Gerhardt looked up from his digging. "Eh? What's that?" he demanded.
"Shelley," I told him.
"Oh. Him."
He went back to digging.
Late in the afternoon we finally decided to call it quits and head back to the base. We had been in the field for seven hours, and had nothing to show for it except a few hundred feet of tridim films of building foundations.
The sun was beginning to set; Planet Four had a thirty-five hour day, and it was coming to its end. The sky, always somber, was darkening now. There was no moon to be still as bright. Planet Four had no satellites. It seemed a bit unfair; Three and Five of the system each had four moons, while around the massive gas giant that was Eight a cluster of thirteen moonlets whirled.
We wheeled round and headed back, taking an alternate route three miles east of the one we had used on the way out, in case we might spot something. It was a forlorn hope, though.
Six miles along our journey, the truck radio came to life. The dry, testy voice of Dr. Leopold reached us:
"Calling Trucks Two and Three. Two and Three, do you read me? Come in, Two and Three."