She let the view enchant her a bit more. No way out of this, not now… so be calm.

With Fraq and some of the flock and a support team of everything from engineers to diplomats, they had lifted from Luna. She had enjoyed the electromagnetic sling, its soaring views of crisp craters flashing by. Pinwheel in the black sky, stars awhirl. They had then coasted into rendezvous with the top of the orbital tower. There had been enough time in the downward elevator ride to practice and prepare, including exercises and tech briefings, fitting her suit, mastering its controls. The works. They rode down to the first tower station, a hundred kilometers above its floating ocean base. Now she and Fraq were jetting up and away, to more amazing views. In moments they would reach their drop position above Tamil Nadu in India, the green splotch spreading below. Cloudy knots of purpling anger fought along the coast. Let’s dive into that trouble storm.

Too late to back out….

She wondered if their fall would avoid the developing weather, so checked her in-suit. Systems-smart said, The apparent clouds are high altitude. You will pass through turbulence, but the ground condition is suitable.

So maybe okay, then. And… what was that time to fall again? Not much.

A long way down, indeed. What had her mother used to say?

Adventure means opportunity. Sure, Mom. Dear dead Mom.

They were hovering now. Not orbiting, moving at speeds of tens of kilometers a second, no. This would have been impossible as a true reentry. No orbital velocity left. All they had to worry about was gravity. Just gotta shed a few little kilometers per second on the way down, is all.

Suit check. White supersteel ribs over elbows, shoulders, and knees, secured. Red accents of reinforced joints, vanes along her forearms. Heat shield for rigidity and thermal screen—transparent, thick, gotta be able to enjoy the view. The signature Orbital Outfitters logo on her chest, which carried the smart parachute controls. She clamped down the system, hard secure.

All up and running. So… go.

Her comm rang in her left ear. It was the Prefect, the tone said. Probably calling with some phony last-minute encouragement. She ignored it. Hi! I’m out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message.

Fraq turned to look at her, diamond-sharp golden eyes glittering. Excitement? Reading hominid-like expressions into an alien was an error, she knew. But hard to resist.

Breathe easily, they had said. She tried.

Fraq reached over and clasped her arm. The special suit grown for him had even more gear dotting it than hers.

Did he want to go now? No way to tell, but the countdown meter available in her left eye said no, there were—what?—with a shock she saw it ticking down, 19… 18 seconds to go.

Somehow the Earth’s luminous beauty had stolen away her time.

Automatically she raced through the drill. Just jump out. Legs together. Arms out straight for torque control. No need to pitch down. Just let gravity happen.