by M. D. Cooper
The engineer nodded. That had been a message Kars had repeated many times. Sometimes he would suggest things that the New Canaanites must be using their pico for, other times he just dropped veiled hints.
It was clear that Kars was part of Grey Division, the Transcend Space Force’s intelligence group. It stood to reason that they would have some solid ideas about what was going on in New Canaan. If they thought there was danger, there was very likely something afoot.
the engineer said.
The man sat back, eyeing Kars with an expression of wonder.
He nodded.
A whistle slipped past his lips.
Kars proceeded to outline the team going into New Canaan, and the goals of the mission.
As he spoke, the engineer nodded in satisfaction. The others were good, loyal citizens and members of the TSF, but they weren’t overly curious. They’d focus on the work and little else.
A laugh burst from the engineer’s lips.
Kars grinned and nodded in agreement.
CHAPTER ONE
STELLAR DATE: 04.11.8942 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Badlands
REGION: Athens, New Canaan System
One month later….
Erin scrambled up the last few meters of the steep slope and stood atop the crest of the ridge. On one side of the divide sat a lake of boiling water. On the other stretched a valley of black, ashy earth, scattered with tough shrubs, clumps of rough grass, and one small, brave tree. The stinky tang of sulfur riddled the atmosphere. According to Walter, the temperature had risen to forty-five degrees centigrade in the two hours since sunrise.
Erin was beginning to regret her decision to hike the Badlands of Athens, but she was determined to inject some enjoyment into the vacation. Martin and Isa were toiling up the slope below her.
She shouted down, “Hurry up, you pair of slowpokes. It’s beautiful up here!”
Isa paused and looked up at Erin, squinting in Canaan Prime’s rays, which were already piercingly bright despite the earliness of the hour.
“You know what, Erin? This is exactly the kind of situation where an a-grav pack would come in handy.”
Erin tutted and replied, “I explained before we set out that a-grav packs would take away the challenge. Where would the fun be in that?”
“Fun?” Isa said. “I’m not having fun. Are you having fun, Martin?”
“Er…” Martin also stopped climbing, and began to look uncomfortable. He adjusted his backpack.
His pack was the heaviest of all of them because he was carrying the tent, but Erin doubted her husband’s burden was responsible for his discomfort.
“Oh, look!” he said, pointing at the ridgetop. “We’re nearly there.”
Isa rolled her eyes. Slipping her thumbs under the straps of her pack, she resumed her climb.
When she had nearly reached the ridge, Erin leaned toward her and held out a hand. Isa grabbed hold of it and Erin pulled her up.
“Look at the view,” said Erin. “Isn’t it amazing?”
Isa put her hands on her knees while she rested and caught her breath. Lifting her head, she gave the landscape a cursory glance and nodded. “Very nice.”
“Nice?” Erin echoed.
Martin arrived. He slipped off his backpack and slung it onto the rocky ground before he also took a look around. “It’s…sure something.”
It sure was. Erin swept the striking landscape with her gaze again.
Athens’ Badlands spanned narrow sections of the planet that surrounded the poles. Erin and her two spouses were hiking in the northern section, about four hundred and fifty kilometers south of the capital, Attica.
In the Badlands, living things struggled to survive. Volcanoes and lava fields dominated the landscape. Geysers spouted superheated steam among pools of bubbling mud. The air was hazy with particulates leftover from frequent eruptions. Another three hundred kilometers to the south lay the beginnings of the uninhabitable, highly volcanic region that encircled the bulk of the young planet.
Perhaps my choice of location for our trip was a bit extreme, Erin reflected.
They were far from the polar areas that were perfect for tourists, with their hot springs, wide beaches, and lush forests. Not to mention the luxurious hotels and evening cocktail parties.
But the spot was convenient for meeting up with the planetary engineers who ran the PETER, and Erin had a surprise for Isa and Martin she was confident they would like.
“Let’s go,” she said. “I told Lark and Fazir we would be there in an hour.”
Erin took a long step downward on the far side of the ridge, but as she moved, a deep vibration issued from somewhere below ground. A beat later, the ridge shook violently.
“Whaaaaaaaa!” Erin lost her balance and tumbled down.
While she rolled down the incline, the ground continued to bounce and shake, shifting as she hit it. Her head cracked against a rock, and Walter quickly dispensed a wave of analgesics to wash away the pain. Erin spread her arms and legs, picking up grazes and bumps, but managing to halt her roll. Though she continued to slither down the loose shale and bucking soil.
Finally, she hit a bush. She reached out and grabbed the prickly branches, uttering a “Yowch” as the thorns dug into her palms and fingers. Once more, Walter erased her discomfort. She had stopped moving, but still the ground jerked up and down like she was on a theme park attraction.
Erin was on her stomach, facing up the slope. She could feel a trickle of blood making its way down her forehead, and wiped it off with her sleeve.
What happened to Isa and Martin?
She found Isa first. Her wife was sitting upright a short distance down from the ridge, her legs and arms wrapped around a large clump of coarse grass. At some point during the ongoing quake, she must have face-planted, as her features were coated in black dirt. Erin also noticed that Isa was looking decidedly pissed.
Martin had managed to avoid falling. He was hunkering down at the top of the slope.
Erin held on and waited for the earthquake to stop. Half a minute later, the shaking began to ease; in another few moments, the slope was still. Erin waited a short while longer in case the quake hadn’t quite shaken itself out.
“That was a humdinger,” Martin called down. “Anyone hurt?”
“I don’t think I am,” Erin replied.
.
Erin let go of the bush and sat up. A few thorns had broken off in her hands, and she began to pick them out.
“Isa?” Martin asked.
“I’m fine.”
Erin registered Isa’s tone and looked up at her. Her wife had released her hold on the grass and risen to her knees. She was trying to wipe the soil from her face, but in fact was only succeeding in spreading it around.
Erin’s regret over her choice of vacation increased. It would be the last they would be able to take for a while, so they had wanted to make the most of their remaining freedom. The triplets would be born soon, and for a few years, the girls would be too little to be left with someone else.
Martin’s long legs brought him quickly down the incline to where Isa struggled to her feet. Erin tossed aside the last of the thorns and climbed the slope to meet him.
“I guess that was off-schedule?” Martin asked.
“You guessed right,” Erin replied. “The schedule is becoming increasingly unscheduled. Looking forward to getting to the bottom of whatever is going on with the PETER.”
“That was a big one,” Isa added.
Along with the dirt on her face, her hair had picked up a fair amount of grime as well. In her efforts to clean herself, she had also somehow managed to create the impression of a thick moustache and beard.
Erin bit back a smile. She didn’t want to add to her wife’s irritable feelings. At the same time, she was pulling the data from the many seismometers stationed around the planet.
“It was the biggest earthquake this trip, and we were right on top of it.”
Athens had experienced five major earthquakes since their arrival eight days previously, instead of the usual two per week.
“Is it much farther to the place we’re meeting your colleagues?” Isa asked.
“Uh…” Erin wasn’t sure how much more hiking Isa could tolerate.
She relayed the information. Isa made a face.
Martin shouldered his backpack. “Do you want me to carry your pack?” he asked Isa.
“You’re a sweetheart, but I’m alright, thanks.”
“It’s mostly downhill from here,” said Erin brightly. “Shouldn’t take us too long, but we’d better not hang around. Don’t want to keep the team waiting.”
She set off down the slope, digging the heels of her boots into the loose, dark soil. They would have to cross a cleft between two areas of high ground, and then climb again for a short while. Their destination was a lava field, where the two engineers who were responsible for the PETER were in the process of relocating a seismometer.
The PETER that was slowly cooling the planet was a vague band in the southern sky in daylight, the haziness of the atmosphere helping to obscure the gigantic structure hundreds of kilometers above the planet.
The rest of the slope was not so steep as the area Erin had tumbled down. They walked to the bottom quickly and began to cross the scrubby ground. The sparse vegetation made the going easy, though in the lower levels of the volcanic landscape, the odor of hydrogen sulfide grew stronger.
Isa wrinkled her nose. Even Martin began to look a little grumpy, and Erin had a hankering for a cocktail on the beach herself.
Nobody seemed in the mood for chatting, so silence reigned as they walked. No birds or other wildlife apart from insects had appeared in days. The animals of Athens were clearly too smart to try to live in the unstable, volatile zone.
They were still some distance from their destination when Martin said, “I can see your engineers. Look over there.”
Erin followed the direction he was pointing and saw two figures on high ground, silhouetted against a brilliant orange spit of lava that must have crept out after the earthquake.
“They’re so close to the lava,” said Isa. “Is that safe?”
“They probably aren’t as close as it looks,” Erin replied. “Besides, they’re wearing heat-resistant suits.”
After a few moments, the figures moved down and away from the lava, but the bronze sheen of the engineers’ suits meant they continued to stand out.
* * * * *
When they arrived at the base of the slope that led up to the lava field, Lark had descended to the bottom and was waiting for them. The male engineer, Fazir, remained near the top, working on the seismometer they were relocating.
The lava stream wasn’t visible behind Fazir from the low ground, but it emerged to the left lower down the slope, spilling lazily, like someone had an accident while making fluorescent orange toffee. The air above it shimmered thickly with heat from the cooling lava.
Lark opened her visor and reached out to shake Erin’s hand. Erin introduced Martin and Isa.
“It’s nice of you to meet up with us while you’re on vacation,” Lark said.
“No problem,” Erin replied. “I thought, since we were in the area…”
“Yeah, we just happened to be passing by,” Isa said with a wry laugh and a glance at Erin.
Lark gave Isa a puzzled look that turned into a suppressed grin of amusement. Erin realized Isa was still sporting her dirt beard and moustache.
“Have you heard from the Transcend’s engineers yet?” Erin asked.
While Lark answered in the negative, Erin caught Martin’s eye and subtly jerked her head toward Isa. He took a closer look at their mutual spouse, and his eyebrows rose. He took off his pack and, in a few moments, he had a bottle of water and cloth and had taken Isa to one side.
“Governor Richards ordered their ship to Carthage first,” said Lark. “We were informed they’ll be starting about the same time as you.”
“Right,” said Erin. “I want to establish a protocol with our visitors. Anything they ask for, I want you to send it to me first, okay? And all emerging data. So, for example, when you assess the readings from this latest earthquake, send them directly to me, and I’ll pass them onto the Transcend’s engineers. It won’t cause much of a delay—we should be able to figure out what’s wrong with the PETER in no time.”
“Of course. That’s why you’re here, right?” Lark’s pleasant expression had become strained.
Erin had expected to encounter an element of resentment. It was natural when an ‘outsider’ was brought in to help a specialist team do their job, especially when true outsiders were being brought in.
There wasn’t a lot Erin could do about it. Lark and Fazir’s security clearance was nowhere near high enough for them to know the true reason the Transcend was being sent in to help fix the PETER.
Lark called up to Fazir. “How are you doing? Are you going to come down here and say hello?”
The engineer had returned to the narrow ridge above the liquid lava. He raised a hand.
As she waved back, Fazir suddenly wobbled. He turned his head to gauge his distance from the lava stream behind him, which only made him more unstable. He tried to regain his balance, his arms windmilling.
Lark cried out, “Fazir, be careful!”
She raced up the slope. Fazir’s arms flailed as if trying to grab something to prevent himself from falling, but nothing was there. Just as Lark reached him, one of his legs rose, and he toppled backward. In another moment, he was gone.
“Holy shit!” Martin exclaimed. He threw down his cloth and water bottle and ran up the slope.
“Fazir!” Lark screamed again.
Her arms rigid at her sides, she peered over the ridge to the stream of superheated lava below. Horrified by what she saw, she looked away.
Erin gaped, shock robbing her of speech.
CHAPTER TWO
STELLAR DATE: 04.11.8942 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Badlands
REGION: Athens, New Canaan System
Lark suddenly burst into peals of laughter. Shaking with mirth, she doubled over and clutched her midriff.
Erin stared. Is the woman mad? Has she been driven insane by the shock of seeing Fazir die a horrible death?
Erin looked at Isa, hoping her wife might understand what was going on, but Isa appeared to be as astounded as she.
By this time, Martin had also reached the top of the ridge. He peered over the edge, his features riven with concern. Whatever it was he saw made him slump with relief.
He shook his head as if incredulous, and then indicated to Erin and Isa to watch the lava flow where it emerged farther down the slope.
Fazir’s feet and legs appeared first, covered in his all-in-one bronze-colored suit. They appeared unscathed.
Erin imagined an awful scenario of Fazir’s body being so badly burned it split in two, but his legs were quickly followed by his torso, arms, shoulders, and head in its helmet. He was entirely unharmed.
The man was lying on his back, floating atop the lava as it flowed downhill. When he saw Erin, he waved for a second time and climbed off the lava stream. Though his visor remained down, his poorly contained hilarity was evident as he walked over to the group, shoulders heaving from laughter. Each step that he took, pieces of lava that had stuck to the back of his suit cooled, hardened, and dropped away.
He lifted his visor as he approached, revealing a bearded face and eyes streaming with tears of laughter.
“Sorry,” he said between chuckles. “Couldn’t resist.” He laughed some more, squeezed his eyes closed, and wiped away tears with the back of his gloved hand. “Most people don’t know how well-insulated our suits are.”
Erin couldn’t find anything to say. What had just happened had to be probably the last thing she would have expected from two subordinates who were meeting their boss for the first time. Yet, technically, Fazir and Lark hadn’t done anything wrong. Playing a practical joke didn’t really count as insubordination. Erin was more in shock than anything else.
Witnessing her surprise and confusion, Fazir’s guffaws burst out again.
