'What is happening? she said out loud, to no one.

Her vision dimmed, she gasped for breath. When she saw flashing lights in the sky, she thought she might be losing consciousness, but they were the lights of one of the Quad-landers, a module named Theseus. The retrieval beacon, she thought - I'm saved. The Quad-lander bounced in the clearing before settling onto the ice.

'Here,' she said, her voice weak. She tried to scream: 'I'm over here.'

Two men in slim olive space suits worn by the Navy scrambled out of the hatch, and she saw them approach the river. 'I'm here,' she said, but the men were too far away to hear her. She tried to crawl from the tree line, she wanted to run to them, but she lacked the strength to stand. She saw the two men wade into the river, hip-deep, and saw them pull the crucified woman from the air, cradle her. They wrapped the woman in heavy blankets.

'No, I'm here, I'm here,' she said, but watched them carry the crucified woman, that other version of herself, on board the lander.

'I'm here,' she said, 'please.' Her meter darkened to muddy brown, the next colour would be the lethal shade of black. She closed her eyes, waiting.