Mannheim looked at her. "Cally, we need to try and find him. This Vance
fellow. If his friends are going to try and come in, then they'll need
him to help them. He'll know what they require a lot better than you
will."
She found herself nodding grimly, agreeing. Isaac Mannheim was no
dummy.
"They must either have captured him or shot him," she said. "Or both.
He would have come back by now unless there was a problem. But if he's
still alive, then they probably have him down at Launch. And it's going
to be very dangerous for us to go down there, Isaac."
"I'm an old man. Maybe I've outlived my usefulness." It was strange
talk for Isaac Mannheim, but he was turning wistful, perhaps even
defeated. "I do know one thing. He risked his life for me. I owe it to
him to at least find out what happened. So let me go by myself."