Everything is not Alright

On the other side of the planet, the Betelgeuse was falling back, building the distance from Flock 37 as it made repairs. All hands were on deck to repair the pintle defense systems and refit the hangar for fighter dispersal. Their skirmish with the EVO's naval force left them bleeding out. They survived the battle. That much they were thankful for, but they were the clear losers.

The bridge was on full lockdown with barriers over the glass. The strafing fire on the bridge nearly blew the whole thing out, but the barriers protected the officers from several kamikaze runs. They projected the ship statistics onto the blank metal walls instead. The room strained the crew with its harsh red light.

"We don't have enough suits to repair the hull in time, sir," Park said. "We'll use drones to get the scraps out there. How many do we have left?"

"Not many," Ritz said. "And we'll need them if we want eyes and ears watching the system."

Reynolds rubbed his beard. He was a lot paler than before. "I'm such an idiot. I'm not a military leader, and our expert is buried on the surface." He slapped his knees. "I'm looking to you guys. What are our options?"

"We may have taken some damage," Zoldyck said, bringing up the analytics on the ship's arsenal. "But we still have our main gun and fighters, and from the looks of it, they used a lot of their resources for the ambush. They won't be able to blindside us again."

"EVO ships don't work like human ships," Ritz replied. "They'll use solar power to recharge their energy weapons. Also, that ship is built to last on its own for long periods. I don't think we've seen the rest of their arsenal."

"Yes, their energy weapons and fuel are borderline unlimited, but anything made of metal is not replenishable, so that means fewer aircraft and missiles."

"And let's not forget the jammer. We need to get to the system's edge and eliminate it if we want our reinforcements to arrive on time."

"That's a good point," Reynolds nodded. "Their fleet doesn't care about the jammer, but ours do. We're under a time crunch."

Park looked over the remaining probe feeds. "It'll take us days to find where they entered the system. If we let them run wild over Pandema, we won't have much of a planet to save."

"And if we let them chase us? Put ourselves in the line of fire?"

"Then we'll die, as well as the rest of the Pandemians."

Reynolds leaned back in his chair, his crew continuing to develop solutions and counterarguments. It was a stacked deck. For them, a victory would have to be fast and immediate, while the EVO had all the time in the world. A research vessel vs a superior scout. A planet vs a fleet. No matter where they looked, failure was imminent.

Reynolds's eyes focused in on Zelda. Past her fellow bridgemates, the young woman sat in silence, looking down as if to hide from them. "Is there a problem?" Reynolds asked. "Permission to speak, Zelda."

Her shoulders tensed. "I…I don't want to die, sir."

"I know." Reynolds could empathize. "It's a tough situation."

"The jammer distorts the warp path but doesn't block it completely. It just requires extra digging to push out of its radius. Maybe a year or two?"

"That is a long time for the Kanians to be stuck in there."

Zelda suddenly stood. "Let's get out of here! We have enough supplies to make it back home! Let the Kainians handle this mess! We're not equipped to do this!"

"Zel…"

"I didn't join this expedition to fight! I wanna go home!"

The tears finally came as her pent-up fears released like a faucet. The room went quiet, and the others turned away with guilty faces.

"Coward," Zoldyck said. "Who knew that African women had no spine."

"Fuck you, bitch! You're the slut who got knocked up on our little space adventure! Don't you care about your happy little family?"

"My baby has more courage in his pinky than you have in your entire body."

"Enough!" Reynolds raised his voice, and it was enough for them to listen. A fear fell upon his face. "I want to run too, but we can't run when the whole world's depending on us. It's our duty." Reynolds wiped his brow. Fear caught his throat for a moment. "We have to stop them, even if it kills us. We-."

Then he stopped as if gears were turning in his head. The crew noticed this and were terrified, but the sudden drive brought a sense of confidence as the Captain retook his seat.

"Park, turn the ship around," he said. "Zelda, radio the brass downstairs. I want a full deployment on that continent. We're emptying the Betelgeuse."

"Are we abandoning ship?" Zelda stuttered, fearing the Captain went insane, but returned to her station. "We're all going to die, aren't we?"

For an extended part of the day, the Kukchis scurried their way across the stark white salt plains, overladen with a cloud cover that only came by a couple times a year. The desert Pandemians considered rain to be a blessing from the sky, but in the salt plains where no life grew, it was an omen of ruin. Still, the creatures traveled unphased, preferring their internally stored supplies than in the sky.

Sam took off her hat to enjoy the breezy weather. "Two days of rain," she said, soaking in the tiny droplets. "I wish it would stay like this."

"Does it rain a lot where you live?" Vinisnu asked. "I've always wanted to go to the jungle, but Mom said I'd get sick if I stayed there."

"It's called a temperate zone, which isn't as rainy as a rainforest but has a cooler temperature."

"That does sound nice."

"But sometimes we get hit by these things called hurricanes that blow a lot of wind and rain at us in a big cyclone."

"Hurry-canes. Sounds like a sandstorm. Do you think we can go swimming once we beat the bad guys?"

Sam paused, her voice quivering to say something but refusing to. His mood was too high for her to bring it down. Their trek had been going for hours, and he seemed ready to go for days more. It was as if nothing had happened yesterday. That couldn't be jeopardized.

"When we have the chance, I'll take you swimming." That would satisfy him for now.

In time, the flat white earth gave way to a greyer, rockier surface. A mountain range came before them, slowly sloping at first until their path jutted them off into a maze of valleys. According to Vinisnu, this was God's Valley. After escaping the salted grounds, the children found an old cave system to rest and tend to their rides' feet, calloused and crusted from the treacherous ride. Sam sat on a rock with her tools in hand to scrub.

"This area almost feels bearable," Sam commented, washing her rodent. "Is there a city nearby?"

"Our people were expelled from here hundreds of years ago," Vinisnu said. "If anyone other than disciples of Dozae Rae are in this valley, they need to be killed."

"Does that include us?"

"Maybe?"

"Bad answer!"

"I haven't come here in a few years, but they should be able to recognize me. Plus, I know the secret songs."

The cave had a cool breeze pushing out from within. This indicated a wider network inside or an entrance funneling air further up the mountain. The entrance had strange protrusions jutting from the stone. They were cut short and rusted heavily.

"It looks like this place used to be a mine." She said

"You saw the eastern mines, right?"

"Yeah. So that means people were here recently."

"That's impossible. The gods wouldn't allow it."

"But what about these bars?"

Snu shrugged. "Mine carts aren't that complicated. You're thinking too hard."

Sam couldn't help but overanalyze. She stood and felt the ground. The traces of tracks, the rust. It was a type of steel. It was true that wheels and casting weren't complex technologies per se, but the material used astonished her. Better yet, it invigorated her. She could be sitting on an ancient civilization that is more advanced than the current, a lost history waiting to be discovered. Just speculating about its meaning awakened the small child within her and, for a moment, reminded her why she wanted to travel to the stars in the first place.

She glanced back at Vinisnu, casually going on with his Kukchi's pampering. What was he thinking? She thought. To be around so much history and not poke at it. Perhaps he wasn't as inquisitive as she thought. Perhaps, she could enlighten him with her newfound knowledge? What an exciting scenario! She was so enthralled with the notion she did not hear the stealthy paw steps of the giant fox behind her.

Only by the sensations on her arm hair did she feel the beast's swipe coming. She dodged instantly, the beast grazing across her clothes. However, her dodge fell into a tumble and a cry. The Kukchis squealed and scattered. The valley echoed with screams and roars as the beast made a quick follow-up on what they thought was the easiest prey.

A killing swipe went for Sam's face but was stopped with her Kainian strength. She held back the paw momentarily and fought off its jaws with her legs. For a moment, she staved off slaughter against the giant beast until its head slumped over her body, loose, lighter. Her clothes were soaked in blood and slobber.

She looked back to see Snu, his tail sharp as a blade. All of his pent-up frustration was on display.

"Are you okay?" He asked, rushing to her aid. "That was a male from a hunting pack. We need to move now."