Alix strapped herself into the pilot seat of the hovership. It had been a while since she’d flown one, but the controls were simple enough that it was a bit like riding a bike. You never really forget.
As the doors to the station’s ship docks yawned open, Alix tapped out the approximate coordinates of the starship crash site into the navigation screen. Hopefully, their new Metamorph friend’s memory was accurate in this regard, or else they’d have to waste time searching the perimeter of every Gargantua tree in the area. And time was a luxury they didn’t have at the moment.
On Alix’s shoulder stood Figaro, the small robot chattering away about the numerous things that could go wrong on this expedition. It seemed he hadn’t forgotten their past few misadventures journeying through Kabir’s Crimson Forest. Between getting kidnapped by sentient alien rats and nearly being driven mad by hallucinogenic beetles, Alix had to admit it had been a fairly eventful trek.
“Worry not, Fig,” Alix told him, giving him a pat on the head. “This will be smooth sailing!”
“Whatever you say,” drawled Figaro. “I just hope you and Plant Boy have your rayguns fully charged.”
‘Plant Boy’, also known as ‘Lyle Rathan’ and ‘Alix’s Ex’, sat in the passenger seat to Alix’s right. Which wasn’t Alix’s first choice, by the by. Unfortunately the other two members of their field team, Nick and Maisie, had already claimed another, newer hovership for themselves and flown ahead. As for Lyle being on the field team at all, that had been decided by Director Werner.
Lyle smiled at Figaro. “We do. And more importantly, this hovership is stocked with a first-aid kit, flashlights, a distress beacon, and really anything we could need in an emergency. The only thing we need to watch out for is . . .”
He continued speaking, but the words seemed to drift away as Alix looked at him, so close to her yet so far. His bronze hair was loose around his shoulders, the way Alix liked it best. She’d spent plenty of time with the beautiful hair twined in her fingers, gazing into those soft hazel eyes, pressing his perfect mouth to hers. Even his jaw was flawless, sharp and defined. The gray field suit he wore now accentuated his broad shoulders, his lean yet muscled—
“ . . . but so long as our pilot here is careful to pay attention to that, we’ll be just fine,” said Lyle, turning his eyes from Figaro to Alix. “Right, Alix?”
“Er, yep. Yep, absolutely. The pilot is definitely paying attention to . . . that,” said Alix, quickly turning from him back to the pilot controls. Ah, well. Whatever it was, it probably wasn’t that important. “Everyone ready for lift-off?”
Lyle nodded, and Figaro said, “Take us to the skies, Boss!”
Alix grinned and initiated the launch, pushing the control stick forward as the hovership lifted off the ground. The hovership floated out of the docks and into the open air, rising higher until the red canopy of Kabir’s Crimson Forest was laid out below them.
Alix took a sharp breath. From where they were hovering, they could see the glory of the forest for miles. The golden sky made the sea of red brighter.
Lyle was also entranced, staring out through the view screen with wide eyes and a soft, stunned smile.
“It never gets old, does it?” he gestured out at the forest. “It takes my breath away each and every time.”
“It’s something special, alright,” Alix said, moving them forward. The trees below seemed to blur together as the hovercraft sailed through the air. “But you should see Valkyrie 2B9.”
“Valkyrie 2B9?”
“A planet Nick was telling me about. It’s even farther out in wild space than this one. God, Lyle, it’s so stunning, it’s . . . honestly, words aren’t enough to describe it. I’ll have to send you pictures later.”
“Interesting,” Lyle said quietly. He chewed his lip. “Is this somewhere Nick worked? Before his contract here with us, I mean.”
“Oh, nah. It’s where he’s going to work, once his contract with Asteria INC is up. He was telling me about how they’ve got two open positions for temp contractors,” said Alix.
“Ah. I see.” Lyle leaned his head back against the headrest of his seat, staring at the viewing screen. He went quiet. Alix could tell from the slight furrow in his brows that something she’d said was bothering him, but she didn’t know what and didn’t know how to ask. Ever since he’d broken up with her (for real, this time) at her ‘funeral’, things had gone awkward between them. She wished she had a window into Lyle’s mind. She wanted to know why he’d ended it, what had changed. And if there was any possibility of changing it back.
Alix didn’t know how yet, but she was determined to figure it out and patch things up with Lyle. Right after dealing with the apocalyptic storm heading for the station, of course.
***
“Yo, Boss,” Figaro said after about an hour of flying. He jabbed a limb toward the viewing screen. “I see a Gargantua tree in the distance. Is that the crash site?”
As he said, an enormous tree stood just ahead, towering over the rest of the forest at about a hundred meters tall. Its massive stygian branches were crowded with leaves, a riot of red against the sky.
“If Rax is right, then yep, that should be the site,” said Alix, lowering the hovercraft so that it skimmed the forest canopy. Once she found a good opening, she’d go in for the landing.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“After so long, how much of the Metamorphs’ ship do you think will be left intact?” Lyle asked.
“A thousand years is a helluva long time.” Alix spotted a small clearing near the Gargantua tree and steered the hovership toward it. “But that compendium they talked about lasted pretty damn well for the thousand years it was in the Aexons’ care. When we brought it back online, it was fully operational. If the Metamorph’s starship is as durable as their compendiums, then I have hope that some of it’s still around.”
“Meh, I’m not that optimistic,” said Figaro. “Captain Ixaer back there was saying this century storm or whatever is nasty enough to crush the damn station. And their starship’s been through ten of ‘em! I’ll eat my hat if there’s anything but dust left of that thing.”
Alix raised an eyebrow at him once she’d landed the hovership in the clearing. “You don’t have any hats.”
“Fine, then. I’ll eat yours.”
Alix snorted and powered the hovership down. Right in front of them was the trunk of the Gargantua tree, so large that it even dwarfed their hovership. Beside her, Lyle undid his chair straps and rose, already heading to the door with his satchel over his shoulder.
Alix hurriedly unstrapped herself and scrambled to follow him out. She nearly tripped stepping down from the hovership onto the scrubby scarlet grass of the clearing. A wind blew through and the leaves rustled in the surrounding trees all at once, as though the forest was welcoming Alix and Figaro back.
Lyle stood a little away from the hovership, looking around. “I don’t see Nick and Maisie’s ship here.”
Alix took in the empty clearing. “Huh, you’re right. That’s weird, this is the best landing point around as far as I could see. But I guess they could have landed on the other side of the tree. Figaro, go ahead and ping their comms.”
“Alrighty,” said Figaro. He went still for a moment as he reached out to them. He tilted his head. “The signal’s going through, but the meatbags aren’t answering.”
“Hm. Maybe they got turned around and are busy flying back our way.” Alix shrugged.
“Too busy to answer the comms?” Lyle asked.
“Maybe! Maybe their nav systems fritzed and one of them’s trying to fix it. If they don’t show up in the next half hour, we’ll start getting worried. For now, let’s get searching.”
Alix pulled from her utility belt its newest addition: a metal detector. The smooth, silver ball fit snugly in the palm of her hand. In its center was a small touch screen displaying a list of metals and alloys. Alix selected the “ALL” option. A small green ring lit up around the top of the ball, and Alix set it down on the forest floor.
“Wow! Lookit the little sucker go!” Figaro whooped as the detector whirred and sped off toward the Gargantua tree. Alix and Lyle both took off running after it, following the detector into the surrounding forest.
“This thing’s the latest model, top of the line. If even a shred of the starship is left, it’ll find it,” Alix huffed to Lyle as she hurried after the detector. Before he could reply, the detector shrieked, halted, and whirled toward the Gargantua tree trunk. It continued to shriek as it sped around the base.
“Uh, why’s it making that racket?” asked Figaro as Alix turned on her heels to follow it.
“I think it means it found something.”
“Shouldn’t it be stopping, then?” Lyle asked behind her.
“I guess it’s about to stop.”
It was, in fact, not about to stop. The detector continued to shriek and speed around the base of the tree trunk, leading them all the way around its ninety-meter circumference before circling right back to where it was before. It then proceeded to speed around the trunk again, and again, and again.
Alix, Lyle, and Figaro watched from a few feet away as the detector began its fifth circuit around the tree trunk, having long given up on running after it.
“Top of the line, huh?” Lyle drawled. “There’s clearly something wrong with it.”
The detector shrieked louder, its shrill alarm echoing throughout the forest.
Lyle winced. “Can’t you shut it back down?”
“Absolutely, with the remote controller,” Alix said, reached for her utility belt, then paused. “Which I, uh, forgot back at the station.”
“Christ on a cracker, I’m about ready to disable my auditory system!” Figaro snapped. He waved menacingly at the detector as it shot by again. “Would ya shut up already, ya goddamn harpy?”
“It doesn’t respond to voice commands.” Alix grimaced. “It’s supposed to stop on top of the detected metal. I don’t know why it’s doing this.”
The detector slowed in front of them suddenly, though it continued to shriek. It backed up past an upturned log, almost to Alix’s feet. She lunged to grab it, but before she could get her hand on it the detector shot forward once more.
The detector rolled onto the log with as much speed and force as it was capable of, launching itself off the log onto one of the lower Gargantua branches.
“Oh, goddammit!” Figaro cried as the detector rolled itself into a small hollow. “Now we’re never gonna get it!”
“Hold on a sec,” Alix said quietly, raising a finger to her lips to shush him. The shrieking had stopped. Meaning the detector had found its mark.
Lyle took a few steps toward the tree, craning his neck to look up. “How can that be?”
“We’re about to find out.” Alix rolled her shoulders as she strode past him toward the lowest branch. Thick black vines hung from it. She grabbed the closest one and hauled herself up, making the arduous ascent up to the branch.
“Alix, are you insane? We don’t have climbing gear!” Lyle called up.
“Don’t. Need. It!” Alix called back between breaths, already climbing to the next branch up, where the detector had been. “I’ve done. This. Before.”
“Oh for the love of—” Lyle groaned below and started to follow, cursing just loudly enough for Alix to hear as he climbed.
Alix winked down at him once she’d gotten safely onto the next branch. “Just a bit more! You’re not half bad at climbing. After this, you’ll be ready to take on Mt. Everest.”
“Please,” Lyle wheezed as he pulled himself up the vine. He had nearly caught up with her. “I’ll take the elevator up Everest like a normal person.”
Alix offered him her hand, helping him up onto the branch. A little thrill went through her at the feeling of his hand against hers. She tried not to let it show on her face, though she could feel a blush creeping up her cheeks.
“Right. So, where’s that little hollow it rolled into?” Alix turned toward the trunk. The hollow was just big enough that she could stick her head through it if Figaro wasn’t already standing there.
“Uh, guys,” said Figaro. “I think I know why the detector was going crazy.”
“What?” Alix walked over to join Figaro. She bent down and looked past him into the hollow, seeing only darkness. She pulled her flashlight from her belt, switched it on, and tried peering into the hollow once more.
When she did, the flashlight nearly fell from her hands.
“Oh my God . . .” she said. “They stole the entire starship.”