The earth shuddered first one way and then the other. It rocked back and forth; it rose and fell. Sue felt the blood hammering through her temples. The muscles in her body strained to hold her knees against her chest. She heard screaming, knew that some of it was coming from her own lungs. The earth rocked. Sue felt that she could not possibly endure it longer. She was flung this way and that, bounced as a rubber ball. It went on and on. The girls about her seemed dazed, stricken. The speaker ordered, "Prepare for pressure within ten seconds." The earth rocked and then came a jolt that made all the preceding seem as nothing. It came again and again. And then the pressure. She couldn't breathe. She knew this couldn't go on. It was more than a mortal could endure. Vaguely she wondered how anyone on the surface could possibly be alive. It was unimaginably horrible down here; it could be nothing less than an inferno of death above. Merciful darkness came down. * * * * * The sheets on the bed were white and crisp and cool. Several moments passed before she understood. She had never been here before. Through the huge windows came bright sunlight. Far out beyond, the ground was covered with snow. Sue sat up abruptly. A nurse came, lifted back the sheet, checked the identification number tattooed on her hip. "Susan Wildress? Factory Eight Hundred Ninety-six?" Sue nodded. "My mother?" "Just a moment." The nurse went away and came back with a memorandum. "Betty Wildress is listed as age thirty-six. That would put her on the eightieth level. None survived above the hundred and seventeenth." Sue buried her face in the pillow. She had held back the tears so long that now they would not come. She thought of her father and turned again to the nurse. "Craig Wildress?" the nurse said. "Logistics? Just a moment." She checked through records. "He was here two days ago, stayed by your side. He received a high priority message, had to leave. He left word for you that he would be on Mars for some time." "Alfred Wilson?" "Your betrothed or kin?" Sue shook her head. "An instructor at the Center. He went out the night of the strike." "There are many Centers. Many went out that night and not so many came back. You will have to inquire of the Council." "This place? Where am I?" "Recovery Fourteen Hundred One." "Is it near--?" "Site of Factory Eight Ninety-six? Yes. About a hundred and twenty miles east. You must rest now. Girls from devastated areas are to go to factories in the East. You must regain your strength quickly."