We walk up Surface Passage still, but there is a difference. Before last
sleep there was much hope in our hearts. Now our hope is almost nothing.
It was Nina who knew first. She brought me out of sleep, shaking my
shoulder and saying my name, until my mind was awake enough to
understand.
Theodor was gone!
He had left us the one lamp that was burning. The other two lamps he had
taken; and all of our food and water. But our hunger may never become
too great. With one lamp, there will be light until only a few hours
after next sleep.
Doctor Dorn blames himself. He says he should have been able to tell
that Theodor might do something like this. But Doctor Dorn feels the
same tiredness that is in us all, making our thoughts like shadows.
Sleep time has come, but we do not stop. We will walk on and rest when
we must. When the end of life is so near, the will finds strength.
* * * * *