Patricia was devastated.

In her heart of hearts she had truly believed that her friends had survived the shuttle crash just as she had survived the Crewpod crash. But they hadn't. The long, torturous descent into the valley, had taken the rest of the day, but the rescue team finally reached the resting place of the shuttle. Only to discover the charred remains of the two men inside. It was little consolation that, from all indications, they had not survived the impact and thus had not suffered.

It was however, the blow to her faith that hurt the most. Despite the certain ramifications if they were caught, Patricia's parents had raised her to believe in God. Not to practice religion, she was always quick to add when the subject came up, though it rarely did. As a result, she was apt to see God's hand in matters, even when, in all likelihood it wasn't truly there. It gave her comfort to think that she had a purpose in life and was being watched over.

Her survival of the Crewpod crash had served to strengthen this feeling. Further, she was sure that despite the all-too-evident fact that the rest of her team, indeed the rest of the world it sometimes seemed, was atheistic, they would come under the umbrella of God's protection by virtue of their association with her.

But that hadn't happened. Captain Andrews and Lt. Thomas were gone. She rejected the thought that God had failed them. She reminded herself that faith meant you must continue to believe despite the lack of evidence, or in the face of evidence to the contrary.

Didn't it?

Patricia's internal turmoil was interrupted as the men, having finished digging the graves, began lowering the two bodies into their respective resting places. An awkward silence took hold of the quartet. Each realised that the moment demanded something be said, but none knew just what that should be. Patricia steeled her nerves and somehow summoned the courage to speak, "Our father who art in heaven-"

"No he ain't," interrupted Tony amid groans from Kyle. Patricia's resolve wavered but she was determined to stay the course. She opened her mouth to speak, but Tony wasn't done. "I'm sorry Patty, but really, this isn't the time. If you want to say something, fine. But leave the voodoo out of it. That's illegal."

Patricia gathered all the righteous indignation that she could muster and decided to vent it on Tony. "Illegal? What are you going to do, arrest me? In case you hadn't noticed, the UN isn't around, it hasn't even been invented yet. Religion hasn't been banned yet. You all do not have to listen, but I will pray for these men." Patricia closed her eyes, bowed her head and prayed.

Silently.

When she opened her eyes, she was alone.