Read The Stars Came Back for Free Online Page B

a punch line to me.
    Harbin: ( Grimly) Not a perfect situation, but we’re not dying of thirst just yet.
    Helton looks sharply at Harbin, closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and talks mostly to himself
    Helton: Liabilities are obvious. Assets. Observe, orient, decide, act.
    He looks around, ey eing the people, the water bottles, gazing over the terrain. Suddenly he squints more closely at one of the mesas, then back and around. Surprise lights up his face.
    Helton: Hey, hey-hey-HEY! I… I know that rock outcrop! I know this place. I’ve been here before!
    Helton paces back and forth a couple of times looking at everything around him like a crazy man energetically pointing out things and muttering to himself.
    Helton: The basalt was over there, and the granite that-a-way, terraforming cut through silicates there …
    He’s gesticulating , trying to remember everything from a faded memory years old. Everyone else around him eyes him cautiously.
    Helton: ( Snapping his fingers) GOT IT! Sun’s coming up over there, gonna get hot, damn hot. That valley he pointed us down is a long way to the mine, but it should be easy walking. There is a shorter way around that side, but it’s rough. Lots of sharp igneous rock, and an old TFP cut. How, how, how…?
    Harbin: Could we cut ahead, take a transport, come back to get them?
    Helton: Huh? Oh, ummm… no, well, maybe… ah… let me think…
    Helto n taps his chin, looks around him intently, becomes oblivious to the people around him, muttering and looking acutely at features here and there.
    T he monk collapses, sitting down hard. His face is pale, jaundiced, and sweating. Helton snaps back to the people around him and goes to the monk’s side.
    Helton: What’s wrong?
    Monk: (With labored breathing, trying to put a good face on a dire situation) Nothing that’s not been going wrong for months. I was headed home to the abbey for my final voyage. (He winces faintly in some internal pain) Looks like… uuuhhhh… it might be a shorter trip than I planned.
    Helton: No, you’re going to make it! We’ll all make it!
    Monk: Would that it were true. But no, I… It’ll spread the water. I’ve done my work in this world.
    Helton: No, you’re not done yet!
    Monk: With my kidneys, I’ll be visiting with God in a couple of hours. Sorry to disappoint you…
    Helton: Well, we’ll do what we can do.
    The monk smiles at him faintly, and Helton stands up and looks around, for a minute…
     
    Flash a rapid series of images from Helton’s POV:
Harbin
A mesa
Six groups of dumped passengers, one after another
Another rock outcropping in a different direction
A small heap of ten water bottles
The sun, about twenty degrees above the horizon
The monk
Another rock outcropping
     
    Helton: (Confidently) OK, unless someone has a better idea, here’s the plan.
    Helton squats down and picks up the water bottles one at a time, looking around to see who has what. He tosses water to everyone that doesn’t already have one, and an extra one to each of six that appear to be family groups or together. While he does this, Harbin checks through the clothing of the seven dead for possibly useful items, taking jackets and belts and tossing them to the groups for nighttime warmth, and turning out pockets looking for useful items. Helton explains, talking fast and firmly, pausing to look people in the eye as he hands them things.
    Helton: Harbin and I can cut over that way along other side of mesa and-
    Passenger2: (Pointing down valley) But they said the way to the mine was that way .
    Helton: Just ‘cause they handed us a crap sandwich doesn’t mean we have to eat it. Just deal with it. Now, the sun is still low, so we can move into and through the shadows on the east side of the canyon for a while. By noon it’ll be getting hot. Find a shady spot, lie down, and sleep if you can. Move out again in the evening as it cools. If you come across any water it’ll have a lot of alkaloids, so DON’T DRINK