"And our long-range transmitter too," Stewart added. "They both work off the same generator."
Outside, the puppets were withdrawing.
Mortimer, pulling up short of the switch, spread his arms apologetically. "I forgot to turn the circuit off."
Stewart grimaced. "Well, one thing's for sure: We're not going to finish up in a couple of hours and head for home."
Aiming the pickup lens more directly at the damaged area, Randall filled the screen with an image of shredded cable and shattered ceramics. "It'll take a week to repair that."
McAllister's face had whitened, causing the veins in his forehead to stand out under taut skin. "You mean we're stuck here?"
"As far as subspace is concerned. And I can't think of any lively spot we might want to visit in the Aldebaran system."
Keeping a ridge of hills between themselves and the robots, Stewart trailed the telepuppet team towards their working area.
Randall stumbled and fell against him. Glancing back, he saw that the director had lost his footing because he was still staring at the sky. Within the helmet, his face appeared harsh and grim in the profuse coral planetlight.