So far, nothing seemed to be chasing them, so that was nice.

Of course, there was every possibility that something was following them, beyond their ability to detect. The spinning leviathans hadn’t been subtle before, and they hadn’t seen them since, but they could have some sort of stealthier mode. Or there could be some other creature they had just attracted, maybe something that flew and would swoop down on the ship, or some sort of insect that was burrowing into the hull.

Or the thing itself could be the problem. So far, all they had found is that it kept reading as a Node. Adelaide had decided they wouldn’t cut into it until they got it back — she wanted some control before she risked disrupting whatever was giving off those readings. So now it was just sitting there, apparently stationary, but that was only so much of a comfort. It might be radioactive or toxic or filled with some unknown microbes that would turn their guts into diamond. Or it could be full of tiny bugs that would hatch and crawl into their ears and eat their brains.

It was such a crazy thing to do, to wander into some unknown ocean and just hope nothing ate you. And they didn’t just take a look from a distance, or interact in controlled conditions like real scientists. They just turned on their engines, smashed into things, and took whatever seemed shiny. It was surprising more people didn’t have their brains chewed out by tiny bugs.

But, honestly, tiny neurovores sometimes sounded better than the alternative. Well, not better for Adelaide personally, or for the crew. But, like, cosmically better to have hubris punished than to just get away with it. If they could just run in and take something that clearly had some importance to those leviathans and nothing happened — or if it made Adelaide rich and famous — that seemed to raise real questions about moral desserts.

Adelaide closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to calm down. She did believe in what she was doing. She knew that. She was just anxious. There was science to be done once they got back, and not doing it right now was causing her to catastrophize.

Because first they had two Nodes to visit, and they were getting close.

It had been foggy and wet all day, which had both driven most of the team below deck and obscured their destination. But, by the time Adelaide felt ready to open her eyes, she could see what had to be the island they were heading towards.

It was beautiful, and it made her heart fall into her stomach.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Even through the rain, she could tell that it was overgrown with plant life. It would have been verdant if the plants were green, but they seemed to be a mess of colors, like a color-by-numbers done by a child who wasn’t interested in following rules. And they were on display because the island’s geography was shaped to present them — there was a small rocky beach in the center, with two steep mountains on either side. The plants spiraled around each mountain, like mounds of rainbow soft-serve.

She hadn’t done any sort of math, and she hadn’t checked the readings with any specificity. But she knew what was going to happen when she did. The Nodes were going to be on the top of those two mountains. She was going to have to climb up one of them, then all the way back down, and then all the way up the other one. It would be tight timing, even if nothing went wrong. And there was every reason to think something would go wrong.

She removed her binoculars and saw that Alessio was filming. She couldn’t help herself from imagining that footage as the background while he foreshadowed whatever adventure they would wind up having. Eventually, a still frame of it would have his face superimposed on it as a thumbnail with a description like “Venomous Snakes … That Fly!?!” or “Watch What Happens When Quicksand Follows You!”

She must have laughed or coughed or something because he turned and waved her over. She approached and he paused the recording. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Look at all those colors!”

“I know. It will be interesting up close — I feel like I’m not really processing it from this distance.”

“Yeah. Hopefully the rain at least lifts enough for some better lighting. Even if it’s as we’re leaving. Otherwise I’ll have to mess with the saturation and it’s never the same. Anyway, which one of those peaks are we going to climb?”

Adelaide blinked. “Why do you assume we’re climbing them?”

Alessio gave her a half smile. “Because I pay attention. You go where the action is. I don’t totally get why quite yet, but you keep leading us right into the most interesting places around. You went into a giant nest — I am assuming you're going to want to scale one of these. Although I don’t understand why you didn’t find a thrill-seeking crew if that was what you were planning on. Captain Mattson runs the ship well, but they can’t be thrilled to keep escorting you into nonsense rather than making money.”

“We spent all that time hunting unicorns!”

“We did, but you and Ray went off for your own rendezvous. Where did that take you, I wonder? Surely you didn’t just want alone time?”

Adelaide straightened up. “Listen, Ray and I did—”

Alessio interrupted. “I’m sorry, I’m being a jerk. I’m acting like I’m doing some gotcha, when you’ve really been great. I know you’re focused on whatever your mission is. I’m just getting antsy trying to find out what it is. Really, you should just tell me — let me help you.”

Adelaide smiled. “We’ll do an interview eventually. But, first, I have some mountains to climb.”