by Eric Brown
He spent long hours wondering if what he had done with Renfrew, in the core of the Dauntless, had been the right thing. At the time, of course, fighting for his life, there had been no other course of action. But every time he beheld the diminutive figure of Jenny Li, every time he interacted with the obviously caring and compassionate human being she had become, he questioned his actions ... and wondered at a future that would have contained Caroline.
Now he sat on the bench before his dome and watched three small figures leave the ground-effect vehicle on the road far below, and begin the long climb towards him. They were Renfrew, Li, and a biologist called Freya Sinclair, whose friendship for the past month had diverted his thoughts from what might have been.
Together, he and these three constituted the steering committee of the Landfall Anniversary Celebrations, to be held the following week.
Smiling, aware of his good fortune, Latimer stood and strolled down the hillside to greet his friends.