“You've got an antenna now, Petra. Let's get you hooked back up to the guys.” Nick selected the menu option, which had already been relabeled Network when Petra relearned bits of English from his phone. The only items listed in the menu were “01” and “Nick's Phone.” He did notice that his phone was not grayed out or anything, even though he was no longer holding Petra and his phone pressed together.

  “I guess you need to get reintroduced to the others, or something. Do you not remember making the guys, Petra?” Nick blinked. “Wait a minute, maybe that's the problem. You're not grabbing items because they belong to somebody named 'Petra' and you don't know that's you! Is that it?”

  Desperately wishing he had some kind of stylus, Nick painstakingly used the keyboard and edited “01” to read “Petra.” Then he crossed his fingers, and checked the network again. Nothing else appeared. “Damn it.” He sighed. “God, I just want to go to sleep. Why couldn't somebody smarter have gotten Petra instead?”

  Nick knew he was whining, and would never say things like that in front of anybody else, but he was alone here, apart from Petra. I'm not sure she even has ears yet. Microphones. Whatever.

  There's no way I'm going to be able to do everything needed to get home. It's not possible. Just flipping Rockhunter right side up again could put me in a coma. I should be unconscious in a hospital bed, not trying to run an alien factory-in-a-rock. Why am I even trying?

  Nick recognized his depression talking, and looked for a reason to keep going beyond sheer stubbornness—which would do if he couldn't find anything else, but it would be less draining if he had a better motive. Fortunately, it was getting easier to remember what was going on, and getting Kathy the element 23—and Petra herself in the event of his death, for that matter—was much better motivation.

  Even if I don't make it out of this hole alive, Rockhunter needs to make it home with the element 23 and Petra. Just focus on doing whatever it takes to get Rockhunter home.

  Nick looked at the networking menu again and tried not to despair. Well, if Petra can't find the old ones, maybe she can make new ones. Let's see, lights are cheap. Let's build a light. Nick went to the build menu, opened a text box and typed “Flashlight.” That called up old familiar lists of blueprints, and it didn't take Nick long to scroll to the one he had made before.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  He triggered the build. To his pleasant surprise, Petra still had all the resources that she happened to be carrying in her mysterious gut. He didn't need to feed her anything more for the light—she just started printing. Nick was very careful to catch the little round light the moment it detached from the printer.

  It showed up in the network as “Flashlight 1” and Nick edited that to “Flashlight 101.” That way, there wouldn't be any conflict if, say, the light fixture inside Rockhunter happened to be Flashlight 01. Nick had Petra turn the light on, and then adjusted it to suit his current purposes. The familiar glow was welcome, and Nick could put his phone away. It was clearly on its last legs and he didn't want to stress the damaged item any more than absolutely necessary.

  “It's a start,” he told himself. “Now if only I could replace the see-over-my-shoulder trick...” Nick wished for a big mirror, then blinked slowly. Wait. I have lots of silver. Of course I can make a mirror! And that's so dirt simple it shouldn't tax Petra's resources at all. Nick was hampered by the tiny screen on Petra's surface, but eventually managed to get Petra to print out a few mirrors of pure silver. I'll have to thank Kathy for the ore if I ever see her again.

  He knew his concussion was bad; whenever he forgot and tried to look to his left, the headache was so awful he was in danger of vomiting again. So, he used the mirrors. The sight revealed in the reflection was frustrating.

  Nick could almost reach the control panel for Rockhunter. Using Petra to extend his reach, he had been able to hit the power button. But touching Petra to the screen and pressing the icon for Rockhunter on Petra herself at the same time was beyond him. He was going to have to move closer. This is going to suck.

  He carefully prepositioned everything he could so that it would all still be in reach once he moved. He also thought hard about what instructions he could give Petra in advance, in case he was incapacitated afterwards. He told her what little she could understand. His options were limited; he had to roll the dice. Nick moved.

  He should have passed out. His body tried to shut down. Nick realized that he was probably dying, but if he was going to save Kathy, and the others...an entire intelligent species...he had to keep going a little longer. So he clung to consciousness with desperation, to do the most important thing he would ever attempt.

  He couldn't see. He couldn't think. He couldn't even hear himself screaming. But some part of him peered through the narrow tunnel of his vision, surrounded by encroaching blackness, and shoved Petra against the control panel, pressing the icon for Rockhunter when it appeared on Petra's display. Then his arms dropped, and Petra fell from his grasp.

  He was done. He had nothing left.

  His last thought was a prayer, that it would be enough.