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=== Separation ===
The next day, the astronauts are separated. Shepherd misses his friend after he stops to shave himself in one of the empty dorm rooms. In his initial search for Lucas, Shepherd walks into a horrifying site: a sacrificial [[temple]], with the body of a dead crewwoman lying on its [[altar]]. Shepherd searches the complex only long enough to verify that Lucas ''is not'' lying dead or injured in the altar pit or the holding pen for the sacrificial animals.

Eventually Shepherd finds the base' mess hall—served by a still-functioning semi-automatic combination food dispenser and waste-bussing station. With his food and water supplies assured, Shepherd turns to his primary concern: finding his friend. But all he finds is an athletic court that, when last used, had been the venue of a very violent and bloody game. Shepherd returns to the base' central control room, or "war room," and activates another console—which presents him with the base layout, and one room he hasn't explored: the [[hangar]]. Shepherd goes there—and finds no stored craft and no sign of his friend.

In frustration, Shepherd visits the war room a third time and activates all of the consoles. Unknown to him, one of those consoles is the main console of the base' central computer. It in turn evaluates him as an intruder and sends an urgent repeated call for help. A call directed toward earth.

That message will prove the astronauts' salvation, for NASA hears it. Though no one at NASA can read the message, they trace it—directly to the Aitken Basin. This prompts the launch of Apollo 20, with orders to recover what everyone assumes will be Lucas' and Shepherd's frozen corpses.