CARIAD HAD ONLY BEEN speaking to Strongquist for a moment when an emergency announcement broke into the line. A shuttle had exploded. Her news about Frederick Aparicio died on her lips. The interface screen in her cabin switched from Strongquist’s image to a vid of the vessel exploding. It was a view from the planet surface. Her legs were suddenly weak. She sat on her bunk.
“Are you seeing this?” Cariad asked Strongquist.
“Yes,” he replied. “I’m sorry to say.”
In horror, Cariad watched the recording of the shuttle debris falling like rain on fire. Numbly, she tried to process the news. No one could have survived the explosion. How many had died? Each shuttle carried two pilots and four cabin crew. How many passengers had been aboard?
She gasped.
“Cariad?” Strongquist asked.
She’d arr
