Ligia, a young overweight geologist, copes with day-to-day harassment from her prospecting team mates. Mars' high female-to-male ratio negates any chance of companionship for her. While the specter of an all-out war looms over the red planet, Ligia daydreams about the floating cities of Venus, where a mostly male population of scientists work to reverse the hothouse effect of their inhospitable world. 

When a freak accident leaves her stranded with an incoming sandstorm, Ligia has only a few hours of air left in her tanks. She must draw upon her meager resources and rising anger to extend her life. But is survival really worth it when death can plunge from the sky at any moment?

A quirky 9000-word novelette featuring a proud and resourceful lady squeezed inside a narrow-minded society, by multi-award-winning SF author Michèle Laframboise.