so concerned about whatever it is that's inside of you?" "It was just trying to protect me, Devon." "By attacking your husband?" "It didn't attack you, honey, did it?" "Bess." "Bess, listen to me, please." "This thing really must come out of you." "No." "No, no, if you take it out, it will die." "Better it than one of us, don't you think?" "Don't you?" "You stay away from me, Walman!" "I'm warning you!" "Look at her, Devon." "It's controlling her." "Walman, take it easy." "I'm sure Bess doesn't want to hurt anybody." "Do you, Bess?" "But how can we trust her, Devon?" "She's right, Walman." "Just back off, okay?" "Everyone, please." "Just back off." "You're acting like a lynch mob here." "She's-She's not a monster." "This is Bess." "She just needs a little time to think." "Just needs a little... understanding." "Bess." "Oh, God." "Be okay, baby." "Please." "Please be okay." "Be okay." "You think you got it all?" "Everything in her lungs." "But what about the rest of her?" "That won't be as easy." "She and John still both have it in their bloodstreams." "How do we get it out?" "Well, I've synthesized an interferon variant forJohn... that seems to be slowing the spread of the organism." "How often does she take this?" "Once every hour." "But I have to warn you, if the organism resists this drug as much as it has everything else, it could be a little painful." "What happened?" "I don't feel good." "Why am I tied up like this, Morgan?" "Bess, we pulled the stuff out of you." "Your eye." "Oh, my God." "Oh, that's okay." "Julia says it's gonna heal up in about a week or so." "I did that to you, didn't I?" "No, no, no." "It wasn't you." "It was the stuff inside of you, Bess." "Why are you still afraid of me, Morgan?" "Morgan, please just leave me alone." "No, Bess, I want to stay with you." "I can't look at you, Morgan." "I can't look at what I did to you." "Oh, no, no." "Look." "It's nothing, see?" "Bess, I think that I'm just going to loosen your hands a little bit." "The stuff isn't controlling you anymore." "I should know my own wife." "Bess, your hand is completely healed." "Morgan, these straps are hurting me." " I know." "I'm sorry." "But I can't put the crew at risk." " I'm not gonna hurt anyone!" "All I wanna do is run." "Run north and finish this." "Bess, this stuff is still controlling you." "Take me north, Morgan." "Why?" "What are you talking about?" "What's up north?" "Take me there, and this will all be over with." "I can't." "There's another cold front moving in, and we've already postponed plans to leave." "It's the only answer, Morgan!" "No, it isn't." "Julia made this medication." "It won't work.!" "Nothing will work but taking me there!" "Now you're starting to scare me, Bess." "Morgan, help me." "Now, you are the only hope I have." "You're the only one who will believe me." "Help me, Morgan.!" "I'll do what I can." "I'm begging you, Morgan!" "Help me!" "Help me!" "You're my husband.!" "I need your help.!" "Help me, Morgan.!" "Help me.!" "Help me.!" "Help me.!" "Morgan.!" "Julia.!" "Julia.!" "The stuff is still controlling her." "She wants me to take her north." "What's happening?" "Is she losing her mind?" "Did you give her the medication?" "Well, I" "Morgan, no matter how painful this is, no matter how much she resists," "Look- this is crucial." "Look" "I know this sounds crazy, but... what if we just did what she's asking- pack her in a vehicle and take her north." "She says it's the only way to get the stuff out of her." "Morgan, Bess can't take trips." "Her system is still crammed with this organism." "No matter how strong she seems, she's running on borrowed time." "Borrowed time?" "What are you talking about?" "I've been watching the parasite in her blood sample." "Her liver is gonna fail if we don't turn the tide on this thing." "John gave us a head start by letting us remove the vapor when we did, but they need the interferon." "If you can't make her take it, I will." "Morgan." "Morgan." " She's gone." " Gone?" "It got quiet inside her tent, so I checked, and her bed is empty." "Come on." "It's as though she literally ripped her hands free." "Plus, she left her boots and her coat." "Okay." "What are you doing?" "I'm going after her." "Morgan, you can't go alone." "I'll stay in touch on gear." "Do that." "I'm gonna follow you in the rail." "Bess?" "Bess?" "If you can hear me, wait!" "Bess, you need help!" "I've got your shoes and your coat!" "Bess!" "Lost her." "I can't see a thing with this stupid eye patch!" "Julia, I've lost her tracks." "Just hold on, Morgan." "She can't be that far ahead." "We may have to detour around some of this rough ground, but we'll catch up to you." "Wait a minute." "I found her." "I'm going after her!" "Bess!" "Bess!" "Wait, Bess!" "I'm coming!" "Devon, are you still on?" "Yeah." "Yeah, is she still headed north?" "So far." "If she stays on course, we'll be able to overtake her." "How is she gonna survive this cold without shoes or proper clothing?" "I don't know." "It's a miracle she's made it this far." "Do you have any idea what's causing this,Julia?" "The substance comes from a "fl"ower." "It's trying to hitch a ride somewhere." "I'm thinking that" "How much do you know about plant reproductive biology?" "My God." "It's brilliant." "Plant pollen." "Plant pollen?" "On Earth, the male of many species produce a substance... designed to be carried by "fl"ying insects to females far away." "Are you saying this time, though, Bess is the carrier?" "That's why the organism protects her." "It wants her to live long enough to reach its mate." "It's protecting her and killing her at the same time." "Danziger too." "It's time for your medicine, Danziger." "Oh, no." "No, it's too early." "No, you must take it." "No" " Now, inhale." "Inhale." "Come on." "Inhale one more time." "Go." "In." "Okay, good." "Oh, God!" "I lost her tracks!" "I found "em, and I lost "em again." "And then I found "em, and now they're gone for good!" "Just hold on, Morgan." "We'll be right there." "What's wrong?" "He lost her tracks." "Well, tell him not to worry." "She's been goin' due north all night." "If he keeps going straight, he'll find her." "Did you hear that, Morgan?" "Well, he better be right." "Bess!" "How can you do this to me?" "I found her!" "I found her tracks!" "What?" "What did you find?" "Oh, my God." " There's two sets of tracks." " Two sets?" "There's something else out here." "Bess isn't alone." "Bess?" "These are your tracks I'm following, aren't they?" "Bess?" "Quick!" "Come and see!" "Did you find her?" "Yes!" "No!" "Look." "Look." "These tracks split up here." "They go off in different directions." "I can't tell who these tracks are, except one's heavier than the other." "Well, which set do we follow?" "Let's get in the rail." "We'll follow both." "No, no!" "There isn't time!" "Look, you two stay in the rail." "Take these tracks to the left." "They look better for a vehicle that way." "Can I borrow these?" "It's not safe for you to be out this far without a vehicle." "I know." "I know." "You've been out here for 11 hours!" "You need food and rest!" "Morgan!" "Wait." "Come on." "That was a mistake." "We should not have let Morgan go off by himself." "Why?" "We can cover twice as much ground this way." "We don't know what's out there." "What if he runs into something he can't handle?" "We never know what's out there." "What's different now?" "What's different is we had a choice." "We could have made a safe and sensible decision, but once again we decided to just wing it." "You know, for someone who talks about learning from this planet, you haven't learned much from it." "What's that supposed to mean?" "This place is totally new to us,Julia." "What's the point of making plans when we have no idea what to expect?" " We don't have to blunder forward without thinking." " Why not?" "I mean, take a lesson from the Terrians." "Let nature take its course." "Stop the rail." "Wait." "You think he's alive?" "No." "Doesn't look like he's breathing." "He's got the same stuff around his mouth." "You're right." "It's pollen." "I guess the pollen doesn't protect them forever." "What happened?" "Nature took its course." "Morgan, we found who's at the end of the tracks." " Not Bess?" " No, it's a Grendler." "It's a dead Grendler." "What killed him?" "I'm not sure, but it looks like the pollen." "But at least you know you're on the right track." "I know." "I think I see her up ahead." "Bess!" "Thank God you're alive." "Bess!" "He's got her." "Hold onto her, Morgan." "We're coming." "Bess." "Bess, wait, stop.!" "Bess." "Morgan." "Oh, Bess, stop just for a minute." "No." "We're tired." "You're tired." "No." "I can't." "But look at your feet!" "You need shoes!" "You need a coat!" "It will protect me, Morgan." "I'm sure whatever it is... wants you to live long enough for you to bring it home." "I've never been stronger!" "No offense, but you look like hell." "Bess." "Bess, it's freezing out here." "Damn it!" "Come on, Bess." "Bess." "Look, another hostjust like you... was found dead not too far from here, and I'm sure he felt pretty strong too." "Okay." "Okay, quickly, Morgan." "Okay." "Okay." "I've got your jacket." "And I'll get your shoes, okay?" "Okay." "Morgan, you've got to stall her." "Julia and Alonzo are coming as fast as they can." "Stall her." "Bess." "Bess," "I know that you feel very strongly about doing this." "I know you feel very strongly about that." "But, please, come back to camp." "You need help." "You need rest." "I'm not done yet, Morgan." "Done doing what?" "Do you even know what you're doing out here?" "I'm helping something... to live." "Yes, you're helping something, but it's not you!" "Morgan, all I know... is I will find this place or I will die trying." "Now, the only way to make it leave me is to take it to where it wants to go." "Bess, are you sure?" "Are you absolutely positive it's the only way?" "Yes, Morgan." "Morgan, you can't listen to her." "She may sound lucid, but it's not Bess talking." "Bess, wait!" "Bess, how do I know for sure?" "How can I be sure it's not going to kill you?" "Morgan,just trust me, okay?" "Trust me." "I want to." "Slow her down." "She's not going to survive much longer without treatment." "What's the matter, Morgan?" "Come on." "I miss my wife." "I miss her so much." "Bess, wait!" "His gear signal originates here." "I don't see them." "Maybe I'm crazy, but I've got to trust her." "She's my life." "You know what I'm feeling, Morgan?" "Like taking a breather?" "I'm feeling like I'm carrying a child." "You're not pregnant, Bess." "Don't let the stuff fool you." "I know it's not mine, but it's still a life inside of me, Morgan." "I hope so." "This better not be for nothing." "Julia, do you have an update?" "Any sign of Bess and Morgan yet?" "There's still no sign of either of them." "How are you tracking them without Morgan's gear?" "We're just heading north, hoping they stay on course." "Julia, I've been running some tests on your pollen samples, and what I've found may change our theories." "Like what?" "Well, first of all, calling it pollen may be a misnomer." "I mean, it has no genetic components, which makes it unlike any other reproductive agent I've heard of." "What's it comprised of?" "Mostly nonorganic compounds, which mimic the signaling behavior of organic protein and enzymes." "What do you think it wants?" "Well, I don't know." "But it's a safe bet that whatever Bess finds at the other end of that journey... will be something other than a pretty "fl"ower." "I think Yale's right." "I've been pickin' somethin' up, might have somethin' to do with this." "John, you're up?" "Are you feeling better?" "Ah, I've been havin' some weird dreams lately." "I think the pollen's giving 'em to me." "What kind of dreams?" "I keep seein' this high mesa that ends in a cliff." "I know it sounds crazy, but this mesa... looks like it's breathing." "Breathing?" "Yeah." "That's not all." "I think I know what happens when you get there." "Bess, I don't- I don't think I can go any further." "Ow!" "Bess, don't you ever need a rest?" "Bess, do you know where you're going?" "Wait." "Please." "We need to stop." "I'm" " I'm trying to be supportive, you know, but" "Bess, don't go up there." "Bess, get down here!" "Bess, it's too steep." "Come down from there!" "Bess?" "Oh, my God!" "Bess!" "Bess." "Bess." "Are you all right, baby?" "Bess." "Bess, speak to me." "Bess." "Bess, speak to me." "Bess." "Bess, this isn't healing." "Bess, what's happening?" "Talk to me." "Oh, why did I leave my gear?" "Oh, Bess, what do I do now?" "I could take you the rest of the way, but I don't know where you're going." "I could take you back, but it's too far to go." "Honey." "Honey, what do I do?" "What do I do, Bess?" "Am I nuts?" "Am I crazy?" "Bess, come on." "We're going." "Come on, baby." "I know where we're going." "There they are." "Morgan!" "Morgan." "Morgan!" "He's carrying her." "Morgan.!" "Come on!" "Alonzo!" "What?" "If they're headed towards the mesa, we can cut them off in the rail." "Bess." "Bess." "Bess." "Look." "We made it." "We're here." "Bess, we're almost there." "Danziger's dream." "They're gonna jump in the hole." "Alonzo, they're gonna jump in the hole.!" "How are we going to stop them?" "Let nature take its course." "The planet put that stuff in them, so let it take it out." "No, they're gonna die." "Morgan!" "Morgan!" "Bess!" "Morgan." "Bess!" "Don't let them jump!" "Wait!" "Grab the rope,Julia!" "Tie it to the rail!" "Keep going." "Come on." "Hurry up!" "Come on!" "Tie their feet together!" "We're almost there, Bess." "Just" "Come on." "Hurry up!" "Okay." "All right, I got it." "Okay." "Hold tight." "And don't let go." "I see it, Morgan." "Just a little further." "Hey!" "Bess!" "Are you guys all right?" "Morgan?" "Bess?" "They're still conscious." "Is that it?" "It's coming out of them." "It's working." "Oh!" "Morgan, what's happening?" "Bess, is that you?" "Are you guys all right?" "Alonzo, get us the hell out of here!" "Get us out of here!" "Hurry!" "Come on." "Ow!" "Oh!" "Are you all right?" "Morgan." "Come on." "Let's get outta here!" "It's gonna blow." "Did we do that?" "I think you did." "What is it?" "The air's getting warmer." "It's so much more humid." "What does this mean?" "It's spring." "Bess, you made spring." "We almost died in there, Morgan." "I know." "But I wasn't afraid." "Me neither." "I guess the pollen took the fear away." "No." "No, it didn't." "You took the fear away." "You didn't give up on me for a second, Morgan." "I couldn't, Bess." "I just couldn't." "So we sat there, watching spring pour from a chimney in the earth." "We thought this planet had no use for us, but now we saw it did." "We'd completed a cycle of seasons that the planet itself could not, and in the process, won our freedom from the never-ending cold." "The temperature rose for days and days." "It was far from summer yet, but winter was definitely on the wane." "The crew made preparations for an imminent departure, and all of us began to feel the thrill of expectation." "Well, what's next?" "Come here." "We'd be living on the horizon once again, and this winter camp would be home only to memories of things feared, things overcome and things learned." "Enough, we hoped, to help us make an impossible journey possible."