The coast transformed as the days passed, sandy dunes giving way to towering, jagged cliffs that cut into the sky like the teeth of some ancient beast. The air was cooler here, and the once gentle sea breeze had turned into a more biting wind. Every now and then, the waves would smash against the cliff faces below us, sending sprays of salty mist into the air. We had to watch every step carefully, navigating the narrow trails and rock formations, as the cliffs jutted out unpredictably. It wasn’t just a physical journey anymore; the isolation was starting to take its toll, even if we both pretended otherwise.

Eventually we made it to a stretch of beach between the cliffs, a patch of forest lined the entrance and it was the perfect place to put a plan into action on how we were going to get across to the Southern landmass.

“So uhh how are we going to get across this ‘ocean of a river’?”

Ro tapped her slate confidently. “It’s all in here, Carter. Step-by-step guides for everything we’ll ever need to build a civilization from scratch, including a boat. I’m talking anything from a medieval dinghy to a mega-yacht.”

“So… we’re going with the dinghy, I take it?” I muttered, looking at the scraps of wood and vines we’d scrounged up. Ro grinned. “Well, we’re a little short on mega-yacht materials, but trust me, medieval ships were designed to last.”

“Yeah, but last where? Ponds?” I shot back, already imagining us sinking in the middle of an unpredictable ocean.

The boat, although impressive for a couple of amateur boat builders didn’t get my complete vote of confidence yet. We weren’t sailing across a gentle body of water, but rather a very unpredictable ocean.

“What should we call it?”

“Little Salvy” chuckled Ro. I had started to think that maybe she was going slightly…crazy and that we had better get a move on the last leg of the journey.

__

The day of the maiden voyage of little Salvy was perfect. The breeze was light and the sea appeared relatively calm beyond the sandbar wave-breaks. Little Salvy was, well, little. It was about six metres long, both ends narrow with the middle the widest point. It had a single mast smack bam right in the middle, with a makeshift sail.

“No better time than the present” announced Ro as she leant against the side of the boat.

We grabbed either side of the boat and pushed the boat down to the waters edge. As it glided into the water we both jumped in and started paddling to get past the first set of shore breaks. We raised the sail between the shore and the sandbar where it caught the wind rather effectively and pushed us both off our feet, tumbling into the hull as we sped off toward the sandbar.

The sound of light quick slaps to the underside of the hull told us we were gunning it toward the sandbar until it lengthened to larger more spread out slaps as we hit the larger waves of the sandbar. The nose dug in through the whitewash of the waves, I had to grab onto the mast and pray it wouldn’t snap and Ro tucked herself into the nose of the hull.

As we pushed through the last white wash of a wave, I could see the face of the next walling up getting ready to spill over, the mist starting to curl off its tip.

“Fuuuuck…Hold on Ro” I shouted as I adjusted the rudder to turn to the port-side, it was our only chance of making it over the wall of water without it directly crashing on us.

The boat creaked and groaned as it climbed on an angle and started to tip to its side. I launched and pushed the weight of my momentum against the opposing side to keep it steady until we burst onto the back side of the wave. The boat rocking viciously but intact.

By the the time we got to the next wall it was only a large hump, easier to conquer until gradually the waves soften to just a gentle slap against the underside of the hull again. It was a rough start but we slowly started getting the hang of things as the boat cut through the gentle swell and hours rolled by.

The water was flat and we were about halfway through the crossing. The winds died down and we were at the ultimate snail pace, hardly breaking any records.

“So Ro… you’ve never told me about your life before Salvation, before all this”

“Not much to tell Carter. Childhood was meh. I turned 17 and joined the Airforce. Had fun and flew jets. Was too good so they assigned me to Salvations Miltech fleet.”

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

“Wow well that’s a nice concise life story”

Maybe one day I’ll let you know more Carter” laughed Ro with a wink.

The currents lightly pushed us toward the cluster of islands that dotted the sea surrounding Ro’s Cove, we were close but not close enough where we would have been comfortable running aground. We both leant in against the current and adjusted the sail in hope that the gentle gusts would keep us far enough away from the shallow waters surrounding the islands.

The next few hours the sea gradually started to shift. The boat—our handcrafted medieval miracle—creaked and groaned under the weight of each growing wave, and every shift in the wind made my stomach lurch with anxiety. It wasn’t long before the clouds began to thicken, and the current became more aggressive and pulled us toward the cluster of islands.

Ro leaned into the oars, her arms straining against the current. I followed her lead, though I had zero confidence in our vessel holding together much longer. The wind picked up further, and I cursed as a large wave slapped against the hull. The boat wobbled but stayed afloat. The gusts of wind and current were moving little Salvy too fast now, we were making great time but at the expense of the boats integrity.

“We’re close,” Ro shouted over the howling wind. “Just a bit longer.”

“Close to what? Disaster?” I shouted, gripping the edge of the boat as tightly as I could.

A large shadow fell over us, the sleek shape of a catamaran roaring past on the waves. I blinked, struggling to process what I was seeing—after days of nothing but open ocean, the sight of a fully functioning boat with an actual motor seemed like a mirage.

“Carter, get down!” Ro hissed. We both ducked instinctively as the boat came alongside ours, kicking up spray in its wake.

“You must be Staff Sergeant Ro and Corporal Carter!” a voice yelled over the roar of the wind and waves.

I peeked up, squinting into the spray. A man stood at the bow, grinning like he’d just found lost treasure. He pulled Ro up first then latched onto my wrist and heaved me aboard.

“Major Lewis said if you survived, you earned a promotion!” he added, laughing.

Ro and I looked at each other in disbelief as we laughed, it felt good finally being around other people of our own and to get a taste of Jeremy’s humour after weeks of solitude and cut communication. Both relieved and in high spirits again we saluted Little Salvy as it got dragged under and taken by the sea. “I’m kind of sad to see it go”

As we sailed closer to Ro’s Cove, I couldn’t help but stare. The small settlement was nestled along the shore, a line of wooden huts that looked almost idyllic against the backdrop of the calm cove waters. A pier jutted out into the bay still being constructed, and I could see settlers bustling around, building more huts and tending to small gardens along the sand.

It was nothing like Salvation, but it was civilization. And after weeks of isolation, it felt like finding an oasis in the desert. Ro and I exchanged glances, We’d made it. The welcome we received on the beach felt almost surreal, with Miltech officers saluting us and settlers offering us food and water. Children ran up to show us their drawings of the battle they’d seen in the sky, colorful depictions of rockets and stars that made me choke back unexpected emotion.

I had quietly pulled Ro aside, “uh do those drawings look familiar to you in any way?”

Ro laughed “kids drawings… really?”

“Look closer!”

Ro’s jaw slowly dropped as she figured out what I was saying. The drawings looked eerily similar to old carvings and drawings found on Earth.

As we walked back over to the Miltech officers I was having my mind blown. Is this all somehow linked to beginnings on Earth. The more I mulled it over the more of a mind fuck it was but luckily I got saved from deeper thought as we reached the officers.

“So… what’s the plan for getting us back to Salvation?” I asked, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in my gut.

The officer hesitated, glancing nervously at the others before answering. “Well, uh… Salvation de-orbited some self-guided rockets for us. We’ve got the materials to build something big enough to get you back up there.”

“What’s the hesitation?” Ro asked, crossing her arms. “Spit it out. What’s wrong?”

“Salvation had to leave orbit,” he said, his voice dropping. “We’re on our own for now but Major Lewis informed us they would be back to get you soon.”

I glanced at his name patch and chose my next words very carefully… “Well where’s the fucking rocket Ron?”

“Uh, We..we haven’t started it because we didn’t know if you were dead or alive.”

“Tick Tock Ron”

Ro looked at me in amusement. “What?” I asked half heartedly.

“Oh nothing, it’s just fun watching you get all serious” she laughed.

It was a certainly disappointing blow, I knew we still had to construct a rocket with the parts Salvation provided but it had taken weeks to get here and it just added more time. I had an itch to get back into space and find a way to the Haven, I was sick of being away from Lilly any longer and my patience was running thinner each day and made me prone to outbursts like those with old Ron.

—

Later that evening, and after I had calmed down some more we joined the Miltech leaders for a meal and debrief.

“So you’ve got these human-like beings right here” I said as I navigated the 3D map. Ro adding details to it as I went.

“They seem to have poor biological night vision, I mean ours is shit but theirs is worse. They struggled to see us in a heavily shaded forest”

“We’ve come across the opposite." Said Ron. "Night dwellers we call ‘em. They absolutely suck-ass seeing during the day but during the night they’re warriors. They are exactly like us as far as we can tell.”

The ‘night dwellers’ sounded way more scary than the humanoids we encountered and had hoped we didn’t have any run-ins with them before the Salvation returned.