Quinn groaned as he came back to consciousness, struggling to rise against hands pressed to his chest. He opened his bleary eyes to Minnesota's anxious face.

"I thought you were dead," she said.

"I wish I was," he answered, whole body aching from the tackle the thing gave him. Now he felt for Archer and understood exactly how the spacer felt when the creature took him down.

"Why are you alive?" Minnesota helped him sit up. He raised one hand to brush her off and ...