Island in a Sea of Stars by Kevin J. Anderson Page B

rock vomited upward and covered the hull of Tower Two. The spray hammered both of the waiting rescue ships like liquid cannonballs. Lava destroyed the tower’s evac hatch, vaporized the compies, and hardened in the air to form an impenetrable seal over the structure.
    The two damaged rescue ships reeled, unable to maintain control. One engine exploded, and the first ship tumbled down into the sea of lava. The other ship managed to circle for a few moments longer before skidding to a landing on the access deck of Tower Two, but the weakened deck collapsed and dumped the second vessel down into the magma. Iswander reeled, stunned to think of how many people had just died, but also angry and frustrated that the structural engineers had let him down again. The deck should have been sturdy enough!
    In Tower One Rlinda grabbed Iswander’s arm, pulling him toward the door of his office. “Come on, we’re getting to the Curiosity now. You’re not going to be stupid and go down with your ship.”
    He followed her, surprised by her comment. He had no intention whatsoever of going down with the facility.
    The structure shook and slid, and Iswander knew it wouldn’t be long before the support struts buckled as well. Captain Kett was right: they had to get out of here.
    All five smelter barges had now declared emergencies. Temperatures inside their enclosed chambers were rising, and there was no way they could escape. Every crew member aboard was going to be roasted alive—and the barge crews had to realize it by now.
    He, Rlinda, and Robb staggered along uncertain corridors, racing toward the exit tunnel and the waiting Curiosity . Rlinda huffed as she ran. Robb touched his comm, “Better not leave without us, Tasia.”
    â€œI’m already fully loaded, sixty-three people, but I’ve got room for a couple more. You may have to sit on my lap.”
    â€œIf that’s what it takes,” he said. Five other evacuation ships lifted off.
    Most of the people assigned to Tower One had already gotten away, but the bulk of Iswander’s personnel had been out at the various work sites for the day shift. The processors and materials handlers were all in Tower Two, and the off-shift workers were in the crew quarters on Tower Three. Iswander felt a sick certainty that they were all lost already. Nothing he could do about it.
    He was overwhelmed and furious. “This was supposed to be safe. My engineers, my designers, my specialists were all—”
    Rlinda cut him off. “We can point fingers later. Get aboard.”
    As he ran, he realized that this was the worst possible timing. The disaster would have repercussions through the Roamer clans, they would know of his failure right before the election of the new Speaker. Garrison Reeves had issued many public warnings; an inspection of records would show that Iswander Industries had operated on very narrow safety margins, had declined to use superior—but more expensive—materials.
    Many people were going to die here. That was unavoidable. He had to rescue as many as possible. If he had, say, a ten percent casualty rate then he would still look good, he could still claim that he had led them through a disaster, saving all but a few martyrs. The sympathy vote might even be stronger than his current campaign.
    But he was going to lose more than ten percent. A lot more.
    As they charged through the access tube to the waiting cargo ship, Iswander felt the heat blazing around him. The walls of the thermally shielded tunnel had a dull shimmer, nearing the melting point. If even the smallest crack broke through, the searing temperatures would incinerate them in an instant. Iswander didn’t intend to be one of the casualties.
    Tasia’s voice shouted across the comm, “The outer section of the landing deck just collapsed. All available ships have launched, and we are going to be gone in a minute if you’re not