There was nothing but the sound of heavy breathing.
Fred tried to raise himself to a sitting position, sank back. Then Jo was cradling him. Her tears, he thought, mixed well with her laughter.
"You did help. However you managed it, you saved the five of us. Are you all right?"
Fred smiled at her. "I'm all right; we all are."
They were picking themselves up—except for one. A thin bundle, curled in a corner, it cried forlornly for its mother.
Jo pointed. "Dick isn't all right."
"He will be." Fred felt mental chains slipping from him. "We'll find a way, now. Don't you see, Jo? That cry is one of a new-born. Our mission was accomplished. The trajectory to Taurus did find life—ours, and it's all ahead of us...."
THE END