"What's that noise?" said Dale. The other archeologists in the lab looked up. "It sounds like a plane...or a shuttle! They've come at last!"
"I can hear something," said Mary doubtfully, "but I'm not sure it's not the wind."
"It's getting louder," said one of the others. "I'm going to look."
They trooped outside and squinted into the sun.
"I can see something! It _is_ a shuttle! They're moving too fast though, they can't have seen us."
"They have, they're descending. They're going to put down on our runway. About time!"
The shuttle lined up with the runway and began to descend. It touched down, but then seemed to skid. It wobbled and flipped over. The members of the expedition watched in disbelief as it careered down the landing strip. Their last hope of rescue seemed to be gone.