Mars’ face turned a bright red, but then he turned away, mumbling nonsense under his breath. Hawk kept his eyes on him as he stomped toward the dropship.

“That’s a ticking time bomb,” whispered Hawk.

“Yep,” I added. “Hopefully, he isn’t coming.”

Hawk shook his head. “He better be getting on the dropship than staying at the colony. This shit isn’t going to fly here. We don’t have time for politics, between carrying water, hunting, and keeping the fences up.”

What he said sunk in a bit, and I shivered. That wasn’t what I wanted from life. Hiding behind the fences felt like hiding in a cage. Having a safe place to sleep was nice, don’t get me wrong, but all the time? I’d changed too much through my experience in the jungle.

John exited the wooden doors and almost all the miners followed him, including Sang and David. My eyebrow raised as Sang walked on her own, though David hovered behind her. She flashed me a smile that turned into a grimace.

I couldn’t stop myself as I slid an arm under her shoulder. “Hey, should you be up like this?” I said in a joking tone. “You don’t want to be showing everyone up.”

She snorted, but didn’t push away my help. “Gotta prove Singers are where it’s at.”

I ambled up the ramp toward the seats in the front. While I’d take my normal spot on the left, I wanted to make sure she’d take one of the two on the right. Each step took forever, but I didn’t rush her. Finally, she sat down and buckled herself in.

John passed me by and took his seat. “Can you make sure everyone is situated?”

I nodded, then headed toward the ramp. Hawk still stood there, while Denver had fled.

“It was good meeting you, though I don’t know the next time I’ll be out this way,” I said with a grin.

Hawk held out his hand to shake. “Well, it sounds like you have things to deal with at the colony, though I bet we’ll be seeing you sooner rather than later.” He turned away after I shook his hand then hesitated. “Make sure Hellion gets that letter.”

“I will.”

Then off he went back toward the dropship.

Matt helped the other miners get situated in the back, along with David. Maggie headed up front to take the seat next to Sang, and no one said a word about it. Everything looked in order, though Mars wasn’t on the ship yet.

John hollered back from the front. “We good?”

“Mars isn’t….” My voice trailed off as he rushed out of the wooden doors and toward me. “Here he is…”

Once he was on the ramp, I turned toward the front of the ship and took my seat in the front. The ramp raised until it snapped shut, and then the slight noise of the shuttle humming to life filled the cabin.

“Alright everyone, settle down,” called John from the pilot’s seat. All the internal light flickered off. Then the ship rose into the air. As we rose higher, the last bits of sunlight flashed as the ship turned toward the east, before the settled sun vanished and twilight took over the jungle.

The shuttle slowly darted forward and picked up speed.

“Let’s get back to the colony…” mumbled John.

The miners in the back all shuffled around before sitting on the metal floor. The cargo hold wasn’t meant to carry that many people, but it was still less than before since Hawk, Denver, Jimmy, and Doc had all stayed at the compound. Plus, the cot had been removed. Still, I found it strange that all the miners had decided to leave.

Mars’ voice rose in the back, but Maggie leaned against her harness with a frown. “Shut up already, Mars. The mines are out, and we are heading to the colony. We’ve lost too many people staying as long as we did.”

His voice quieted down and Maggie sat back in her seat. Sang stared at her like she was a ghost, or something abnormal. Maggie chuckled at the sight. “I can’t deal with his bullshit any longer. If we’d left when we talked about it weeks ago, Heath would still be with us.”

Sang nodded sadly. “I’m sorry again.”

“Nothing to do about it, except move forward. You know that as well as I do. We all lost people on this mission.”

The word mission reminded me of the fact that this was supposed to be a colony mission: humans expanding to the stars and potentially saving humanity. Instead, we’d had to fight dinosaurs and level up in some strange system, plus complete quests. Not to mention all the people who’d died.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

I shoved those thoughts away and focused on the fact that I’d see the rest of my family shortly. Though, who knew what condition the colony would be in with the fence down?

Maggie rolled something between her hands, drawing my attention in the dim light. A small metal ball rose in the air and darted around her outstretched fingers.

“That is so cool,” escaped my lips before I could stop myself.

The older woman chuckled. “It’s the only good thing to come out of crashing here. My metal working career paid off.”

I couldn’t take my eyes off the floating ball as it moved about. I opened my mouth to ask Sang if she could do the same with crystal when I realized her eyes were closed. Her chest still moved, so she still lived, but she’d rested her head back.

“Maybe I’ll be able to do that with crystal someday.” My level in crystal singing was much lower than hers in metal mage.

The ball landed in her outstretched hand. “Who knows how all of this works?”

I pulled the crystal ring on my belt loop off and held it in my hands. It’d be a few hours until we arrived near the colony, I might as well practice and level.

“Did you create that?” asked Sang. She stared at the ring in my hands.

“Yeah, from some shards that John had. I figured a practice tool would be good to have.”

She nodded slowly. “I’ve always just jumped to shaping weapons, lights, or inventory crystals.”

“Is there anything else you can do with crystals?” I asked, quietly.

Sang hesitated, but I didn’t press her. Her level was high enough that she had to know how to do more than that. “We can do more training once I settle in at the colony…”

“Sounds good, get some rest.” I waited until she closed her eyes again before I concentrated on the ring.

A few hours later I rolled a ball between my fingers, but I couldn't float it off of my hands. Still, the practice made it easier to shape the crystal, like it was putty.

[You have gained a level in Crystal Singing.]

The notification of a new level had come and gone, making me smile. Thankfully, I didn’t need to sing and could hum under my breath. Plus, I discovered how to control the light generated from the crystal, after John grumbled about the distraction.

John tapped on the side of his seat, getting my attention. It was soft enough that I almost didn’t notice. It took seconds to stretch the ball back into a ring around my belt, before unhooking my harness and standing up.

He pointed toward the far distance where there were barely flickering lights. “I think those are torches,” I whispered. In between the towering rocks, yellow lights moved between the trees and ferns. The narrow opening between the rocks that led to the valley that contained the colony had torches surrounding it. Plus, farther back in the valley itself, more lights burned.

Normally, at night, the rule was to keep lights to a minimum near the fence to not draw attention. This was the opposite, and with my senses, it was easy to see people moving about.

“That’s not a good sign,” added John after a few moments. His shoulders rose near his ears and he let out a frustrated sigh.

“No.” The more I stared the more I noticed. “The communication crystal said to land as close to the opening in the fence as we could.” John wouldn't be landing the shuttle in the normal location.

“Yeah, I plan on setting down close by, but moving the crystal there and for it to ground will still take time.”

“We’ve just got to move it close enough; the rocks are narrow on both sides," I said positively. "If it grounds, it will still give everyone some breathing room.” I remembered how the crystal I'd dragged through the jungle grounded each night on the sled. There wasn't a sled in the shuttle, but it'd still work the same. Get the cart close, get it off the cart, and wait.

The distance between the shuttle and the valley opening shrank as we flew closer. Creatures darted near through the trees on both sides of the opening. “Can you flash the lights on the wings so the folks on the ground notice us?” Uneasyness flickered through me seeing the creatures at the edges of the torchlight. At least this time I’d be able to help, with the amount of work it’d take to clear the valley out again of dinosaurs that weren’t part of the livestock.

“Good idea…”

Maggie unhooked herself from her seat, noticing the conversation. “That doesn’t look good,” said Maggie.

“That’s why we need to fix the fence,” I replied.

She nodded and turned toward the back of the ship. Her voice rose. “Alright, everyone, time to wake up. We have some work to do as soon as we land. The fence protecting the opening to the valley is borked.” She pointed toward the giant crystal. “We need to move that sucker into the middle of the opening.” A few people grumbled, including Mars. “None of that now. We’re miners, we move rocks. We can move a damn crystal.” She motioned toward me. “Plus, we got more folks who are watching our backs.”

I felt the miner's gaze land on me.

“Alex can protect us,” said Matt. “We still have the cart and can load it up before we land.”

One of the other miners nodded. “I can use my strength to lift it on the cart.” Conversation quickly broke out about the best way to prep the crystal. Maggie turned back toward me with a smile on her face.

“We’ll push it where it needs to go as long as you can cover us.”

“It won’t just be me,” I said. Though I wasn’t sure. Hopefully, the hunters were down there as well. Not to mention the rest of my family.

It didn’t take long for the miners to load the large crystal on the cart and ready it in the middle of the cargo hold.

I set a hand on John’s shoulder. “I’m gonna take point with Maggie. Stick with the shuttle.”

John let out a sigh. “Just be careful. Dad’s gonna be down there somewhere.”

“I will. I swear.” I headed toward the back of the ship but paused as Sang made to remove her harness. “Relax, we have this. You aren’t in any shape to fight.”

The shuttle shook a little as it lowered in the sky. Our descent made it easier to see the chaos on the ground, though several people made motions toward the shuttle.

Then we landed, and the ramp slowly lowered. Tension filled the air as the sound of someone yelling instructions filled the air. I recognized the voice and smirked. Of course, Dad would be nearby.

“Maggie and I will go first…” I called, seeing the miners tense up.