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together. "We can try to go over, we can go down a side street, in either direction, or into a building."
    "How about through the pile?" Mayweather asked.
    "Through?" Novakovich asked.
    "Sure," Mayweather said, smiling at Cutler. "You said these were long and narrow. Can we go through the pile?"
    "You can try," Cutler said. She was trying to be mysterious. She noted that, earlier in the game, she had given away the best route just through her tone of voice.
    "Unk's going through," Mayweather said.
    "Lead the way," Anderson said.
    "Rust is right behind you."
    Cutler checked her notes again. These three were getting off to a pretty good start, at least so far. She had planned that if they did try to go through, they would meet one blocked door. She told them about the transport door that was stuck closed.
    "Rust is the strongest," Novakovich said. "Any harm in trying to just pull it open?"
    "None," Cutler said, "but it won't open. You would have to have someone with a strength of at least eight to budge it."
    "Where's Hoshi's character when you need her?" Anderson asked.
    "Waiting, just like we are, while she's having a real adventure," Mayweather said.
    The players glanced at the planet again. It dominated the mess hall, which had grown colder as people left. The smell of dinner was finally receding as well, although the acrid scent of the soap used on the dishes still remained.
    "I'm not real sure Hoshi's considering her difficulties an adventure," Anderson said.
    "Yeah," Novakovich said. "I hear she's been having some real troubles with this one."
    "I thought she was some kind of genius when it came to language," Anderson said. "How come she can't get this one?"
    "Maybe for the same reason she said there couldn't be a Universal Translator. Maybe the languages she knows and the language these Fazi speak don't have enough commonalities," Cutler said, feeling the need to defend Hoshi.
    "You'd think they would," Mayweather said. "I mean, she knows more languages than anyone I've ever heard of."
    Cutler nodded as Novakovich rubbed at his face with the heel of his hand. Clearly Dr. Phlox had told him not to scratch, and just as clearly Novakovich's sand pimples itched.
    "Well, you guys don't have Hoshi anymore," Novakovich said, "and Rust only has a strength of six. So we have to figure out how to open this door."
    Cutler gave him a grateful smile. She was glad to return to the game, even though she shot one last look at the planet.
    "How about blowing the door open?" Anderson asked.
    "Possible," Cutler said, still using her mysterious voice.
    "And the chance of bringing the entire wreckage down on top of us?" Mayweather asked.
    "Also possible." She smiled at Mayweather and didn't tell him just how likely that was, since characters in this situation wouldn't know.
    "I think we should just turn back and go around," Novakovich said. "Try a side street."
    Mayweather nodded, but Anderson wasn't so sure. "You two go back outside the wreckage and wait. I'll set the grenade and run. I have four seconds, don't I?"
    Cutler nodded. The grenades they were carrying in this game did have that kind of delay.
    "Good, I should be mostly out of the wreckage by the time it blows."
    "You going to try that?" Cutler asked, sounding more anxious than she planned. She tried not to look alarmed that she had once again indicated their course.
    Mayweather glanced at her, his brown eyes missing nothing. She made sure she didn't meet his gaze. Instead, she looked at her notes. She would have to adjust slightly for Anderson running to escape the blast, but not much else from what she had worked out.
    "Sure," Anderson said.
    "Your luck score isn't very high," Mayweather said to Anderson.
    Cutler waited. If Mayweather, as Unk, asked Anderson, as Dr. Mean, to abandon this idea, she'd have to roll to see if Anderson could follow that advice. Chances were that Dr. Mean couldn't stand up to Unk's charisma.
    Anderson shrugged. "It's higher than Novakovich's."
    "And