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When dawn came, Brooks was already prepared.  The longer day cycle of Ko allowed for a generous sleep period, but he’d risen early despite that.

The stimulants would let him go through the longer day without problem.  With those, one could go for a week without sleep if they observed certain careful behaviors, such as still taking time to sit and do little physical activity.  The brain, ultimately, could manage, albeit with some limitations, it was the body that would start to have problems if one kept active the whole time.

There was a lot to be done, though, he had to capitalize on the advancements of yesterday while it was still fresh.

Kai was up with him; perhaps even earlier, despite having taken the night watch.  She’d been on the front lines in two wars, and the old habits died hard.

Today he would cross the bridge himself and try to initiate communication with the !A!amo.  He would bring them gifts – food and tools made in a similar style to their own.

“Are we sure they’ll like this stuff?” Kai asked.

“No,” Brooks said.  “But other groups across the planet have appreciated them.”  He paused.  “Though one group in the Western desert rejected them.”

Kai made a hiss.  “Was that the group that killed the researcher?”

It had been, Brooks knew.  “As far as I know, that’s just a rumor,” he said.

Kai knew what he was doing.  “Rumor my ass,” she muttered, loudly enough for him to hear.

His white bag was still a problem.  But taking some matte brown tape, he wrapped it until it was completely covered outside.

“You know, the bright white was meant to help us find it – and you – in case something happened,” Kai said.

“I don’t want to look any stranger than I have to,” he replied.  “I have studied this sort of thing outside of this mission.”

“Was that before you were in the Union?” she asked.

He knew what she was wondering about.  There were a lot of stories, some true and some exaggerated, about the rim, and the things he’d done out there before he’d joined the Voidfleet.

“Yes,” he admitted.  “I didn’t make first contact on Bipon.  We were a later contact, and the first had been less than enlightened.”

“Pirates, I heard,” Kai said.

“Something like that.  The distinction is somewhat arbitrary on the fringes.  An honest trader can turn smuggler, pirate, or saint based on his circumstances.”

Kai truly seemed perplexed.  “They really have no ethics?”

“Those are a hard burden to carry when a wrong move might mean the end of your ship or life.  A lot of ships barely carry enough food, water, and air to reach their destinations – every bit of weight is something they’ll have to pay for with food and reaction mass.  A minor miscalculation, and . . .”  He shrugged.  “The math then becomes very stark.”

Kai took that in.  “So what happened on Bipon?”

“The local species were not a lot more developed, economically, than the !Xomyi.  They had farming, but that was it.  The first group to find them presented themselves as gods, and when that lie fell through they killed a lot of the locals on their way out.  Not all intentionally, they left a lot of stuff behind that wasn’t safe to handle – even had a radioactive dump pit just a few kilometers from the local village.

“My group wasn’t connected with those – ours was seeking new trade opportunities, and since pickings were slim we decided to see if these beings had anything that might have value on the market – artifacts, delicacies, art.”

He sighed.  “We landed.  They attacked.  We had expected that, but – well, you think that some primitives throwing spears is just pathetic, until you have it happen to you.  These beings – they still don’t have a formal name, but we called them Biss – they felt they were fighting for their lives.”

“So what did you do?”

“We set down goods, under cover of guardian drones, and then went back into the ships.  The Biss had become afraid of outsider goods, and they set fire to that first set.  We’d expected that, and the goods were cheap, so we put out more.  Just simple things; knives, hatchets, jewelry, simple rations.  They didn’t burn the second set, but just watched us.  We waited, and eventually they got curious enough to look at the stuff we’d left.  When they realized they were useful things, they took them.”

“And that was it?”

“No.  We didn’t leave, and it made them nervous.  Eventually, they brought out some gifts of their own – blankets, fetishes, things like that.  Anything that we thought might have value to collectors, we took, and left them more trade goods.  Then we left.  Their goods brought a good price from collectors, I’m told – my share was small, I was only a crewman.”

Kai had listened intently, warring emotions on her face.  Everything he had described flew in the face of the Union and its ideals.

And Brooks could not say he was proud of these things.  Yet that was where his life had led him at that time.  Now it had led him elsewhere.

“We made three trips to that world before I changed ships,” he added.  “Each time, we operated the same way.  Barely saw the Biss, just an exchange of gifts.  I like to hope that it continues that way, rather than turning to violence.”

“It disrupted their entire development,” Kai said.  “Do you really think it was okay?”

“I’ve asked myself that same question.  No, I don’t think it was.  But it happened then, it’s happened on other worlds, and it happened in human history.  We can’t change the past.”

He looked down at the bag and the goods he was bringing now.  “At least this time I have a better motive.”

He did not notice if Kai reacted to that or not, but he continued to prepare himself all the same.

Ten minutes later, they left the tent, slogging back towards the tree bridge.

The drones told him that the !A!amo had not left their camp, though they had started stirring an hour or so before.

“I want you to stay on this side of the bridge,” he told Kai.

“I can’t cover you that way,” she said.

“I know.  And we’ll introduce you to them soon.  But right now I don’t want to startle them when I cross.”

“Captain, I think I have to overrule you on this,” she said.  “You need some kind of defense.”

“I have the armor of bravery,” Brooks replied.

“You may need more than that,” she replied dryly.

“Come halfway across the bridge, watch from there.  Synchronize your scope with my drone, and you’ll be able to track me and know our exact position.”

“That’d be a hell of a shot if I need to take one.”

“If you have to shoot, just aim high.  The sound alone should startle them enough that I can get away, and hopefully won’t completely blow our chances.  Killing one will.”

Kai considered whether to continue to fight on this.

“I’ll stay halfway across the bridge,” she said.  “Unless things get iffy.  Then, if I think I’ll be unobserved, I’ll come across.”

Brooks knew she could overrule him on security matters.  It was only what she’d do if trouble brewed anyway.

“All right,” he said.

Taking off his boots, back in his moccasins, he crossed the bridge.  The give of the leather shoes let his feet grip the tree trunk securely.

He saw in his rear-vision cameras that Kai had moved halfway across and slung a camoflauged blanket over herself.  It adjusted its texture to match the moss on the tree perfectly, and she was suddenly gone – aside from the hint of her rifle barrel protruding, she was impossible to notice.

Jumping down, he moved slowly towards the !A!amo camp.

There was no path towards it.  The tribe was nomadic, and so such things did not come to be unless a large animal made them.

It was denser here than he’d experienced across the river.

The sunlight filtering from the canopy was slim, despite Bror being a brighter star.  The leaves were so dense that it was actually dark here on the forest floor.

It did not seem to be plants that ruled down here; these growths reminded him more of mushrooms, some with fat bodies and some with thin, but they all had that pale, fibrous look to them.

“Interestingly,” the drone said suddenly.  “The reflective leaves of many tall trees on Ko are theorized to be increasing the planet’s overall albedo to the point that in the timespan of millions of years it may lead to the planet cooling.”

“What?” Brooks said.  “Y, is that you?”

“Yes, Captain, and hello.  I sometimes think an interesting fact can help when we are stressed.  Your vital signs caught my attention.  They are not dangerous, but I still thought I would check in on you.”

“I’m fine,” he replied.  “But now is not a good time.  Making second contact.”

“Would you like me to stay and monitor the situation-“

“No,” he said.  “Thank you.  Next time, send me a silent alert if you’re worried.”

Y was quiet a moment.  “Of course, Captain.  Good skill.”

The drone went back to silence, and Brooks paused, taking a deep breath.  He could see signs of the camp ahead, about a hundred meters.  There was some kind of structure, it seemed.

He knew he’d been crashing through the undergrowth clumsily, so they surely knew he was coming.

Going slower, he picked the clearest path he could.

His spy drones told him that the !Xomyi were reacting to his approach.  Some were moving towards the far side of the camp.  Others towards the side near him.

He stopped ten meters out.

“I bring gifts,” he called out, the words translated into their language.

There was some shifting among the group, centered upon one or two others.  Knows the World, perhaps.

One of the !A!amo came closer, peering out at him.  He recognized it as Tracker.

He said nothing, just watching Brooks.

Slowly, Brooks took some steps forward.  Tracker did not react; there was no apparent hostility.

A few others, further back, appeared to watch him.  Some held spears, one even an atlatl and darts that he – or she, he could not be sure yet – seemed to be holding in a ready position.

He kept his pace even and slow.  When he gauged himself close enough not to seem cowardly in their eyes, he opened the pack, slowly taking out a container.

Opening it, he saw their noses twitch; the scent was strong, even to him, and they knew it.

Honey.

Or Ko’s closest approximation.  The creatures that made it were as long as his thumb and extremely aggressive, making the collection difficult for the !Xomyi.

But drones did not care about stings; and after some studies by the science team, creating it in a lab had proven feasible.

“A gift,” he said.  To help show it, he broke off a piece and put it into his mouth.

The sweetness was immediate; sugar was the same chemical here or anywhere.  But then came the stranger tastes; they were slightly bitter to him, with a hint of mint.

He held out the container so they all could see it, and hopefully understand that it was offered.

Tracker came in, taking a piece from the container.  He took a bite, pausing a moment.

“Very sweet,” he said.  “No grubs!” he called out to the others.

Brooks could not tell if that was good or bad; but evidently Tracker did not mind, as he kept eating, taking large bites.

“Sting hurt?” he said to Brooks.  Then he made an angry chittering sound, mimicking that made by the bee-like creatures.  He made a sound like a laugh.

Brooks tried to mimic his smile.  “I didn’t get stung,” he said.  “I was lucky.”

“Lucky!” Tracker said.  “Gift, not luck.”  He turned and called out.

“Honey Finder, he can teach you things!”

One of the others looked surprised.  They’d been hanging back, watching him guardedly, but then started to come forward.

One of the others spoke to him, Honey Finder made a gesture with his wings that Brooks’s system told him was like a shrug.  He continued closer.

“Honey?” he said, taking a piece and eating it.  “Strange honey.  What honey has no grubs?”

“Sweet kind,” Tracker said with a laugh.

More came forward.  They all seemed eager for the honey, taking large chunks and eating it.

One distant !Xomyi called out something that his system couldn’t translate.  “Hakki!”

It seemed to compel immediate reaction; several others standing distant called out the word as well, and the ones near him moved immediately.  They took more pieces of honey, splitting it out amongst themselves, but didn’t eat it.

Tracker stayed, not a part of the whole process.  He was licking the last of the honey off his hands, watching the others.

They hurried over, bringing honey to the ones who had called out.

As they did that, Knows the World slowly came forward.

“Who are you?” the wise man asked.

“My name is Ian Brooks,” he told him.

The !Xomyi studied him carefully.  “What are you?”

“I am a human.  I have come from far away.”

“There are more like you where you come from?” Knows the World asked him.

“Yes.  But there are only two of us here now.  My friend is across the bridge.”

Knows the World seemed to find that very interesting, but said nothing else.  He took some honey, the last piece, but did not eat it immediately.

The whole group began to move into the camp, and Brooks took this as an opportunity to enter as well.

It was, really, a very simple camp.  Cordage was woven everywhere, like a spiderweb.  Small structures were made simply with leaves woven together, over and around the ropes.

Of course, he thought.  The trees here had metals in them for stiffening; even the young ones would be too inflexible to bend over to form structures.

So the !A!amo had made do with what they could use.

What they would give for something so simple as young saplings with give, he thought.  But then; their vast quantities of cordage and rope seemed to be working at least as well.  Perhaps even better, since they could coil it all up and take it with them when they moved.

There was a central fire pit that some of the others sat around.  They left an opening, and looked at him with some expectation.

He sat down among them, trying to be mindful of the spacing.  He was so much larger than them, he had the feeling of sitting in a circle with children.

But these were fully-grown, intelligent beings.  Any one of them could put a spear into his face.  He did not yet even know how they viewed life and violence.

Some of the others, one of whom he could now see was holding a child, lingered at the periphery, staring.  It was hard to tell much difference yet, but he had a feeling that they were women.

“What are you doing just standing there for?” one of the older ones in the circle said to them, who Brooks thought was male.  “Go or come in, one or the other!”

Nervousness spread through the group of women, but two held their ground, grabbing the arms of the nervous ones to hold them there.

“What are you doing just sitting when there are hamomo around and our bellies are empty?”

The male grumbled.  “You haven’t even gotten any sticks to chew!  Ours are old and dry.”

For a moment, it seemed like an argument might break out, and Brooks hated to think he might be the root cause.

But just as quickly the woman said; “Hakki.”

And man echoed it; “Hakki.”

The tension disappeared.

Brooks wondered what the word meant; it clearly had a significance and power, and he would have to learn its meaning as soon as possible.

Some of the women moved away, with expressions Brooks could only guess at – annoyance, possibly.  But two of them moved to sit around the fire with them, including the one who had been talking to the man.

It was already so hot out that Brooks wondered why they would choose to sit around a fire, but very quickly a reason became apparent.  Some of the !Xomyi in the circle began to poke long sticks into the flames, and after put the ends into their mouths, chewing on them.

A narcotic, perhaps.  Or cleaning their teeth?  He was not sure.  But they must be the sticks that the man had mentioned.  The task of gathering them apparently fell to the women.

“Why have you come here?” Knows the World asked him.

All of the others watched him.

“I came to find your people,” Brooks said.

The circle looked at each other, then back to him.  He got the feeling they were alarmed.

“I do not understand,” the man who had been talking to the woman said.

“I wish to know you and your people,” Brooks said.

“Why?”

“Because I think we could be friends.  May I know your name?”

The male seemed to consider that for a time.  Then, he pounded himself on the chest with one hand.  “I do not know if we can be friends, but I am Old Hunter.  I am the eldest among us who strikes hard and kills what I hunt.”

“Old Hunter, it is nice to meet you,” Brooks said.

Old Hunter nodded, but still seemed somewhat put off.

“May I know the rest of your names?” he asked, looking around the circle.

They all introduced themselves.  The next to do so was one of the women, who seemed very old.  She said her name was Cool River.  The other female was Old Mother.

The rest were all male; he already knew Tracker and Brave Hunter, but he was introduced to Over Thinker, Hard Biter, and Honey Finder.

He took mental notes on each one, wanting to be able to discern them, even if his system could do it automatically.

“There are hamomo nearby,” Old Hunter said.  “We must take one and get meat.”

“I wish you good luck on your hunt,” Brooks said.  They did not react much to that, perhaps even taking some offense at it.  Most of the males left, save for Knows the World.  Besides him, the two women remained.

“Did you come from south of the river?” Cool River asked.  She did not seem quite as suspicious as Knows the World, but Brooks had a feeling that this was somewhat feigned; that she was testing him.

South of the river were other groups of !Xomyi.  They were extremely hostile to outsiders, and had launched darts at the drones that had been observing them.

So perhaps, he thought, she was trying to figure out if he had a connection to them.

“No,” he told her.

“Where did you come from, then?” she asked.

He pointed up, into the sky.

They reacted immediately, looking up, then back down at him with shock.

“You couldn’t have come from the sky,” Old Mother said.  “You don’t even have wings!”

Knows the World leaned closer.  “Are you one of the falling serpents?”

Brooks did not know how to interpret that.  “Serpents?” he asked.

Knows the World raised an arm, tracing a quick path through the sky.  “They come down in the night, psss, pssss.  They are silent, but I hear their hiss.  Sometimes they land and make a light, make a loud angry yell.”

Meteors, Brooks realized.  Their streaking tails, like the body of a snake.

“I did not fall,” he told Knows the World, trying to word himself carefully, though acutely aware that the translation was probably lacking.  His system had already made huge gains in understanding them from these short conversations, able to parse their words into real sentences rather than chopped up concepts, but it was still far way from a deep understanding.

“How, then?” Cool Mother asked.

“I walked,” he said.  It was all he could think to say.

Their faces shifted, and then they both started laughing.

He smiled and laughed a little with them.  And he had the feeling that he had passed the test.

“The sky is very full,” he said.  He was not sure what they’d make of such a strange and cryptic statement, but Knows the World became serious again.

“It may be so,” he replied.

“The largest . . .” Brooks said, and he turned, pointing towards the moon.  “What do you believe it is?”

The question did not seem to come through very well.  He saw confusion on their faces, and Cool River and Knows the World leaned together, speaking softly.  His system could not parse the whispers, though he wished he could eavesdrop.

They turned back.  “It is the Sky Child,” Cool River told him.  “Everyone knows this.”

< Ep 12 part 17 | Ep 12 part 19 >

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

“Captain, while I applaud your success in first contact with the !A!amo tribe, I must suggest that next time you wear proper boots.”

The voice of Y was rather small, coming out of the drone.

But Brooks did have to admit he had a point.

After he had left the bridge, he’d taken a walk and neglected to put his space boots back on.

The moccasins were comfortable – but were perhaps not enough for a world as wild as this.

He’d stepped on something – not even a living being, but a pointed stick, that had punctured the leather, and hence his foot.

“Just clean it and cover it,” he told Y.  “I’ll make the decisions regarding footwear.”

“Oh, yes, and leave me to fix your foot again later.  What should happen, Captain, if you are running from something dangerous when next it occurs?”

“I think I won’t have success outrunning something big here regardless of the shoes I have on,” he replied.

“Pish,” Y replied.  “You are fortunate that I am nothing if not versatile.  Among your medical supplies are combat-grade wound sealants.  With a few extra layers of it, we can protect your feet far better than mere leather.”

“If you take the liner from your boots and put it into those leather rags, they’ll be even better,” Kai suggested, looking very displeased.

It would reflect on her, she thought, that the Captain had gotten himself injured under her care.  But she couldn’t keep his foolhardiness entirely under check.

Y had cleaned the wound on his foot and then started spraying the sealant over the whole thing.  It felt odd; like his skin was getting thicker.  But it was composed of a flexible carbon layer, so it would be quite tough.

“You know,” Brooks said to Kai.  “I’m starting to think I should have brought you onto Gohhi with me when I went undercover.”

“You know I don’t do field work anymore,” she said.

“I’m a Star Captain who is supposed to be on a command deck.  And yet here we both are, in the field.”

She grimaced and looked down at her rifle, cleaning mud off the outside.

“At least the local mosquito analogues don’t seem to find us edible,” she noted.

“This is true,” Y said.  “However, local ectoparasites analogous to ticks will still attempt to burrow into your skin, so regular checks of your bodies are advised.  They are two centimeters long, so you will likely notice their presence.”

“Are they anything like the tree borers?” Brooks asked.

“The what?” Kai asked.

Brooks pointed up towards the nearest tree, where a short and spiked object poked out.  “See that?  It’s not a branch, it’s some kind of animal.  I saw the holes they left behind on that fallen tree.”

“Very perceptive, Captain,” Y said, stopping his spraying.  “Union scientists have called them Iron Borers, as they utilize metal grains within their drills to puncture the trees, which themselves use copper grains to help strengthen their trunks.  The borers are not related to the tick-analogues, as far as I know, however.”

“This world must be very rich in metals,” Kai said thoughtfully.

Y floated closer to Brooks’s eye level.  “I recommend that you follow Commander Fan’s advice and take the liners from your boots.  With that said, unless you have any other medical emergencies, I will end this telecommunication.  I have thirteen other teams that require some of my focus.”

“Thank you, doctor,” Brooks said.

“Goodbye,” Y replied, and the drone shifted slightly as its programming took back over.

Kai gestured towards the shelter.  “As head of security, you’re a risk if you go stumbling around again.  Go rest and let your foot heal, I’ll take watch.”

The drone looked to her. “You need not trouble yourself, Commander Fan, we can-“

“I’ll take first watch,” she said with finality.

The drone did not argue, and neither did Brooks.

“Thanks, Kai,” he said to her.  Then, still hobbling a little, he went back to the shelter.

< Ep 12 part 16 | Ep 12 part 18 >

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

Twenty-five minutes later, she rushed into the cafeteria, feeling ridiculous.

The clothes had been delivered on time, and she’d put them on.  They fit fine over her coolsuit and didn’t look that odd for being worn over something else.

But, she had realized with horror, they did not match.  The black top was a stretchy, casual thing, the kind of top one might even wear to bed.  But the pants, also black, were formal wear, with a perfect crease down them and everything.

The wall of her small cabin became a mirror at her command, and examining herself, she felt ridiculous.

Well, she thought.  He had asked her out.  It was only fair he learn that she was a walking disaster of every sort, from fashion to general worldliness.

Telling herself that and trying to fight off the nervous jitters that made her want to ditch and stay hidden in her cabin, she headed to the cafeteria.

It wasn’t really an option to blow him off, not on this small installation.  Hell, it would be hard enough to do it on the Craton.

The cafeteria and its kitchen took up almost a full deck of the outpost, and seemed able to seat far more than was necessary for this mission.  Rasulov was sitting far from the door, but waved to her immediately.

She counted about ten other people in here, but everyone was spread out.  They’d have privacy, at least.

Hurrying over with the hope that too many others wouldn’t notice how strangely she was dressed, she slid into the booth across from him.

“Hi, sorry if I’m late,” she said quickly.  She wasn’t even sure if she was.

“No, you’re fine, I was just early,” Rasulov replied.  He was looking at her outfit.  “I didn’t know you were going to dress up, I’m still in my work outfit.”

“Oh,” she deadpanned.  “Should I not have?”

“It’s fine.  I like your style, you remind me of . . .” he had to think a moment.

“An insane woman?”

He laughed.  “I was going to say a beatnik.”

“Were they insane women?”

He still seemed amused.  “They were an artistic clique from the 20th century.  They mostly wore black.”

“Oh, well yeah – of course, that’s what I was going for,” she said.

He continued to smile at her clear joke, and she smiled back.

“You really are a unique person,” he said.

“I thought I was just a weirdo.”

“Sure, you can be that, too.  But you’re a likable weirdo.”

To hear someone actually agree she was weird, yet turn it to a compliment – one that she felt was legitimately meant – both surprised and pleased her.

“To be honest, I didn’t know if you’d agree to come to have a meal with me,” Alisher said.  “I thought you might be in a relationship with that priest from Gohhi.”

“No, we’re just friends,” Apollonia said, feeling strange saying it.  Were they just friends?  She didn’t know.  He was a priest, though, did that mean anything?

She thought she could recall something about priests not being able to marry.  But did that mean they couldn’t date?

She let the thought go, trying to focus more on this moment.  “He just helped me out on Gohhi after I got lost.  I was out drinking with Jaya, and a fight broke out and we got separated . . .”

“Jaya?  You mean Commander Yaepanaya?”

“Yeah.  Most people just call her Jaya that I’ve seen.”

Rasulov’s eyes were wide.  “Not us who are lower rank . . .”

“Oh,” Apollonia said.  She hesitated.  “She’s a nice person once you get to know her.”

Alisher nodded, but seemed still thrown off.

“Is it so hard to believe?” Apollonia asked.

“It’s not that.  It’s just that she’s a hard taskmaster.  I’ve served under her, she demands a lot.  It makes it hard to imagine her being friendly.”

“She does demand a lot, even in friendship,” Apollonia agreed.

Alisher seemed to be digesting that, and started to eat his food, which looked to be just meat, potatoes, and onions.

It smelled nice, though, better than the cheeseburger she had ordered.  Which, she realized as she bit into, she didn’t actually like cheese on her burgers.

She didn’t really know if she liked burgers at all, she realized.  They were just a status food she ordered because she could.

Alisher seemed to notice the thoughtfulness on her face.  “What are you thinking about?” he asked pleasantly.

She didn’t want to admit that she had been thinking deeply on cheeseburgers.  “Uh, just . . . nothing, really.  Still kind of amazed to be on a new planet . . . eating a cheeseburger.”

Well, the burger still managed to slip its way into the conversation, she thought, annoyed at herself.

“I’ve lost count of the worlds I’ve been on,” Alisher said.  “And sorry – I hope that doesn’t sound like a brag.  I just have a focus on planetary engineering.”

“Like working on whole worlds?” Apollonia asked.

“If I pursued the field enough, yeah, but mostly engineering involved in a planetary gravity well.  It’s got distinct challenges from engineering in microgravity.”  He grinned, looking a little embarrassed.  “But I’m sure you’re not here just to hear me talk about engineering.”

“It’s actually neat, but kind of over my head.  Buuuut I wouldn’t mind hearing about these other worlds you’ve been to . . .” Apollonia said.

Alisher’s chagrin turned to happiness.  “Okay, so the coolest one was this place we called Weyon 6, it was an ice world with triple Earth gravity . . .” 

< Ep 12 part 14 | Ep 12 part 16 >

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 >