“I don't like the idea of you down there without me.” He gave her a look with earnest eyes, and she decided he must have gotten away with something when he looked at her like that some time in the past, and was trying it out again.
“I need the wind on my face,” she told him simply. “I want to breathe actual air.”
He sighed and his hands slid down to her shoulders and rubbed. “I know, but this distress call from the asteroid mining station can't be ignored, and I really don't like to be without you. Staying with Sazo is the safest option.”
“There'll be five exploration crew and eight soldiers with me. And Sazo, hovering right overhead.” She had to draw a line in the sand. There was no concrete threat to her below, and she wouldn't be excluded from something she truly wanted 'just in case'.
The small shuttle she and Dav were traveling on from Sazo's Class 5 battleship slid through the gel wall onto the flight deck of the Barrist and Dav stepped back, his hands lingering on her shoulders. “I worry.”
“I do, too.” She tilted her head. “You're the one going to a known trouble spot.”
He watched her for a beat and then gave a quick nod. “Be careful, then.”
She pulled him close to her and went up on her toes to kiss him. “I promise.”
The shuttle landed, and the ramp began to lower.
With a growl of impatience, Dav kissed her back—a hard, possessive claiming of her mouth—and then strode to the open door and scooped up the bag she'd brought for her trip as he exited.
She followed him down the ramp onto the flight deck at a slower pace.
He was talking in quiet, serious tones to Jia Appal, his second-in-command, by the time she reached the bottom. Jia would be leading the soldiers standing beside the shuttle, ready to go down to the planet below, and Rose was pleased about that.
Jia looked up, over Dav's shoulder, and grinned at her as Dav handed her Rose's bag. Rose grinned back.
Dav said something, and Jia became serious. Whatever she said back to him must have been enough, because he gave a nod, blew a kiss to Rose, and jogged off toward the bridge.
“Ready to go?” Jia asked.
The explorer shuttle's ramp was down and its engines were on. Rose could see the head explorations officer, Lieutenant Kila, directing the last of her equipment into the hold.
Rose took her own bag from Jia and gave a nod. Excitement bubbled up inside her. It had been so long since she'd walked on actual ground and breathed fresh air.
She followed Jia up the ramp and sat beside her on one of the comfortable seats inside.
“What was Dav saying to you? Protect the little woman at all costs?”
Jia laughed. “Something like that.”
“There isn't any real need to be concerned, is there?” Rose twisted slightly to grab the harness straps and clip herself in.
“No. There are predators on Vuyn, but we have sound disruptors we can use to keep them away, and the plant life isn't poisonous to us, according to Kila. The planet seems quite similar to Calianthra, actually. Very tall trees, lots of fern-like plants on the forest floor, and a mild summer temperature. It could well be a place for the Grih to expand, as there aren't any higher level sentients that we can find. Vuyn's been mapped and recorded as livable, but we've had a non-interference order on it up until now. Kila needs to make sure there hasn't been any changes down there before we can put the planet on the cleared-for-settlement list.”
“It's very green.” While Jia had been speaking, the shuttle had launched through the gel wall and was headed down toward Vuyn. The planet lay below them, green and silver in the sunlight, and Rose tapped her earpiece.
“You looking at this, Sazo?”
“I've been looking at it for hours.” He sounded faintly amused.
“It's so beautiful. Not a lot of water, though, or is that on the other side?” She leaned against the one-way glass of the shuttle wall for a better look.
“A lot of the water is covered in a green algae,” Kila said from her seat. “That's why it looks like there's very little water. The silver areas you see are the few areas of water where the algae isn't growing. I don't know what keeps it in check in those places, but that will have to be a project for a second trip. This trip, we're in the forests, making sure there aren't any signs of higher sentience in any of the mammals.”
There'd been no grouping of signatures from the scan Kila had done last year that indicated even a rudimentary society of sentients, Dav had told her this morning. But evidently the scanner wasn't sophisticated enough to catch a species that was close to achieving advanced sentient status. That was something Kila had to do herself, along with her team, and Rose was just happy she was allowed to come along.
“The Barrist has left,” Sazo told her. “Time to its destination, five hours.”
Rose looked back to where the Barrist had been, but it was really gone, gone. Disappeared. Off to check out a faint distress signal from the asteroid belt in the next solar system along from this one.
Sazo was still with them, though. A big, black prickle ball hanging in space, looking menacing.
“Did Dav tell you to watch out for me, too?” Rose asked him.
“No.” Sazo was a master at voice inflection, and she realized she'd insulted him. “I will always watch out for you, whether he asks me to or not.”
She knew he could see her. He was in every visual comms feed, every system the Barrist and its shuttles had, and so she blew him a kiss. “Right back at you.”
The soft snort she heard in her ear told her she had been forgiven.
And then she turned to look at the sea of green below and the promise of adventure. She was about to go outside!
2
The air was moisture-laden—filled with the scent of dark, rich earth and growing things. It was early afternoon on Vuyn, and the sunlight was warm and golden.
Rose drew in a deep breath as she stepped off the shuttle, and did the bounce test.
She had denser bones and muscles than the Grih, and in some places, gravity didn't hold her down as much as it had on Earth.
This wasn't one of those places.
“The size and atmosphere of this planet is similar to Earth. It will be very much like being back there,” Sazo said into her earpiece, and the thought of that made her suddenly tear up.
She swallowed hard, mortified at the swamp of emotions that overtook her.
“Ready to go, Rose?” Jia had been talking to her team, four armed men and three women besides herself, and they were standing together at a break in the treeline, waiting for everyone else.
Unable to speak around the tightness in her throat, Rose gave a nod and bent to pick up her pack.
Kila and her four colleagues were helping each other strap their packs to their backs. The decision had been made to go on foot and go as quietly as possible. No hover motors or engines to scare away wildlife. Their walking through the forest would be enough of a disturbance.
They were carrying everything they needed themselves.
Dara, one of Kila's underlings, and one of the first people Rose ever met when she first came aboard the Barrist, readjusted her straps and ambled over to where Rose was waiting.