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“So all this on my own?”

“Take Morris,” Clarissa said “Two guns One for the uard him It was a mistake It won’t happen twice”

“And leave you unguarded?” Morris said behind her “Not a chance No one goes without a guard”

“I’ll keep her out of trouble,” Auards didn’t seem to hear him

“Everyone up,” Rona said “Everyone And if anybody does so, I swear to God I’ll kill all of you”

“I’m a civilian,” Amos said

Rona pointed toward the rungs with her chin “Get cli”

So they climbed up into the darkness, hand over hand Ten meters up, maybe twelve Morris first, then Clarissa, then Aht stuck in her belt and her gun in her hand Konecheck wrestled the next length of ladder open, clanging and cursing and roaring in the effort The blackslick Amos wondered if maybe Sullivan really had slipped, and chuckled to hih that no one heard hi to one side, letting Morris pass next to hiain Aht of twoHe spent a lot of ti at Clarissa’s ankles,

since that was pretty much what there was to look at They were thin from atrophy, the skin pale and dusty He noticed when they started to tremble If her busted hand bothered her, she didn’t say so

“You all right, Peaches?”

“Fine,” she said “Just getting tired is all”

“Hang on, little tomato,” he said “We’re almost there”

Above her, the shaft grew shorter There was no sign of the car or the guards who’d been in it Just a pale gray square and a growing howl of wind Once, when they only had four or five o, Rona below him made a sound like a sob, but only once He didn’t ask her about it

And then Konecheck was at the edge, hauling hi after The black rain was still falling, and it had gotten colder Clarissa was shaking now, her whole body fluttering like she was too light, and the wind ht pick her up and carry her away

“You can do it, Peaches”