"And the deceased. And the raft."

"Sir, I'll have to ask Pilot Officer Galvan. It's not going to be easy to get the raft aboard

safely."

"We can't leave valuable evidence at the scene-"

The pilot had other priorities. "First, we get that man aboard. He's been adrift for days, in

freezing weather; it's a wonder he's alive. Major, you take that line; Professor, get back to your

seat for now."

As the pilot ordered, Margiu and the major each took a line, and wrapped it around a projecting knob inside the aircraft. The pilot had a name for the knob, but Margiu ignored that and concentrated instead on the need to keep the line taut and the raft snugged up to the aircraft.

The copilot and the crew chief helped Corporal Meharry clamber over the raft's inflated rim and into the plane.

He was haggard and pale; when he tried to stand, he staggered against the bulkhead. The copilot and crew chief half-carried him back to the seats, and draped him over two of them. Professor Aidersson bustled over; Margiu heard his sweet voice over the others. The major spoke to her.

"Ensign-get in that raft, and prepare the commander's body for removal."

Margiu stared at him, but swallowed the "Me, sir?" that almost came out. She glanced at the copilot, hoping he would say something, but he was doing something to the corporal's PPU.

She had never envisioned herself clambering into a blood-smeared life raft in the middle of a vast

ocean to retrieve the dead body of a murder victim. Gingerly, she eased over the inflated rim and into the raft. The fabric dipped and shifted under her; she felt very insecure. She had seen dead bodies before; she had seen dead bodies days' old, for that matter. But that had been on dry land, in the warm, dry climate of her homeland. She had never seen so much water in her life, and to be bobbing up and down in a raft in the middle of the ocean, with a cold stiff body, terrified her.

When she looked back at the plane, it looked much smaller, entirely too small to be reassuring when everything else was water.

The next thing she noticed was the smell; cold had retarded decay, but there was a sickening odor

of human filth and death both, held in by the canopy. When the raft rocked to the swell, Margiu struggled not to gag. As quickly as she could, she unfastened the canopy tabs and rolled it back.

Even the aircraft fumes were better than this.

Bacarion's body . . . she tried not to look at it, especially not the ruin of the face. But it was heavy-the woman had been both taller and heavier than Margiu-and she could not get the right leverage to move it.

"Hurry up, Ensign," the major said.

"Sorry, sir," Margiu said, breathless, as she struggled to unlash the webbing that held Bacarion's body still. She got the last one loose, and the next swell rolled the body toward her. When she tried to lift, the additional weight pressed her knees into the raft floor, which sank, and the body rolled into the depression. It would have been hard enough on a solid support, but she had none.

"Tie a line around her and we'll haul from here," suggested the professor, who had reappeared in the aircraft's hatch.

"Don't be ridiculous!" snapped the major. "All she has to do is lift and slide the body across-"

"No-she'll need the basket. Hang on, Ensign. Be right back." The crew chief, who had come forward, now disappeared back into the plane.

"I don't think much of your initiative," the major said to Margiu; behind him, the professor winked at her. The crew chief reappeared, with a bright-orange object that looked like a long skinny basket. "Here you go, Ensign-" He slid it over the rim of the life raft to her. "Ever used one of these? No? Well, just roll the body into it, then hook those lashings over." He turned his head to look back into the plane and yelled, "Just a second, sir-"

Margiu positioned one edge of the basket thing next to the corpse.

"Now go to the other side and give it a push," said the major.

"Stay where you are," the professor said. "Your weight will make it roll toward you."

"Keep out of this," the major said, turning to glare at the professor.

"It's simple physics," the professor said. "A child could see-" He gestured. "Her weight depresses the life raft floor, and the corpse rolls-"

A gentle swell lifted her up, then dropped her, and the corpse rolled into the basket. Margiu hooked the lashings quickly, then glanced back at the plane. A line of cold green water widened between her and the plane; the two men argued in the doorway, hands waving, and the rope ran smoothly out beside them. She felt an instant of panic so strong that she couldn't even yell.

"Idiots!" The crew chief lunged past them and grabbed the trailing line. "Don't pull!" he yelled to Margiu. "We won't lose you." Even as he said it, an end of rope slipped out and splashed into the water. Panic gripped her again, until she remembered the line attached to the Berry.

Another voice yelled from forward in the plane. "What's going on, Ker? We need to get back in the air sometime this century. Swell's picking up, if you hadn't noticed."

"Loose line, sir." The crew chief did not turn his head this time, Margiu noticed. "Now, major, if you'll take hold behind me, and then you, professor. Let's bring her in . . ."

Margiu made herself look away from the plane, and recheck the lashings on the basket. Then she began hauling in the rope attached to the basket. Something yanked on it, hard, and she fetched up against the life raft's inflated rim.

"Hurry up, Ensign," the major said. "The pilot wants us to leave."

"Yes, sir . . ." Whatever it was yanked again, putting a sharp crease in the inflated rim. Then it let go, and she fell back into the smelly slime of the lifeboat floor. She reeled the line in,

hand over hand, and was able to toss the dripping end into the hatch when the raft bumped the plane again.

"All right, Major-if you'll let go this line, sir, and take hold of that one-"

Margiu did her best to lift the ends of the Berry unit over the inflated rim as the major pulled, and after some minutes of breathless struggle, the corpse was aboard the plane. Margiu crawled out after it, her knees shaking. The plane might be tiny compared to the sea, but it was more solid than that life raft. She pulled herself upright, and hoped no one had noticed her fear, as the copilot came forward and slid into his seat.

The pilot peered back over his shoulder.

"Hurry it up, back there. I don't like the look of the horizon, and I'm still not getting current feed from MetSat."

"We simply must take the raft aboard," the major said.

"We're going to take off before that squall line gets here," the pilot said. "And the chief says it would take at least an hour to deflate and pack the raft, which will put us marginal on weight, since it'll be wet. Forget the raft."

"Dammit, it's evidence." The major visibly fumed for a few moments, then said, "Fine, then. We'll leave Ensign Pardalt in the raft to secure the evidence; another flight can pick her up later.

Ensign, get back in the raft."

Margiu's heart sank. Leave her alone on the ocean with a storm coming?

"I don't think-" the professor began; the major rounded on him.

"You have no place in this discussion; you are only a civilian. You have caused enough trouble already. Go sit down and be quiet!"

The professor's eyebrows went up, and his head tipped back. "I see, sir, that you are a bigot."

"Ensign, get into that raft and prepare to cast off," the major said without looking at the professor. "We will inform Search and Rescue where you are, and they will come find you."

The pilot burst out of the cockpit. "Ensign, take your seat. You too, prof." Margiu followed the professor quickly into the cabin. "Major, if you do not shut up, I will put you in the raft. I'm in command of this craft-"

"What's your date of rank?" the major asked. Cold anger rolled off him in waves.

"You're a paper-pushing remf," the pilot said. "Not a line officer, and not my CO. You have a choice-you can either go sit down and be quiet, or you go out the hatch, right this instant, and I don't much care if you land in the raft or the water."