"So it's true! Ray, there's a hammer in the drawer under the seat, get it out and knock out the winch limiter! We'll win a meter and a half. And also, remove the latch from the beam, it will drop, here's another meter!"

The sounds of blows are heard from above, and the cable sinks by two and a half meters.

"Vadik! Three more meters! Vadik! Three more meters!"

"Well, fucked up... now I'll show you "miracles on turns"! Ray, hold on! Dakar, get ready!"

I hear the converter on the flyer howl loudly. I lift my head and see him, standing on his side, slowly sinking down between the rocks. Ray is visible in the doorway, her eyes wide with fear, and Vadim is staring intently from the cockpit. I turn on the mass effect module on the belt, it is very energy-hungry, but it is better to do without unnecessary risk of fractures on the water. I look down, there are five meters to the water... four ... I hit the lock with my hand and fly down!

"Yeah, fuck it!" it's coming from a walkie-talkie.

There is a screeching sound from above, stones are falling. I look up and see our flyer hanging at a height. The entire starboard side glitters with stripped metal.

"Ray, you have other victims on you, sit down in a clearing a couple of kilometers below here! Vadim, come back for us later, and I'll take you up the path."

I walk around a large stone in shallow water and see Eugene lying on a narrow strip of pebble beach. There's a brown-red stripe on the rocks, as if she was crawling over them. The left arm is tucked under the body, the right is extended forward. All visible areas of the skin are covered with bruises and cuts, and the T-shirt is tattered, as if it had been clawed by a Barsik. All this flashes through my mind as I run up to her. I carefully inspect and feel — there is no critical damage! I turn her over, and her face is bruised, and her nose is bleeding. She opens her eyes, they seem to have faded, and look like two pieces of green glass.

"Daddy! How did you find me?" the daughter whispers and loses consciousness. Hands and head work like clockwork, according to a long-established program. The medical scanner in the instrumentation shows multiple bruises and cuts, three broken ribs, bruises to internal organs, severe hypothermia and sensory overload. Was she doing magic? I do everything automatically: I apply a retainer to the ribs, tear and discard the remnants of the T-shirt, process and seal the cuts with a fixing film. I take off the hanging and carefully put it there. I fasten the locks, tighten the straps and put the suspension on my back. My daughter is hanging like a rag, leaning her head against my back. I approach the cliff, in front of me is a thirty-meter, almost sheer wall.

I turn left along the shore and walk along a long path, along a rocky slope.

A flier with the second victim and Ray are already standing at the top.

"Ray, get in touch with Dayan. She has the same blood type as Zhenya! I may need a transfusion," I say, and I run like I've never run before.

Eugene (City Hospital, Leonov, two days later).

I'm standing on the edge of a precipice. An icy desert stretches around as far as the eye can see. Ice, a strange bluish-yellow color, was everywhere! I have an equally strange costume... although, it's more like armor, judging by the glove that I saw through the helmet visor. My left arm is hanging like a whip, and I can hardly feel it, I can't even really move it. Behind him, on the ice, lies a ship — it is twisted and broken, the hull has burst in the middle, and the ship has folded almost in half. I see protruding hull frames, bundles of wires hanging, burst pipelines sticking out. The deck rooms are visible. The outer part of the hull, a strange, anthracite-black color, is now covered with fused wounds, in some places the thick-looking skin is melted through. I turn around and walk towards the wreckage of the ship. Among all the debris and twisted pieces of hardware, there is an eight-wheeled APC, the two front wheels on my side have been cut off like a razor — you can see the protruding suspension elements with a shiny cut. I walk up to the APC and click on a small circle glowing green on the armor. A piece of armor comes off and opens, revealing a film of force field. I turn around and look around the panorama of the icy world again, it's terribly quiet, and I realize that I'm here — alone, all alone!..

* * *

At first, the pain came, it seemed to be everywhere, everything hurt: arms, legs, body, skin burned with fire. The pain throbbed in his head like a booming drum. Something was humming, squeaking, hissing, and voices were saying something. Someone came closer, enveloping me with a feeling of love and anxiety, something pricked my arm — and the pain began to recede, I was carried along, rocking as if on waves, a soft darkness slowly came, and I fell asleep, this time without dreams.

The second time, I was woken up by a conversation. My fathers spoke in low whispers, but I could hear them all the same.

"Dak, how is she?"

"The condition is serious, but the improvement is already noticeable!"

"Dak, with such damage, why without a regenerator?"

"Mish, we don't understand some things, she's very unusual! Look, this is the structure of a nerve fiber you or Dayan have. And this is the same fiber that Eugene has."

"It seems to be denser, and the fibers are different, thinner, and there are noticeably more of them."

"Yes, Mish, but two years ago it was as usual! Or, look, this is the structure of an ordinary person's muscle fiber. And now — what is it like for Eugene!"

"Wow! The fibers seem to be twisted into a spiral, and they turn out to be longer!"

"Not only longer, but also more elastic, more flexible and, most importantly, with a comparable density of muscle tissue, it is able to create three times more force! Misha, the muscle tissue is changing right now! That's why we didn't put her in the regenerator — we don't know how it will affect Eugene!"

"Unbelievable! Do you think these are the consequences?"

"I don't think so, Mishka! I know that for sure! Her body reacts to stress — it changes, adapts, becomes stronger and more stable! It's just a miracle!"

"Do you think it could be the consequences of Dayan's poisoning? Also, during pregnancy?"

"I do not know, Mish. There were no more such poisonings in Mendoir, and I have no statistics for the rest of the colonies! They keep it a secret for some reason...."

"Of course, they keep it a secret! After all, accidents in production spoil the reputation of companies! Therefore, such data is not publicly available. I'll try to talk to Stephen, maybe the Navy has something. If there is, he will pass the information on to us. And, Dakar, please don't upload the examination data to the colony's medical network!"

"Don't worry! I know they can go where they don't need to go! So everything will be tight-lipped!"

They laugh softly, trying to relieve the hanging tension.

"Listen, but the guys from the truck that goes to Bekenstein, do you know what they brought?"

"Really! Are you having a Crise today?"

"Come here tonight! I brought a bottle, and we'll have a drink here! I'm not going home after my shift, I'm going to stay."

"Agreed! Let's sit together."

I look at them, so different... and somehow subtly similar — in smiles and innuendos, understandable only for a very long time and very intelligent people who know each other very well. They talk, laugh, recall well-known episodes from their lives, and there is tension and anxiety in their emotions. And behind the conversation and jokes, they try to hide them, they try to support each other! In the end, they rest head-on and stand in silence.

Dakar, sensing my gaze, turned his head. The look in his blue eyes seemed to light up — his feelings were so strong and bright!

"Mishka!" Dakar exclaimed. My father turned and met my gaze-the wave of joy that came from him almost knocked me out again. With some subtle movement, they both find themselves at my bedside, squat down and stare without taking their eyes off.

"Welcome back, daughter!"

"Hello, Little Fox!"

"Hello, daddys! How long have I been here?"

"The second day!" they answer in unison. They exchanged glances and laughed.

"How are the others? How are Grandpa and Feron?"

"It's all right!"

"How you scared everyone again, Zhenya!"

"I didn't mean to! It just happens that way! But everyone's alive, right?"

"Oh, Eugene!.."

We chat about trifles, and the men slowly release the tension, they calm down and just sit next to each other. Looking at them, I fall asleep again.

A child's voice woke me up at night:

"O Amonkira, mentor of hunters! Help her find her way into our world! Give her back her strength and health! Help her, I beg you, O Amonkira!"

I open my eyes and next to the bed I see the top of Feron's head — he is sitting on a chair with folded arms and bent over, whispering prayers.

"I didn't know you were such a believer, Feron."

The guy started and looked up at me. In the dim light of the bedside lamp, they looked amazing — a purple iris on an anthracite-black white, a slightly glowing light pupil. There is joy and relief in his feelings.

"She has heard my prayers!" Feron said and smiled.

"I don't know about Amonkira, but I definitely heard you!" I speak with a smile. "How are you?"

"Everything is fine — the knees have already healed, and the bruises are almost gone. And how are you?"

"Well, as you can see, it's already much better!"

"I owe you, Zhenya, and someday I will repay this debt!"

"I know you will! Even though it's not necessary, I understand that it will bring you back. I don't know when or where, but it will happen for sure. Damn it!"

Feron gets up, goes to the door and, opening it, turns around:

"I'm being discharged tomorrow. And you get well soon — we're all waiting for you, the whole class!"

Chapter 9.4 recovery.

The next day, I felt completely better, and I tried to sit up in bed, but a bunch of wires wouldn't let me. The instrument rack next to the bed began to chirp hysterically, and Ray and Dakar flew into the room. They saw me, half-sitting, entangled in wires, and breathed a sigh of relief. They came up, began to remove the sensors, turned off everything, pulled the needle and tube out of the vein and rolled back the rack.

"How are you feeling?" Ray asked.

"I'm hungry. No, it's not like that.... I'm HUNGRY! Even snufl would have eaten it now!"

"Ha ha ha! Well, then I'll get it now!" says the daddy and leaves the room.

Ray reached between my legs, and I felt something being pulled out of me-it turned out to be a transparent catheter tube. She went to the closet and took out her underwear and pajamas, then returned.

"Let's get dressed?"

I got dressed with Ray's help, hospital pajamas are thick and soft here — a comfortable thing. My father returned with the bowls, put them on the table and opened the lid — the smell almost choked me with saliva. She swept everything away and, stupefied, leaned back in her chair. Both our doctors looked at me with a smile, resting their heads on their hands.

"Yes, you're really feeling better! I had such an appetite that I was hungry too," Ray said.

"Do you have any other suggestions?" My father asked.

"Daddy, did you go to the hospital park, to the bench?"

"No problem!" I went and got hospital shoes from the same closet.

I put on these slippers and went to the exit of the ward, but after a few meters my legs began to stumble, and I stopped, clutching the closet.

"Take your time, hurry up! Come on, I'll carry you", Dakar said and took me in his arms, so we went to the park and left. Ray stayed on duty, even though there was no one else in the hospital.

We are sitting on a bench in the hospital park, and I see a large group of reasonable people coming into it — my whole family. Five brothers, two sisters, mothers, grandmother, grandfather, best friend, and Vasil on the arm with Noverry. The little ones see me next to my father and, uttering the cry of the apaches, the whole crowd runs towards us.

I was squeezed into the state of a teddy bear, doused with tears, scolded, praised, I learned a little more about myself in a variety of expressions.... And when I was completely exhausted from communication, my father, having somehow calmed the noisy crowd of my relatives, led them to the exit, saying that I was supposed to rest. Only my grandfather remained. I sat down next to him, hugged him and snuggled up — he was full of love and tenderness.

"I'm so sorry!"

"For what?" he was surprised.

"For scaring you so much! There are new wrinkles around the eyes, and the beard has turned completely gray."

"That's right, you scared me a lot! Where did we go wrong?"

"Hurry up! The partisans had a rope, it was necessary to be safe."

"Yes, you're doing great, but I'm an old ass! I'm sorry, the chief of civil defense... I missed an elementary thing."

"Don't beat yourself up, Grandpa! Everyone makes mistakes, and so do the rescuers, especially since you're not a lifeguard! It's a sin for Mr. Tanris to make mistakes like that, not for you."

"You're probably right."

"Of course you're right!"

My father returned and sat down next to me.

"You're going to sit here for another half hour, and then, Dad, you're going to bring her to the room for lunch, okay? She still doesn't walk very well. I'm going to go on duty, in case something happens again, he gets up and leaves."

"Grandpa!"

"Mm-hmm?"

"And why did the cable snap?"

"From bird shit, Eugene."

"How's that? It's polymer!"

"And that's it. The shit of the local birds is painfully fluid and sticky, soaked the cable, it became hard — and simply broke due to kinks."

Holy shit!