Mess Hall, Western Research Hub

Krandermore, Survivor’s Refuge

4453.2.26 Interstellar

The team staged what was left of their gear in the mess hall while Koni recovered. The facility plans indicated there were transient quarters just a few hallway junctions away, and after testing the water, Janus declared them fit for use. Everyone split up to take some personal time and a hot shower.

Janus stood under the steaming hot water for close to forty minutes. The water pressure was phenomenal, the stinging jets of water digging into his tired muscles, and he didn’t even care if he was wasting it. After two thousand years, the cisterns that hadn’t cracked open and failed were clean and full, and Janus didn’t think anyone else would be using them anytime soon.

It was the first time he’d been alone in a while, except for Fury, who had claimed the bed in the adjoining room. Even when he was walking docks in Kasanari, the jungle dragon had been with him, and while she’d been an unexpectedly faithful and intelligent companion, she was always there, her attention focused on him like everyone else. He loved his team. They were as close to family as non-family could be, and maybe more so when he considered his relationship with Ivan, but Janus felt the constant weight of their hopes, their needs, and their expectations when they were with him.

In the heat and the steam, he could finally let all that go for a moment and let himself feel the overwhelming fear that came with leadership under fire, to rest his forehead against the shower wall and let himself process that he’d almost lost them, and that he’d almost died himself. Not only had they come near to death, they would have died horribly, possibly years from now, possibly because some radically evolved parasite ate its way out of them.

All of that happened because of Ryler. He wasn’t so angry and emotional that he blamed his friend for the compartmentalists actions, although a small part of him that spoke in Ivan’s voice wondered if the “opposing” factions might not have collaborated to get access to this facility. The simplest solution, however, was that Janus allowed himself to project his own motives onto the cultist: he’d thought—he’d allowed himself to think—that Ryler really did want to return to how things were between them before he was promoted within the Cult hierarchy. And maybe Ryler did want them to be friends, but he also wanted to further his faction’s and his master’s ends.

Even if that meant almost dying.

Even if it meant putting his parents and their planet at risk.

When the thoughts finally ran dry, Janus cut off the water and dried himself before putting on his new suit.

It felt good to be in a void suit again. The aspirant suits were closer to space activity suits than the hard suits Janus had used most of his life, but after the Trials on Irkalla, the well-fitted advanced tech felt like a second skin. Smart fabric contracted or relaxed with his movements, making even small motions feel easier. It was like putting on armor, not just against the environment, but against the emotional rigors of the Trials as well.

By the time he and Fury got back to the mess hall, Janus felt more solid. He’d taken blows, to be sure, but the cracks had filled in, albeit temporarily.

Mick was the only other team member to have made it back. “Hey, boss.”

“Mick,” Janus said, taking in the Hunter’s slumped shoulders and only middling level of cheerfulness. “You all right, man?”

Mick scratched the back of his head. “Been meaning to talk to you about that, actually. But hey, how good are these suits?”

Janus set his pack down by the table and sat on the bench. “Forget the suits. What’s eating you?”

“What isn’t trying to eat us out here?” Mick said with a fake laugh. “Thing is, boss, I’m homesick.”

Janus pulled a ration pack out of his day bag and ripped the self-heating tab on it, giving Mick the space to talk.

“I miss Irkalla, Janus. I didn’t think it would hit me like this, but it has. I tried to adapt. I tried to make friends with the locals and focus on what Krandermore had to offer, but I can’t take another day cycle of endless twilight. I need to see the stars.” Mick swallowed, looking at his gloved hands. “I even miss the dust. Can you believe that?”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Not really,” Janus said with a crooked grin. “You want me to put some sand in your suit?”

“It’s not the same,” Mick said.

Janus gave Mick a sympathetic smile. He opened the now warm ration pack and waited for the Hunter to continue.

“It’s like… remember how sometimes the dust was so fine it would run off the front of a buggy like water, or this one time—” Mick laughed. “This one time Trace and I were on the road and lost track of time, so we had to take shelter in the shadow of a butte while we got the day tent up, and the morning sun hit what must have been a mixed field of quartz and pyrite because, just, wow, man… It was like a treasure trove under a field of stars, you know?”

Janus nodded. “I didn’t get to experience the dust the way you and your mother did.”

“But you get it, right?” Mick asked. “I couldn’t even go on the longer patrols with the Cofan rangers because they were afraid I’d get sick. I’m never going to fit in here like I did back home. I was a good Hunter, Janus.”

Janus raised an eyebrow and set his ration pack down. “I thought you were homesick. Is this about you feeling inadequate? Because I’d take you over a ranger—Motragi or otherwise—any day.”

Mick blinked at him. “I did say that, didn’t I?”

“Yeah.”

“Crap. I’m pretty sure I just miss the rocks and stuff.”

Janus grinned and gave him a wink. “Everything okay in the physical department?”

Mick frowned. “The physical—” he rolled his eyes. “Yes, everything is fine down there.”

“Good,” Janus said. “Wouldn’t want people saying Irkallans couldn’t keep up.”

“I’ll have you know many of the ladies of Cofan, and at least two men, will forever sing my praises,” Mick said.

Janus chuckled and took another spoonful of the rehydrated and warmed corn chowder.

Lira walked into the mess hall, took one look at the two of them, and shook her head.

“What?” Janus said around a mouthful of creamy corn.

“Nothing,” she said with a grin. “You two should just never be left without adult supervision.” She walked over and joined them, pulling out her own ration pack and heating it up. “So, what were you two gossiping about?”

Janus glanced at Mick, then said, “I was thinking we could spend some time on coldside once the Trials are over. I know it’s not the same as Irkalla, but…”

“That would be nice,” Lira agreed, and Mick brightened visibly. “I’ve been meaning to make contact with the major coldside corporations, and the least the Carver Institute owes us are some introductions after we covered their asses in Cofan.”

“We could make a trip of it,” Mick said. “I hear there are rock formations you can’t find even on Irkalla on the dark side of the planet.”

“Mmh,” Lira said, wrinkling her nose. “Pass. You and Janus can go rock hunting; I want access to fabricators, the markets of the Labyrinth of the Moon, and hotels with spas.” She took a bite of her roasted ptarkle breast and stuck her tongue out.

“Need seasoning?” Janus said with a sly grin.

“Yeah,” Lira said. “I’ll just walk back to the buggy and grab my kit.”

“Ouch,” Mick said. “I’ve got some basics if you want,” he said, digging through his hip pouch.

“Yes, please,” Lira said, sticking out her hand.

Fury chirped at her.

Mick winked at Lira, handing her salt, pepper, and chili flakes. “Looks like Fury will take that off your hands if you don’t want it.”

“Fury’s a glutton,” Janus said fondly. “She already had two of my main meals and a side of jerky.”

The jungle dragon growled dismally and set her head down on her paws.

“Snitches get stitches, Janus,” Lira said, pointing a spoon at him.

“Glad to see you’re all getting on so well without me,” Koni said from the doorway.

The Verazlan was wearing an aspirant suit, like the rest of them. A quick glance told Janus it had been fitted correctly. “Did you help her?” he asked Lira.

Lira nodded. “There are some parts that can be a bit tricky the first time. Thought it’d be better if I showed her.”

“This feels strange,” Koni said, walking over to them. She was still adjusting to the alignment of the suit’s joints and the combination of weight and support an aspirant suit provided. “You really wear these every day on your world?”

“When we’re out in the dust,” Mick said, nodding. “I’ve gone a week in a suit without taking it off.”

“Ew!” Lira said.

Mick shrugged and grinned. “Show’s you who the real dusters are, right?”

“A week is extreme,” Janus told Koni. “We’ll usually have to spend the day in a heat and radiation-resistant tent, so there’s no excuse for not cleaning yourself,” he said to Mick.

Mick stuck his tongue out at them and said something about soft-skinned dome dwellers, and they all laughed, although Koni looked like she was struggling to keep up.

Janus interfaced with her suit’s diagnostics and saw that the Verazlan woman had a low-grade fever. Her blood was clean of anything major, aside from some elevated alkaline phosphatase and c-reactive proteins—both markers of bone repair and general healing. The smart fabrics of her leg were giving her extra support. He’d have to monitor that to make sure that didn’t cause problems in her knee or hip, but he was sure the ancients were smart enough to account for that.

“Where’s Ryler?” Lira asked.

Janus felt a chill run up his spine. He did a quick check using his wrist comm and found Ryler’s beacon through the facility’s noosphere. The cultist was in the ops center, connected to the mainframe. “I’m going to go check on him.”

“I’ll come with you,” Koni said. “Not used to being underground like this. The sooner we leave, the better.”

Janus bit his lower lip. He’d been so exhausted that he hadn’t thought to keep track of Ryler, and that had been a mistake. “Let’s get everyone together, make a plan, and get out of here.”