Cinnamon sat down hard, panting. It was so hot. When Rangipo had asked her to come help out in her stead, she'd been expecting it to be warm, maybe even warmer than she was used to back home in Mireh, but this was truly terrible!

Bani, also called in to assist the ailing colony, stopped to pat her on the shoulder. "I know," she commiserated. "We used to live here in L'Hatzif, but I never heard of a heat wave like this!" Cinnamon shook her head. Even the people who were used to this said it was bad!

A call had gone out requesting help yesterday. The colony's resident physician was dealing with too many cases of heatstroke to keep up with, and a power failure meant even the houses had no air conditioning. Hivoo, Bani, and Cinnamon had arrived to help fix the power and cool off residents. Hivoo was busy arguing with someone about how and why the solar panels had failed, while Bani and Cinnamon were quickly charged with hauling crates of ice to the infirmary. The burning, cloudless sky loomed over them while they worked. There was an unusual lack of wind, causing the fungal spores to drift straight down like rain instead of floating on the breeze as they usually did.

Cinnamon dragged herself to her feet, leaning back into the harness attached to the cart behind her. She followed Bani, also with her own ice-laden cart, as they continued toward the infirmary building. In the distance, she saw Hivoo point to something underneath one of the solar panels, the colony's electrician leaning over to look where she pointed with a frown.

"Why can't everyone just hang out in the water?" Cinnamon asked as they stopped in front of the infirmary door.

Bani tugged the door open, and began to pull the cart inside. "The water's just as warm as the air," she explained. "You'll overheat even faster in there than out here. Trust me, I tried as soon as we got here." Cinnamon frowned. To be stuck in all this heat, and no cool water to jump into? She nearly couldn't fathom it.

It was dim inside the building, without power to light it. Every window stood open, and the colonists that were well enough to do so waved large leaves in place of fans to keep a breeze moving. Once Bani and Cinnamon were inside, the physician hustled over and directed them to start placing ice packs around those most affected by heatstroke. They began doing so, and the ill sighed with relief as the cold packs were settled against their body.

Halfway through, the lights flickered on, various machines flashing and beeping as they came back to life. The colonists cheered, and Hivoo walked into the infirmary, grinning in triumph. Her hero's welcome was short-lived, however, as the physician also instructed her to help out with the ice packs.

With the power back on, the fans and AC were working again, and any extra colonists were shooed back to their homes to give those in the infirmary more space to work. A few were still too ill to get out of bed, however, and a new plan was set in place to help them cool off. Cinnamon was handed a stack of folded sheets and sent to a sink to get them soaked. Hivoo and Bani were put in charge of moving fans to point at the beds. The water evaporating off the damp sheets should help those still suffering from heatstroke.

Cinnamon was just glad she was now working in an air-conditioned building. Even with the windows open, it had been hot inside, but now felt much better. She finished running water over the sheets and handed a third of the stack each to Bani and Hivoo, and the three of them draped the sheets over those who were ill. That done, they crowded around the nearest AC unit, hoping to cool off themselves. The physician wandered around, checking on people asking how they felt. Cinnamon was nearly drifting to sleep under the AC's cool breeze when she heard the door open. A tsabhua walked in, carrying a tray with a pitcher of something yellow. She perked up. Someone had made lemonade for them! Maybe this heatwave wouldn't be so terrible to endure after all.