They had to dig themselves out of their tents, the snow having fallen steadily through the afternoon. But, at least it was no longer as windy. Standing on a world of pristine snow, with everything in black and white in mid afternoon sun, Myo felt serene and strangely detached from her troubles.

They dug out the runners, and Donici started checking them to make sure they hadn't been damaged by the snow while the others broke camp. She came up to them as they were bundling the tents into their bags.

'There's something wrong with the battery in number three,' she said. 'Osy's runner is lower on juice than the others. I've set up some cables and I've moved a bit of power around, but...'

She left the rest of the sentence hanging in the cold air.

'We don't have enough power, do we?', asked Myo.

'Given we can't navigate very well, we're pulling more power than I thought because of the heating, and this... probably not. The problem is that there are mountains at the very edge of the plateau. We can't just walk the last few klicks.'

'Can we fix it?'

'Not without replacing the battery, no. And we don't have a spare. Or any way of charging it.'

Bochart pointed up into the sky, squinting into the snow.

'There they are. Petits salaudi. Maybe its their revenge.'

'English dammit, Henri,' growled Donici.

Myo followed his finger, and saw that he was pointing at the thin red lines strung through the clouds, beetles flying above them, oblivious of the humans below.

'Henri,' she said. 'You're the biologist. How do the tooth beetles survive in this cold? Where do they go?'

The Frenchman shrugged. 'No one knows. They have crazy chemistry, it's why they are so useful. But even they can't survive out in this cold for too long. We thought they just hibernated or something, but I guess not.'

'Is it worth following them?'

'Is it really that bad?'

Myo glanced at Donici.

'Yes,' she said.

They were huddled in a circle, faces covered with goggles and balaclavas, hoods up, gloves on; even so, the cold was biting, a constant presence reminding them of their predicament.

'What if we left someone behind?', asked Harrak. 'The others would be able to get away then?'

'We're not doing that,' said Myo, firmly. 'No one dies today. If those little beetles can live through this, so we can we.'

'The sun will set in about eight six hours,' said Donici. 'We've been riding through the day up until now. It's going to get really cold soon.'

'Not so bad if it keeps snowing,' said Harrak. 'But, yeah, it's not going to be exactly balmy.' His teeth were chattering so much that he had to take a couple of goes at the last word.

'If we threw everything out of the cargo compartments, could you fit someone in?', asked Bochart.

'I don't think so,' replied Donici. 'And, anyway, there's no heating there. Think how cold the tents where when we took them out. But if we got rid of everything we don't need, we'll use less power.'

'OK. Let's do that, and then get in the runners and get them started. It'll be warmer in there, even with the heating lower,' said Myo, as calmly as she could.

They packed and climbed in, limbs slow in the cold; they left the two spare tents, and as many other random parts as they could. Then they started the anti-grav, and floated gently above the snow. They formed strange vortices below the runners as the gravity was bent around them.

'I changed my mind; I think I agree with you about these runners, Ana,' said Bochart.

'I have an idea,' said Harrak. 'It's a risk, but it's better than dying here. Look, this might be where the bugs are going.' He sent them all a map with a pin on it. 'It was marked by the original survey as having possible geological activity. It might be warm.'

'It's possible,' said Bochart. 'Their biology could feasibly make use of something like that. It would be like creatures living around deep sea vents. But in the snow, not the sea.'

'We can charge the runners from ambient heat,' said Donici. 'But I'm hearing a lot of 'maybe', and just going to this weird place doesn't get us off the plateau. I think we should just go as fast and as cold as we can towards the mountains. We know what's there. '

'What's there is death, Ana,' said Myo, gently. 'I ran the numbers. We definitely can't make it.'

She sent them a map.

'With Osy's busted battery, the drift on the navigation and the over-consumption of power due to the cold, we make it to the near side of the foothills. We'd need to climb them. We'd be cold, and tired, and without the appropriate equipment. I don't know how to climb, do you?'

'I think we should vote,' said Donici. 'I vote for the mountains.'

'I vote for the geological thing,' said Harrak. 'Sorry, baby.'

Bochart thought for a moment. 'The biology checks out. I'm with Harrak.'

Myo wanted to scream. This wasn't fair. She was beginning to agree with Bochart, that this planet really was going to kill them. She closed her eyes, grateful that in the runners no one could see her face.

'I vote for Harrak's place. Sorry, Ana.'

Donici's voice was thick with sadness.

'I think that's where we die together. But, OK. I'd rather be with you guys than on my own.'