New to Other-Terrestrial? Check here! Or if you need to, jump to the beginning of the episode here!

---

Apollonia found she loved the VR training.  While the lectures seemed like they might drone on forever, they were actually somewhat brief, hitting the main points and then emphasizing them with activities that underscored them well.

Cleaning a room in VR was rather gamified, and it was actually enjoyable enough that she found herself having some fun.  Figuring out spots she missed helped her score grow.

It didn’t exactly have a steep learning curve, but just as it was starting to wear out its welcome she was moved onto a new lecture, a new concept, with its own well thought-out gaming practice.

After some hours of it, though, she did find herself getting bored.

“It’s not a good idea to spray disinfectant on a person,” the digital doctor told her as she spritzed his head.  After enough scrubbing she had found that his hair rubbed off like on a doll that had been played with too much.

Now his head was entirely hairless, and very shiny.

“While I understand you are just having a laugh, it is important to remember that cleaning chemicals can be harsh on the skin, or even cause burns,” the doctor said patiently as she continued to rub his head.  It made a very satisfying squeak of cleanliness.

“I can assure you, cleaning my head is far easier than cleaning a real person’s,” the doctor told her.

Laughing, Apollonia pulled off her headset.

Zey was standing right there.

“Did you see all that?” Apollonia asked, face turning red, as she realized the nurse might have spent the last 20 minutes watching her rub the fake doctor’s scalp.

“I saw enough,” Zey said.  She did not seem upset.

“You know, a lot of people end up doing that.  I think that’s why they added the ability for his hair to rub off.”

“They do?  Did you?” Apollonia asked.

“Oh, hell yeah.  That doctor’s head was squeaking like you wouldn’t believe by the time I was done!”  She leaned in closer, conspiratorially.  “I got his eyebrows, too.”

Apollonia laughed.  “Oh, thank the Dark, I thought I’d seem crazy.”

“Just a little,” Zey said.  “But a good kind.”  She hesitated, as if she had been about to say something but thought better of it.

“What?” Appollonia asked.

“I was just thinking – you’re a lot more likable than you seem from a distance.  You’ve got this . . . seriousness about you.”

“I do?”

“Yeah.  Like you’re carrying the universe on your shoulders.  We all thought you were spending too much time with the Captain.”

“Does he do that?”

“Girl, look at him!  Man is a great captain, a mayor who . . . well, he exists, and that’s kind of enough, but he’s also wound up as tight as a watch spring.”

“What’s a watch spring?” Apollonia asked.

“Point is, you’re fun and chill.  It’s good to see that about you.”

Apollonia felt, for the second time today, supremely happy inside.  “I am a little crazy, though.  I mean, I told an admiral I had rabies once.”

“Really?  Who?” Zey asked.

“Ugh . . . I think his name was Vandoss?”

“System Admiral Vandoss?” Zey said, mouth dropping.  “Space, girl, you are nuts!”

Apollonia shifted.  “Is he really that important?”

“Yeah, he’s the admiral for the Sol System.  Like the highest rank commander of humanity.  He led us to victory in two wars.”

“Oh,” Apollonia said.  “To be fair, he did laugh.”

Zey shook her head.  “You’re just not afraid of anything, are you?”

That floored her.  She laughed once, derisively.  Then she realized that Zey was serious.

“I’m afraid all the time,” she said.

Zey’s face went to genuine surprise.  “You never seem it.”

Apollonia wasn’t sure what to say to that.  She changed the topic.  “You said you and others . . . talk about me?”

“Yeah, just regular conversation, nothing bad,” Zey replied quickly.  “I mean, you’re kind of big news.  You came in so suddenly, were spending time with the big officers . . . and everytime weird stuff happens, it’s like you just walk in and it turns out okay.”  Zey regarded her with something approaching awe.  “I kind of want to know how you do it, but I also don’t.”

“I’m just surprised people view me well,” Apollonia admitted.  “Where I came from . . . people just all thought I was a witch.  They hated me.  In the Union they don’t seem to do that.”

“I’ve heard some stuff like that.  It’s not just being from the Union that changes people, it’s just a mindset, I think.  Me, I’m from Gohhi, and it wasn’t even a bad part, but living in the Union gives you something that no one, not even those rich assholes can have; security.  Not even like physical protection, it’s just – you know that you can live a decent life.  You’re not going to die because you got hurt and can’t work, or go homeless because the landlord jacks up the rent.”

Apollonia found herself still trying to comprehend the fact of Zey’s origins.  “You’re from Gohhi?”

“Yep.  Station Gallows!”

“Gallows?  That’s grim . . .”

“Just what it was called, somebody’s name.  Wasn’t the worst place in Gohhi to live – I look back on it with fondness.  Not that you’d ever find me going back there.”

“How’d you end up here if you’re from Gohhi?  I didn’t think people could really move back and forth . . .”

“Dr. Zyzus recruited me, I was a nurse on Gohhi and he worked there in the Union embassy.  He saw my work, was impressed, I guess, and offered me a way into the Union and out of Gohhi, so I took it.  Really, though, there’s a lot of migration of people into and out of the Union.”

“Why the hell would someone leave the Union?” Apollonia asked, shocked.

“Sometimes people get convinced that if they just lived under capitalism they’d be a predator who’d make a mountain of creds and live like a king.  Most of ’em are just gonna end up getting eaten by somebody else, if you ask me.  Space, people don’t just move to Gohhi, there’s migration into Glorian worlds, sometimes.  Not as much out; they really control that tight.  But they allow some people to move in if they have useful skills.”

Apollonia could hardly understand that, but couldn’t think of anything useful to say about it.

She put the headset aside and started to take off the gloves and stickers.  “I hope I can take a break now?”

“Oh, Apple, your day is done.  I’m on call, but you only train for four hours a day.”

“You mean I can do whatever I want with the rest of my time?”

“Yep.  Though going ashore requires a special permission from Commander Cenz.  It’s dangerous.”

“I can’t wait to see it,” Apollonia said.  “I heard there are huge dinosaur-like things out there!”

“Well you can go, I’ll stay here,” Zey said.  “No way I’m going where something can eat me.  They say they could swallow a person in one bite.”

“Awesome,” Apollonia breathed.

Zey looked a little concerned.  “I’ll be on call here.  Just don’t do anything stupid.”

“Never,” Apollonia said, grinning, finding a little bit of enjoyment that she could still unnerve if she wanted to.  Even if she did like Zey, she didn’t want to lose her edge.

Leaving the medical area, she saw that the sun was setting, though the sky still glowed with the space dust surrounding the world.

She walked towards the gantries at the edge of Outpost Alexa, the ones that let her look down into the water.  The winds were still vicious, almost drowning out the colossal crashes of the waves.

Down among the legs that held up the outpost, she marveled that the winds and waters hadn’t taken it down.  Even hard carbons had to have their limits, right?  But then again, maybe not.  Hell, maybe this place would even survive the ending of the world, so long as nothing hit it directly.

She imagined some intelligent species coming about millions of years from now, finding these indestructible pillars and wondering just what they meant.

It made her feel glum.

Down in the waters, she realized there was movement.

For a moment, she thought it was Kell, still prowling around under the water.

But then she saw something breach the surface; it was smooth and light bluish-gray.  It disappeared back under, but a moment later another one came up, and she saw it split open, revealing a toothy-maw.

It was looking right up at her, and like a dolphin begging for a fish it danced back and forth before going back down with a huge splash.

“It’s a . . .” she heard, barely, over the wind.

Turning, she saw Alisher Rasulov.  He was leaning close, yelling to be heard over the wind, but she still missed the key word of his sentence.

“What?” she yelled, smiling and brushing her hair to the side.  The wind whipped it right back into her face.

He smiled sheepishly and gestured towards a door.

Being inside cut the sound of the wind down to almost nothing.

“That’s better,” he said.  “Sorry.  I was saying that those were dolphish.”

“. . . Dolphish?”

“Yeah, well they’re more like really smart fish that resemble dolphins.  So we started calling them that.”

“It’s a dumb name,” she said.

“It was my idea,” he admitted, looking chagrined.

“Well, I mean, it’s cute,” she said quickly.  “But clearly the better name would have been Porpish.”

Rasulov started laughing.  “I’m going to make a note of that one.  It’s not too late to change their entry.”

“They seem smart,” she commented.

“Yeah, they do.  But they’re really devious little bastards, and I’m convinced they just really want someone to get close enough to grab.”

“To eat?” Apollonia asked.

“Maybe.  Or just play with.  Won’t go well for the person either way.”  He shook his head.  “Makes me concerned for the Ambassador.  I heard he dived into the water and hasn’t been seen since.”

“What, you mean Kell?”  Apollonia laughed again.

But Rasulov looked alarmed.

“Oh, you’re serious!  Yeah, don’t worry about Kell.  That thing is not going to get eaten by porpishes.  Probably the other way around.”

“How would he eat them . . . ?”

“He’s not a human,” she told him.  “He’s not even remotely like us.”

“That doesn’t mean he can overpower something that big!”

Apollonia realized to what extent people did not know.  She didn’t even know all that much about the Shoggoth.  But she knew enough.  She had seen it kill – both the infant Leviathan that had taken over Michal Denso, and the still-living husk of the Source on the pirate ship.

Nothing mundane would be a danger to a Shoggoth.  Nothing could be.

“Just don’t worry about the Ambasador,” she said.  “He’ll come back and go right on being his old . . . well, horrible self.”

Rasulov nodded.  “I suppose you’re privy to more about him than I am.  I was just on the team assisting him, and well – none of us want to fail.”

“What kind of things did he need help with?” Apollonia asked, genuinely puzzled.

“Technically, I’m not allowed to share such things . . . but between you and me, nothing.  He never tapped us for help.”  He shrugged helplessly.  “We just found other duties to do in the meantime.  I did a lot more studying and training, I think that’s why I got chosen to come down on this mission.”

“I was so excited to find out I’d get to come down,” Apollonia said, grinning.  “Those porpish are pretty cool, but I really want to see some of the big stuff on the land!  You know, before it’s . . . all gone.”

“We will be doing some missions to the shore,” Rasulov said.  “If you get trained up as a medical assistant, you could probably wrangle an invite.”

Her eyes lit up.  “Really?  How would I do that?”

Rasulov hesitated.  “You know, I just got off duty and I’m hungry . . .”

“Oh,” she said.  “Yeah, well – maybe we can talk about it later?”

“Or how about now?” he suggested.  “Just with some food in front of us?”

In shock, Apollonia realized that he was asking her out.

She stared for a few moments.

“Sure,” she said, her voice coming out in shrill pitch.  “Lemme, um.  Get changed.  And freshen up.”

Rasulov smiled, and she felt her cheeks get warmer.  “I’ll see you in twenty in the cafeteria?”

“Sure,” she repeated.

Rasulov stared at her for a moment, and then cleared his throat.  “Ah, I need to get past you to get out the door . . .”

“Oh.  Oh!”  She was blocking him in.  Jumping to the side, he went out, smiling back to her again.

Then the door closed, and Apollonia wondered if she was about to have a heart attack.

“Uh . . . am I okay?” she asked her tablet.

It reported that, aside from a higher heartbeat, she was okay.  Though it reminded her she needed to put on weight.

“Can I get nicer clothes?” she asked.

A list of optional clothing that could be printed in just five minutes and delivered to her door popped up.  The cost in ex was higher than usual, but that was probably because they had limited production options down here.

Oh god, what to pick?  She just tapped some stuff that didn’t look hideous, and then went back out into the wind to head back to her room, clutching the tablet to her chest the whole way.

---

< Ep 12 part 13 | Ep 12 part 15 >

New to Other-Terrestrial? Check here! Or if you need to, jump to the beginning of the episode here!

---

It kept popping into his mind that he had never made a first contact before.

Intelligent life was so startlingly rare in the cosmos, with estimates of their number in the Milky Way ranging between 36 and 250 unique species.  Even for diplomats, it was nothing but one lecture among many, as barely any would ever get the chance to engage in it.

But right now, all across Ko, many such events were probably happening at this very moment.  With 2600 teams down on the planet, it was just statistically likely.  Ko represented a rare time when a huge amount of experience could be gained by many people.

He had met aliens who had never met a human, but they had at least known of humans.  They had seen them, knew the basic qualities of his species, and had met other intelligent life.

They were also technological equals.  It was impossible to really prevent that; even if one species was far more advanced, no species who made it far enough to have a true civilization was stupid.  It only took a few pieces of tech being sold or stolen, and in the eyeblink of a few generations the newcomers would advance by leaps and bounds to reach a near-comparable level of technology.

But the !Xomyi were still at a stone age level of development.  Their stone work was very good; comparable to neolithic humans in its complexity and skill, but still just stone.

Kai sat about ten meters behind him, still holding her rifle.  She’d taken off her helmet at his order; he did not want the !Xomyi to be alarmed by its mirror finish.

She still had her rifle, though.  It could take down any fauna on Ko.  Even if the bullet wasn’t enough, it was laced with a fast-acting neurtoxin tailored to the life here; that would kill them quickly and hopefully painlessly.

Their support drone had been uncrated, and it sat now on his shoulder.

Unlike most drones, which were simple utilitarian affairs, this one was made like something organic.  Its lines were smooth and flowing, its sensors were hidden behind eye-like plates, and it possessed insect-like beating wings that let it flit around like a dragonfly.

He waited.

The sun went straight overhead, beating down on him.  His coolsuit was working hard to keep his body temperature down, but he didn’t have the hood on, so his head was getting uncomfortably heated.

There was a plant with very large fronds nearby, and he took one of its leaves.  It was harder to break than he expected, but with a knife he managed to saw it off.

Now he had something to keep the sun off his head, at least.

Kai spoke into his ear via radio.  “You doing all right, Captain?”

“Yes,” he replied.  “You can go back to the camp if you want.  I just want to be here in case they try to cross.”

“Thanks, I’m good,” she replied.

The sun moved further in the sky.  His system indicated that their camp was fully constructed.  Kai still stayed.

He toyed with some rocks on the ground, watched a line of ant-like insects with alarmingly large jaws gather up small pods that might be seeds.  Their jaws, he realized, were shaped perfectly to grasp the pods.

Their spy drones told him that the !A!amo were moving this way slowly.  They could still reach the bridge before dark.  But would they cross if it was late?  He did not know.

The sun began to sink lower, and it grew dark rapidly.

“Captain,” Kai said.  “We need to head back to our camp.  I can’t guarantee our safety out here after dark.”

Two of the !A!amo were moving closer.

“Just a few more minutes – you can head on back.”

“Copy,” she said, but did not move.

They came within a few dozen meters of the bridge.  He strained his eyes, turned on all passive sensors.  But he could not see them.  He did not think they could see him, either.

But then they turned back.

“All right,” he said to Kai.  “Let’s go back to camp.  We’ll return at first light.”

---

< Ep 12 part 12 | Ep 12 part 14 >

New to Other-Terrestrial? Check here! Or if you need to, jump to the beginning of the episode here!

---

Apollonia was not sure what to expect on her first day.

She felt refreshed from her nap, ready to do . . . something.  Whatever it was they were going to ask her to do.

Unless it was really hard.

“Hey again,” Zey said with a yawn as Apollonia came into the medical office.

“Oh, now you’ve got me doing it,” Apollonia said, yawning as well.

“We’ll call it the first lesson in infection control; wear a mask if you don’t want to spread your germs or catch them from others.”

“I have a mask on,” Apollonia said, pulling off her clear one that filtered the humid air.

“Wear an opaque one.  It hides yawns, that way.”

“Do I need one now?” Apollonia asked.

“Too late, you caught my yawn,” Zey replied.  “Come on, let me get you started on training.”

As Zey opened the door to the office, she nearly jumped.  “Dr. Zyzus, I didn’t expect you to be here this early.”

Apollonia peered past the woman at the doctor.

She’d met him before, several times.  She barely knew him, though, except as a rather kindly older man with somewhat crazy hair.

He smiled lightly and waved them in.  “Please, don’t worry about me, you can come in here.  Training, I presume?”

“Wanted to get Apple up to speed,” Zey said.

“Or up to anything useful at all,” Apollonia added.

Zyzus looked slightly confused at that, but moved on.  “Ah, the training set just finished setting up.  I recommend that we get Ms. Nor started on some basic introductions, and then as soon as we can onto something practical, even if light.”

“Something light?” Apollonia asked.

“Yes, perhaps some light cleaning, to let you practice basic sanitation,” Zyzus said.

“Let’s hope I don’t mess it up!” Apollonia replied, grinning.

Zyzus looked even more confused.  “I sincerely doubt you could.”

“Well,” she said to him, feeling awkward and on the spot.  “I am cursed.”  She laughed.

To her surprise, the doctor’s face suddenly became very serious.  He turned to face her fully, leaning forward slightly to look her in the eyes.

“Many people believe that their differences are a curse,” he said.  “I know that in your case it truly feels that way.  It has brought you much suffering.  But I do not believe that your gifts are a curse, Apollonia Nor.  I believe that you are at the forefront of history.”

She often disparaged herself, because it was better to take control of it, in a way, than to let others do so.  It also broke her own feelings of awkwardness.

But now, she found herself emotionally defenseless from his words.  He had not meant it, but her armor had been stripped away.

And she felt . . .  She didn’t even know.

Almost positive?

“Zey, I shall be in my office,” Zyzus said.  He did not seem to have noticed the effect he’d had.

He left, and Zey studied her.  “You okay, Apple?”

“Huh?  Oh.  Yeah.  I’m fine,” she said.  It didn’t sound convincing even to her own ears.

Forefront of history, she thought.  She didn’t know what that meant, really, but it sounded very good.

“Okay, well, let me take you to the learning terminal.  Don’t worry, it’s not that boring – the VR lets you learn in a practical way.”

“All right,” Apollonia said.

She found herself smiling.

---

The VR training was, in all honesty, fascinating, Apollonia thought.

Since she didn’t have eye implants to let her just see it, someone in engineering had rigged up a simple headset.  It seemed to weigh nothing, and looking through it made her feel like she was in an entirely different place.

Putting on some light gloves, she suddenly was not just seeing a new place, but it was like she was actually in it; her whole body was projected there in perfect, minute detail.

At least until it started jittering out.

“That’s odd,” she heard Zey say.  “The sensors in your suit are desynced.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen them all do that at once before . . .”

“I have that effect on things,” Apollonia said.  “It’s why I don’t have implants.  My body rejects them.  The closer they are to me, the more they get messed up.  Put them in me and they go absolutely bonkers.”

“Huh.  Does that have to do with you being a CR?”

“I guess,” Apollonia replied.  “I don’t know if others have that problem.”

“I think some have problems like that.  But I don’t think usually to this level.  It’s more like . . . they need an alignment for their tech once a month or something.”

Zey was quiet a moment, and in her view Apollonia got some amusement by waving her hands, watching how the ones in the screen moved more and more out of sync.

They glitched, and her hands became frozen in space while her arms continued to move, the wrists just stretching and wiggling.

“Actually, can we leave it like this?  This is kind of awesome.”

Zey laughed.  “I can see it.  Wow, that’s a weird bug.  It’s like some cheap Gohhian shovelware game.”

“You play shitty games from Gohhi?” Apollonia asked, wiggling her arms so that her stretchy, loopy limbs spelled out Y and O.

“Yooooo,” she said.

“Sometimes.  There are some decent ones that come out of there.  Especially since the microtransactions are illegal in the Union.  Not nearly as annoying once that’s patched out.”

“Wait, they really patch those out?”

“Yeah, Union requires that the content be available through an in-game system,” Zey said.  “Hold on.  I think if I slap a couple of reflective stickers on your arms, the system can kinda keep tabs on you and re-sync automatically.”

“Okay,” Apple said.

It took an excessive number of the stickers.  Zey kept slapping more on, convinced that one position might be better than another.  Apollonia stopped counting at thirty-six.

It was working, though.

“Okay, that was easy,” Zey said, taking a deep breath.  “The training programs will run now . . . just follow the prompts.”

“Is it hard?” Apollonia asked, cringing internally at how whiny she thought she sounded.

“Nah, it’s just like a tutorial, super easy stuff.  The learning curve is super nice.  I think it adjusts on the fly to each person, too.”

The VR simulation started.  It was as if she was in the same room, though the appearance of it had changed to a more clinical setting.

“Hello, Ms. Nor,” a man’s voice said.  She looked and saw a doctor standing nearby.

“Is he . . . in the game?” Apollonia asked.

“I am a virtual tutor,” it said to her.  “Now, let’s get started.  If you have any questions at any time, please ask.  If you need something repeated, please ask.”

“Okay . . .”

“Great.  Today, we’re going to go over the basics of infection and infection control.  While much of modern medicine seems miraculous and is simply done by drones, humans, or any other species, are still vitally involved in the entire process.  Through this contact, however, there is always the chance of spreading infection.  The infectious materials, known as pathogens, come in many different forms . . .”

A series of large, realistic microbes appeared, and Apollonia sat down on a chair to begin to listen and learn.

Maybe I can do this, she thought.

---

< Ep 12 part 11 | Ep 12 part 13 >

New to Other-Terrestrial? Check here! Or if you need to, jump to the beginning of the episode here!

---

“Thank you for taking the time to meet with me, Acting-Captain,” Thabo Nkosi said.

Jaya nodded.  “Of course, Research-Major.  You are the head of the scientific aspect of this mission, whatever you have to tell me must be important.”

They were walking through one of the many gardens of the Craton.  This was one of the best; it extended over three decks and even had short trees.

Two children darted past them, racing each other, and Nkosi smiled.  “It is wonderful to see children after so long,” he said.  “Before coming to this system I was on a research outpost for two years.  There were only twelve of us, and none married or with any children.”

“I hope you can take some time to yourself after we are finished on Ko,” Jaya said.

“Perhaps I will,” Nkosi said.  “But that day is not today, and I still have much work ahead of me.”  He smiled, sadly.  “And not much time in which to do it.”

Jaya stopped under the shade of a tree.  The lights above them were far brighter than was usual on most ships; emulating a higher fraction of the sun’s rays.

“What can I do to aid you?” she asked.

“The diplomatic mission to save the !Xomyi is, of course, the most vital part of the operation,” the Research-Major began.  “But there is still much we do not know.  Resources have been difficult to get out here, and so we are left with many gaps in our knowledge.  I hope that the Craton may be able to help fill in some of those gaps.”

“We would be happy to do so,” Jaya told him.

“I am glad to hear that.  We actually have not mapped all of Ko.  Our scans are of a low-quality, only sufficient to find inhabited areas.  But given that we will soon lose this world, more is needed.”

“We can put up scanning satellites,” Jaya said.

“I am afraid that will not work.  You see, the debris from Omen, despite being very small, is everywhere in low orbit.  Unlike your communication satellites, the scanning satellites are not armored, and so the tiny impacts eat away at them like an acid.  So these scans will need to be done manually by the Craton.”

Jaya considered.  Yes, the man was asking her to put the ship into a hostile environment.

But the ship had heavy armor.  Her frontal cone alone could probably eat half the dust in orbit without issue.

“Yes,” she told him.  “I believe we can manage that.”

---

< Ep 12 part 9 | Ep 12 part 11 >

New to Other-Terrestrial? Check here! Or if you need to, jump to the beginning of the episode here!

---

“Okay, I didn’t expect this much wind,” Apollonia said to Rasulov.

The man put a hand to his ear, yelling to be heard.  “What?”

She couldn’t even hear it.

Her system on her hip buzzed.  “Be warned of gusts of up to 120kph,” it told her through an ear bud.  It was a little late for that warning.

She felt herself stagger under the wind, stumbling towards the tall fence that surrounded the landing pad.

The landing had been almost as rough as the drop into the atmosphere, but with these winds it made sense.

“Where’s my stuff?” she asked no one in particular.

“Your belongings will be unloaded and taken to your quarters presently,” Y answered helpfully.

Rasulov had walked away, braced against the winds, but otherwise seeming to have little difficulty.  She realized he’d put on his magnetic boots and suit stabilizer, the things they used for zero-g.

That was a good idea.  She turned her own on, feeling a little giddy as her suit turned more rigid in key spots.

It wasn’t a magic solution, she still had to fight the wind.  But it was much easier to stay upright and walk.

Rasulov was now talking to other black-striped engineers, all of them clearly very animated about something.

She wasn’t sure where to go.

“Apollonia, a nurse will be meeting you and taking you to your quarters,” Y told her.  “I must go for now.  I may be able to speak to you later.  I wish you great luck and joy!”

“Bye, Y,” she said.  Then he was gone.

She felt kind of alone.

Moving towards the fence, she looked out at the sea.  She’d seen the ocean on Earth, at a time when it had been storming.  The waves then didn’t compare to these monsters.

And it was a clear sky; it was just the wind whipping the waters into mountains.

The wind was cooling, but she already felt hot.  Her coolsuit turned on, and she took a deep breath.

The mask bothered her, and she hoped she’d get used to it.  It bit into her face, but she’d been told the air was dangerously humid.  She’d known places like that on New Vitriol, so she knew it was serious.  Hearing people choking on their own fluids was something she still heard in bad dreams.

Particularly clompy steps nearby made her turn.

Commander Cenz was coming up to the shuttle to meet some of the people getting off.

One of them was Kell.

She hadn’t seen him on the shuttle, but it seemed he had been on it.

Why hadn’t she felt his presence?

He turned slightly, looking at her for a moment, before looking to Cenz.  The Commander noticed his gaze and also looked.

“Is something wrong, Ambassador?” she heard through a sudden drop in the wind.

She couldn’t catch his answer, but he shook his head no.  He said a few more words and walked away.

Cenz watched him for a few moments, before turning to the group of engineers, giving orders.

Apollonia came over towards him, watching Kell carefully.  She had gotten his point; he knew she was watching him.  But she didn’t care.

He was heading down some stairs, and she waited behind Cenz patiently.  So far, no one had showed up for her, and she could just ask him where she should go.  She didn’t want to stay up here; it felt like only a matter of time before the wind decided to blow you away.

“Ambassador, what are you doing?” Cenz asked suddenly.

Apollonia turned, seeing that Kell was standing at the top of a ladder that led down into the water below, only feet away.  There was no safety rail before him, and he was looking down into the depths.

His face was intense; absorbed utterly in the water.

“Ambassador, please,” Cenz said, stepping closer and putting a hand on his arm.

Kell looked up sharply.  Cenz relaxed his grip.

“Do be careful,” he said to the Shoggoth.  “I am responsible for your safety.”

Kell did not seem to take in his words at all.  A small smile, scarily sincere, came to his face.

“After all this time a new ocean,” he said.  Then he looked back down.

Cenz hesitated.  “I know I cannot stop you, Ambassador.  But you must remember; this world is doomed.  You cannot lose track of time here.”

Kell tore his eyes away from the water.  “I will not,” he said grudgingly.  “But do not seek me.”

Then, without another word, he stepped off the platform.

Plummeting like a stone, he hit the water with a great splash, punching deep under the surface.

As the water calmed, something dark and large, shapeless, seemed to grow under it.  Then it sank out of sight.

Cenz turned to a nearby officer.  “Did we have scanners in that area yet?” he asked.

“Ah, the Ambassador asked that we turn them off for a time,” the man said, seeming unsure.  “I didn’t question it . . .”

Cenz sighed.  “I suppose that’s to be expected.  Turn them back on, and let me know if anything . . . large approaches the station.”

His screen showed a frown.  “I would like to have seen him like that.”

“No,” Apollonia said.  “Trust me; you don’t.”

Cenz regarded her curiously.  “Have you seen his true shape, then?”

“I’ve seen enough,” she said.

The Coral went quiet for a few moments.  She had a feeling he was about to ask her more, but he seemed to think better of it.  He could tell just how much she did not want to; it was more than just a desire, it was like asking someone to intentionally break a bone that had just healed.

“If you need anything, Ms. Nor, please leave a message on my system and I shall see that you get it,” he said, offering a polite bow before turning to leave.

As he went down a set of steps, a woman passed him, offering him a bright smile before setting eyes on her.

“You must be Nor,” she yelled.  “I’m Zey, the head nurse for the operation.”

“Oh, hi,” Apollonia said.

“Well, come on,” the woman said, waving for her to follow.  “Let’s get out of this wind.”

Apollonia followed the woman, trying to get a bead on her.  She had a caramel complexion, a full-figured body, and her hair was cut very short, just long enough to stay down on her head.

Going under the landing pad, but still near the outside of the rig, Apollonia felt a little better as she saw that the fencing now went from floor to ceiling, letting her feel a little more comfortable being near the edge.

“So, how was your trip down?” Zey asked her.

“It was . . . fine,” Apollonia said.

“Really?  Because mine was bumpy as hell, I thought I was gonna die for sure.”

Apollonia laughed.  “Yeah, okay, if we’re being honest about it . . .”

Zey rolled her eyes.  “It’s all normal, they say.  My ass!  Normal is when everything isn’t bucking so much it feels like it’s trying to throw you out.”

They had gone down about three levels now and Zey led her through a door.  Now inside, she took her down a long hall.

“We’re in the administration area, Commander Cenz’s office is there.  Down this way will be the medical offices.  Such as it is.  We don’t have a lot of staff.”

“How many are there?” Apollonia asked.

“Zyzus, me, and you,” Zey replied with a little bit of a smile.  “Well, okay, there should be two more aides and two more nurses coming down later.  But right now we’re it.”

“Only us?  How many staff are here?”

“At most, sixty.  So for that many people we don’t need a lot of medical staff.”

“What if there’s an emergency?” Apollonia asked.

“We have twenty-five med drones, and Dr. Y can always telecommute here,” Zey said.  “Or the Craton can drop us some more people.”

For a moment Apollonia interpreted that as ‘people to replace the dead’.  But she immediately felt ridiculous; she meant medical personnel, obviously.

Zey caught her momentary shock.  “Yeah, I know how that sounded.  I did mean doctors and nurses,” she said.

Apollonia was quiet a moment, then burst out laughing.  Zey lost her composure as well, and for a few moments they could do nothing else.

“Ohh, man . . .” Zey said, wiping her eyes.  “Okay, we’re both tired, that’s understandable.  Anyway . . . this is the main office, there’s Doctor Zyzus’s, and mine.  That one is the examination room, that one is the procedure room, there’s the supply room . . . and that’s the faculty lounge.  It’ll be your de facto office.”

“Ooh, moving up the ranks,” Apollonia said, pumping her fist in the air.  “Next I’ll get a corner lounge.”

Zey smiled again.  “That’s it for the grand tour, but I guess I should show you your quarters.  I think we’ll be sharing.”

“Unless there’s something I need to do now . . .” Apollonia said.  She felt a little apprehension at the idea of sharing a room.

Zey looked amused.  “You’re going to need a lot of training before you’re allowed to do anything useful.”

Apollonia felt a little relieved to hear that.  “All right, then.”

Zey waved her to follow again.  “Well, come on.  I don’t know about you, but I want a nap.”

“Oh, hell yes,” Apollonia replied.

---

< Ep 12 part 8 | Ep 12 part 10 >

New to Other-Terrestrial? Check here! Or if you need to, jump to the beginning of the episode here!

---

Taking his first breath of Ko’s air, Brooks could feel how laden with moisture it was, even through the filter.

His system told him that this was a low-humidity day by local standards, at only 77%.

Curiosity got the better of him; he decided to take off his mask and take a deep breath.

The air was the most humid he’d ever breathed, like he was sitting over a steaming pot.  He could feel some condense in his mouth, and had to swallow to clear it.  It didn’t help.

Putting his mask back on, he let it clear his airways.

And this was out over the water, he thought.  Where the sea winds would keep the air fresher.

In the jungles where the !A!amo lived, the temperatures averaged forty-six and the relative humidity rarely dropped below ninety-five percent.

At those numbers, there was a risk of water condensing out into his lungs and drowning him.  His mask would filter the excess moisture out, but the idea was . . . troubling.

I’m very far from home, he thought, remembering just how dry the air was in Antarctica.

The !Xomyi had evolved for this world, they could survive it.  How would they fare in space on a ship that had to maintain a lower humidity?  He didn’t doubt the science teams had done their jobs and taken this into account as best they could, but it would be hard to make a ship feel like this inside.

Already his exposed skin was sweating under the beating sun.  It hit a critical threshold and his coolsuit kicked in, humming slightly.

He’d wondered if the !Xomyi would hear that hum and be alarmed, but it had been built so that the sound was a little out of their hearing range.  They likely would not notice it.

Looking towards the shoreline, five kilometers to the West, he considered just how bad it would feel once they were in the jungle.  He knew the numbers didn’t tell you anything except that it would be miserable.

It had been said that they should give themselves at least 24 hours to acclimate before plunging in.

But Brooks disagreed.  He did not feel rushed, even though they had little time.  He had enough time, he thought.  Success would be based on how he did, not the time itself.

Easy to think now, the thought came.  When it was time for them to pull out, there would be no leeway.  They had only estimates of when the moon would start to break up, but they could not be sure.  If the moon started to break up earlier than expected, then he’d have to go or die.

Regardless of how much headway he’d made in convincing the !A!amo to give up everything they knew.

“We’ll set out immediately,” he told the drones.

“Are you certain you don’t want to acclimate?” Kai asked him.

“Yes,” he said.  “This isn’t the jungle – it’s going to be much worse there.  I want us there as soon as we can so we have as much time as possible to get used to our new environment.”  He smiled slightly.  “This isn’t my first time being on a new, and only semi-tolerable world.”

Kai did not seem happy with his call, but she nodded.  She had expected that Brooks might do this.

The winds here tore at them violently.  There was nothing but ocean out East of them.  There was only one small continent on the other hemisphere; the wind could fly almost unabated around the world, picking up tremendous speed.

One of the drones was battered by an unexpected gust and went tumbling, righting itself just before it fell out of sight.

Kai was battered by the same wind, stumbling towards the railing.

The railing was three meters tall, but through the bars she stared off the edge, down thirty meters towards the sea.  The waves came up close to half that height.

She wasn’t about to get blown over a three-meter fence.  But she knew that if someone, somehow did go over, their odds of survival were almost zero.  The winds made rescue drones unreliable, and the waves would batter aquatic ones.  Only crawlers with ropes and nets, clinging to the pillars, could have a chance.

Stepping away from the railing and looking out towards the land, she almost regretted taking a field role again after all this time.

---

< Ep 12 part 7 | Ep 12 part 9 >

New to Other-Terrestrial? Check here! Or if you need to, jump to the beginning of the episode here!

---

“That dropship looks like a plane,” Apollonia said.

“It is a spaceplane,” Y told her.  “Not a dropship.”

She paused for a moment, still studying the vehicle through the screen.  “I’m going to keep calling it a dropship.”

“They are fundamentally different devices,” Y said.  “But you may call it what you wish.”

“Damn straight,” she muttered.  “Dropping into atmo like a marine from space . . .”

“The term is espatier,” Y noted.  “‘Space Marine’ is a dated term.”  He paused; “By which I mean that it is fake and lame.”

Apollonia laughed.  “I didn’t know you were privy to what’s hip.”

“I must keep it on the down low, or else it would ruin my reputation,” Y replied.

A computer voice spoke from overhead.

“Boarding for Landing Party 2 may now commence.”

“That is our party,” Y said.  “I like to believe that it is the best party, as well.”

A ‘snerk’ sound came out of Apollonia as they queued up to board.

The first trip down had been the most essential personnel for Outpost Alexa, along with their security detail.  There would be a third shuttle of scientific equipment, but otherwise that was it.  sixty-odd people on an ocean rig for . . . well, months.

“Hey, Y, is it true that the security team went down on the first shuttle to make sure that giant sea pigs didn’t crawl up and take it over?” she asked.

“I have not heard that rumor,” Y said.  “Though I can tell you with certainty that it is unlikely.  The pylons are too difficult for the sea pigs to climb.”

“Too bad, they sound cute.  I wanna ride one.”

Stepping through the airlock, Apollonia followed the prompts on her tablet to her seat.  Y did not follow, but his voice came through her ear bud.

“I am, technically, going to remain on the Craton, but I will have my presence with you during your descent.”

The straps tightened around Apollonia on their own, and she felt her heart beat faster in excitement.

She was going down to an alien planet!

“I saw in your cargo manifest that you brought a ‘swimsuit’,” Y said in her ear.

“. . . why are you looking in my cargo, Y?” she asked.

“I peruse all relevant data for those under my command.  I hope you do not mind, but I added two more sets of uniforms to your baggage, to make sure you have enough.”

“Did you leave my swimsuit, though?”

“I did, though I do not believe you will get a chance to go swimming.  Or ride giant sea pigs, though I notice you did not even bother to pack a saddle.”

She chuckled again.  “Well, I still have a hope of going swimming.  A girl can dream, right?”

“You would have to hope not to be eaten.  There are very large marine predators on Ko, and they are not as easily defended against by drones.  All personnel are banned from close proximity to the ocean.”

“Shit, really?  Guess I won’t need the swimsuit.  But why will I even need the uniforms?  Won’t we be wearing coolsuits?”

“Yes, but they are in fact skin-tight.  Some say they seem almost inappropriate to be worn alone, and so uniforms are typically worn over them.”

“. . . oh, wow,” she said.  “Yeah, I’m glad you sent me more uniforms, I don’t need people seeing how fat my ass is getting.”

“Technically, you are still underweight, Nor.  Though not as much as when you first joined the Craton.”

There was a loud clacking followed by a thump, and she jumped in her seat.

“The airlock has sealed,” Y said.  “You are about to begin your descent!”

“Great,” she muttered.  The excitement in her stomach had turned to butterflies.  “Ko has a pretty thick atmosphere, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, at sea level it is approximately 1.6 times Earth standard pressure.  But do not worry, that is within tolerable limits for breathing.”

It wasn’t that . . . it was more the thought that the dropship was going to slam into that atmosphere at high speeds.  Sure, human ships had been doing it for like a thousand years – air braking was just such a nice and convenient way to shed speed – but she’d also spent far too much time watching compilations of ships having something go wrong and explode when doing such a drop.

Those were all some random spacer’s poorly-maintained ship, she told herself.  Not some super fantastic Union ship from one of her best vessels.

But of course, even with the Sapient Union’s best ships, there was always a chance of a catastrophic failure.

“We are preparing for atmospheric entry,” a pleasant computer voice called.  “In approximately twenty minutes.  If you are not already strapped into your re-entry chair, please do so now.”

A few officers had been milling about, talking to each other and simply gripping hand holds as the dropship had maneuvered away from the Craton.

Now they took their seats, a young officer sitting next to her, offering a pleasant smile.

She smiled back.  He was rather good looking.

But he was probably fifty or something, she thought.  He didn’t look that much older than . . . well, she had no idea, really.  She had been wrong about her own age until recently.  He was probably older than her actual age of 22, which was younger than the 28 she had thought she’d been.

“Specialist Nor, right?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said, feeling oddly happy that he knew her name.  “But, uh, sorry, I don’t know you.”

“That’s understandable, I’m just a Lieutenant.  Alisher Rasulov,” he said, offering a hand.

She took it, and hated that her grip felt so slack in his hand.

“Ah, is that Lt. Rasulov?” Y asked.  “I recommended him for this mission, as he displays excellent leadership qualities-“

“Shush!” she snapped.  “Stop telling me stuff!”

Rasulov blinked.  She’d been looking in his direction when she’d said that.

“Ah, talking to a friend on the Craton,” she said nervously.

Rasulov nodded, though she thought he still looked a little concerned.

Her humiliation was forgotten as the ship began to shake violently.  Her knuckles turned white gripping onto her armrest.

“Intense shaking is a normal part of re-entry,” Y’s voice spoke.  It crackled with static.

“Am I losing you?” she asked nervously, muttering so Rasulov wouldn’t hear.

“Yes, I am afraid there will be a window of several minutes when the plasma shroud around the spaceplane – pardon me, dropship – will become intense enough to prevent my messages from reaching you.  While the ship will use other means to communicate in that time, the bandwidth is somewhat limited, and I will likely be silent.  Do not be concerned; this is normal.”

“Swell.”

“I know you do not mean that, Nor, but it is truly quite safe.  You are more likely to be killed by flying space debris in transit than in entry through an atmosphere!”

“That’s really swell.”

Y paused.  “We are losing communications in a moment.”

There was a crackle, then he was gone.

The ship continued to shake, and she noticed – oddly taking comfort in it – that Rasulov was also holding on with white knuckles.

“These re-entries,” he said, smiling at her.

She smiled back.  “Makes me miss the space elevator around Earth.”

The man nodded, his jaw setting.

The cabin seemed to be getting warmer, but then just as it started to get uncomfortable, the rattling stopped.

“We have successfully passed through the upper atmosphere,” the computer voice said.

“Ah, hello, Nor!” Y said in her ear just a moment after.  “You have made it, as I predicted!”

She forced herself to let go of the armrest.

“That wasn’t so bad,” she said, not quite feeling it yet.

“I am glad to hear you say that, even if you are lying,” Y said.  “One day you may believe it.”

She scowled.  How the hell did he know?

“So will you have to go soon?” she asked.

“Not yet.  But do not worry, you will find Dr. Zyzus a fair and knowledgeable teacher.”

“I still wish I was learning from you,” she muttered.

“It is good to have multiple teachers,” Y told her.  “It gives you perspective.”

She still was not very happy about this part.  Nervous, even.  But it was still all worth it.

“We will be landing in three minutes,” the AI voice said.  “Prepare for vertical descent.”

Vertical descent?  Would they just be dropping out of the air or something?

She gripped her seat again nervously.

---

< Ep 12 part 6 | Ep 12 part 8 >

New to Other-Terrestrial? Check here! Or if you need to, jump to the beginning of the episode here!

---

“All right, Captain, try speaking.”

Brooks took a breath.  The mask over his face would appear to most eyes, including those of the !Xomyi, to be normal.  But it was a complex 3D projector and filter over his mouth that served two purposes; to filter the air, and to make it look like he was speaking the language of the !A!amo.

“Hello, I am Captain Ian Brooks,” he said.

Lagging only slightly behind, came the words in their best approximation of the !A!amo language.  He could not have transcribed them if he had wanted; largely he could pick out many clicks, high sounds outside of the standard range of human hearing, and glottal stops.

“Good, the mask is translating your words well.  Although, the !A!amo do not have naval vessels, and therefore lack the term ‘Captain’.”

“What does it translate my title to?”

“Simply as ‘chosen leader’.  Or . . . we believe as much.  The !A!amo are a group whose language we know only somewhat well.  We have had to fill in gaps with some knowledge from other nearby groups of !Xomyi who we believe speak related languages.”

Brooks nodded, then reached up and took off the mask.  It was one of the most important pieces of equipment he’d have with him.  Without it, he wouldn’t even be able to communicate with the !A!amo.

“The table is prepared,” Y said as he placed the mask back in its case.  He’d have spares with him in the unlikely event that this one failed.

Brooks looked to the table through the clear curtain.  He had already changed into a cleansuit and had his body sprayed with a chemical that would cleanse it.  Until he went down to the surface in seven hours he’d be in this clean room.

Stepping through the curtain, the deck in here felt colder than it did on the other side, and he wished he could at least wear shoes in here.

Getting on the table, it conformed to his shape and leaned back so that he was horizontal to the floor.

Y loomed over him.

“You must know, Captain, that what we are doing here is typically very ill-advised,” the doctor said.

Brooks found himself a little annoyed; he might have felt differently had he not been on the examination table and Y above him.

“I agree,” Brooks said.  “It’s risky going down there.  The !Xomyi could be hostile, the megafauna is hostile, the moon could break apart and come down on us ahead of schedule . . . nevermind the damage that this rushed contact will do to the !Xomyi even if everything goes right.”

“That is an ethical issue, yes, but my point is really the threat of contagion,” Y said.  “While the !Xomyi are alien and therefore cannot be infected in the classical sense by external microbes, it is still possible for hostile colonization to occur.”

“Well, that’s why we’re here,” Brooks said, pointing to the table.

“Yes, gut re-lining is a good process, but the results are not always perfect,” Y replied.  “There have been cases where-“

“Let’s get started,” Brooks ordered.

“Very well.  You may experience some discomfort, I am sorry to say,” Y replied.  “But shedding the majority of your internal gut lining cannot be anything but.”

“Not my first time,” Brooks said, grunting as the clenching in his stomach began.  It was more than a little discomfort.

“As I was saying, even with this, and with the cleansing of your surfaces, there is the risk of contagious spreading.”

Brooks said nothing; words were difficult to make when his body was betraying him so strongly.

Y continued.  “Though I do not wish to alarm you unduly.  From my studies I believe the risks are low – for you or the !Xomyi.  There simply is a chance.”

“Good to know,” Brooks grunted.

Y wished that humans could understand that even a statistically tiny chance, when spread over a large time frame, became alarmingly more possible.  Though, he reasoned, even if some bacteria found their way down and infected the environment, the world was doomed already.

“Just remember to inform me if you find any strange growths, colonies, or other such things upon your person,” Y added.

He did not wait for a reply that he knew would not come, judging by Brooks’s look of concentration.

“To be honest, the most difficult aspect from an infection control standpoint will be making sure that different groups of !Xomyi do not spread diseases to each other.”

“We just have to keep . . . . disparate groups separated,” Brooks said, breathing sharply.

“Yes, I understand the transport ship will be sectioned off so that different !Xomyi groups can be prevented from encountering distant groups who might have diseases novel to them.  Still, within the enclosed system of a ship, there is a threat of pandemic.”

“How much longer?” Brooks asked.

“We are half done!” Y said happily.

The Captain’s look of annoyance was not veiled this time.

“Due to the extended time you will be spending down there, your preparation must be extremely thorough,” Y said, then sighed and shrugged.  “Going down to a new world is not as fun or easy as it has often been portrayed,” he lamented on the Captain’s behalf.

“We sometimes overlooked the finer details,” Brooks said in a moment where the pain lessened.

“Ah, yes, fine details reminds me.  I am concerned with your body’s reaction to the local pollen,” Y said.  “I believe there is a strong chance it will trigger a severe allergic reaction in you, in particular.  Your Antarctican upbringing means you were exposed to fewer than most planet-born humans, and therefore you are more susceptible.”

“But I like to think I can manage them better than those born on ships or stations,” Brooks grunted.  Then another wave of pain hit him.

“No, actually, you fall in a middle zone where your body has been rendered sensitive to such particles, but not used to any!  It is very unfortunate.”

He paused, as Brooks said nothing.  But the look on the Captain’s face made clear why.

It was unfortunate, Y, thought, but the Captain had volunteered for this mission.  He decided that continuing to talk would provide at least some distraction from the cramps.

“After you have recovered from this, I will be performing a few minor operations to put a filter into your nostrils for the pollen.  Your mask will shield some, this should catch the rest.  Though I cannot guarantee full protection, it should keep you from being incapacitated.”

“Urk,” Brooks managed to say.

“Also, while I am certain it has been mentioned to you, do not eat any local food while you are on the planet.”

Brooks took a deep breath.  “That may be unavoidable,” he managed to get out.  “For social reasons . . .”

“True.  I will also therefore be installing an enzyme processor into your stomach.  You may feel its presence, it is approximately the size of a clementine orange.”  Y paused.  “Or would you prefer its size in centimeters?”

“I don’t care,” Brooks bit out.

“Very well.  It will detoxify any native food you eat, though too much might still get through and could cause issues.  My modeling of the effects of their exotic – to you, at least – amino acids and proteins suggest that their food may cause cramps at the mild end, death at the most extreme.”

“At least I’m well-practiced handling the former,” Brooks said.  It felt like the cramping in his gut was dying down.

“And you skirt far too close to the latter on a regular basis for my tastes,” Y said.  “But, well, Captain, it is time to replace your gut biome with our specially-created one!  Please bear with me, this may tingle.”

It was more than a tingle, Brooks thought.

---

< Ep 12 part 4 | Ep 12 part 6 >