In his inertia-cushioned command chair, Vice had remained conscious throughout the crash, and once the module’s motion had stopped, he had been able...to silence the blaring alarms and flashing lights, pull himself from the chair, and begin evacuating the most critical contents of command and control onto the beach.He had little doubt that the planet was basically habitable. The sensors told him that temperature and atmosphere were within human tolerance, which meant that this must be one of the. Schaffer was jolted awake by the sound of engines, the storm was in full swing and the pack was taking shelter inside, could it be the supply shuttle? They usually called ahead to let him know that they were on their way, but he had received no such message, perhaps the blizzard was interfering with their communications?He scrambled out of the pile of furry aliens, many of whom had also been roused by the noise, their round ears swiveling atop their heads to track its source. They weren’t. 4 A Call from Washington The next several days were busy at the lab and at the house, where Arthur and his crew were demolishing and replacing seventy-five year old utilities at a great rate. It turned out that Arthur also could deal with the wall problem, when they discovered it was not load bearing, and a deftly inserted glulam beam easily carried the ceiling sheetrock. Aimee and Adrienne were in their element, supervising the cleaning and painting of the large room that had been created.. He suddenly realized he was on a crest of a hill and therefore perfectly silhouetted, a perfect target for his quarry if indeed it was human.Instinctively he dropped to the ground, crawled up behind some bushes which he hoped would give him some cover. Then he peered intently down the hill for a few minutes before making his decision. It was him all right. Ricky Carter, the object of the three day manhunt. It was reported that he kidnapped his wife and fled into the mountainous wilderness near.