One of the islanders raised a hand and made a noise that sounded like a creaking floorboard. Then it came forward, the hand now held out in what appeared to be a friendly gesture.

Derek held his hand out in the same manner, and they touched fingertips, each watching the other carefully. “We hope we haven’t caused a problem.”

The islander clasped Derek’s hand and replied with an extended creak. Some of the other islanders inhaled. Another universal? “I think,” said Beth, “we’re okay.”

•  •  •

They sat down on the beach. Fortunately, it wasn’t as hot as it had appeared from inside the lander. “What do we do now?” asked Beth.

Derek was concentrating on smiling at the locals. “We don’t have many options. When the ship gets back, we call Wally and let him know what happened. He’s going to have to go back home and ask for help. Get them to send somebody after us.”

“So, we’re talking two months,” said Ken.

“Assuming they come at all.”

“Oh,” said Derek, “I don’t think we need to worry about that. They’re not going to leave us out here to die.”

Beth looked up at the sun. “It might be a good idea to make for the woods.”

They got to their feet and started across the beach. The sunbathers backed off, giving them plenty of room. Hutch could hear a couple of cars pulling in somewhere, but she didn’t see them. While they walked, she was thinking about Wally. The Eiferman needed approximately an hour and twenty minutes to orbit the planet. So it would be a good idea to check the time so she’d know when he was overhead again. She dug out her commlink. Her clothes were drenched, of course. Which probably meant—

She held her breath as she stopped and opened it. It did not show a time. She tried to activate it, but it did not respond.

She followed everyone into the woods, where they were sitting down and talking about how good it was to be out of the sun. “Anybody know what time it is?” she asked.

Derek understood immediately what she meant. He fumbled through his pockets and came up with the commlink. He held it out in front of him in the sunlight, glared at it, and pressed his finger against it several times, but got nothing. He shouted at it in a hopeless rage. “Damn,” he said. “I don’t believe this.” He looked around. Beth and Ken tried theirs with the same result.

“So how do we contact Wally?” Ken demanded.

Derek closed his eyes.

“These things are all supposed to be waterproof,” Hutch said.

“So what’s wrong with them?” asked Beth.

Derek took a long time to reply. “We’ve been cutting corners everywhere we can. It’s what happens when they slice funding.” He stared hopelessly at his commlink.