Chapter 24
"Just .. calm down."
"I will not calm down. Do you hear yourself?!" Boylan turned incredulously to Reilly and Elisabeth on his right. "Does he hear himself?!"
"Boylan-"
"Oh no, don't even think about it. This is insane, even for you! And you!" He turned on the chief science officer accusingly. "Surely you should know better. Even I can see the pressure of the water will break those windows!"
Malcolm shook his head.
"Not those windows. They're built to withstand an electromagnetic blast. We've done multiple tests. The houses have all been checked and double-checked for weaknesses. They can take it."
Reilly looked a little apprehensive, but said nothing. Malcolm concluded his presentation and picked up his tablet, trying to ignore the rising feeling of agitation in the room.
"You're right, there are a couple of downsides. One, we're safe until the water reaches the roof. Those roofs weren't built to withstand much weight, but we're fairly confident the rain will let up by then. When the river breaks away and comes down on us - and it will, it shouldn't push the floodwaters up high enough to reach the roof either. At least not for a few days. We've already factored it in."
"Oh. Great. That makes me feel loads better." Boylan rolled his eyes as if the whole concept was a rather large joke. "And the second thing?"
Malcolm cast a quick glance at Jim and continued.
"We can only sustain it for a matter of days, and then all of our energy resources will be gone. We'll be running on fumes. The colony will go dark afterwards, until we can bring back more ore or build up our power reserves again. We'll be open to attack, no security system, no medical equipment, no guns."
"It's a risk we'll have to take." Jim spoke up in support of the plan before Boylan could get a word in. "I'll send out an emergency alert and instruct people to stay inside until further notice."
"You are unbelievable. This is the worst idea I have ever heard in my life." Boylan leaned on the table and stared around, shaking his head in bemusement. "Even Taylor never came up with a scheme like this. You're all mad."
Jim resisted the urge to grab the man's neck and shake him silly. The assembled colony council was taking the proposed plan of action about as well as he had expected. Thankfully, he already had Elisabeth and Malcolm on his side going into it, but even Reilly had taken a fair bit of convincing. He still wasn't sure she was completely convinced, but she had decided to keep any further doubts to herself and take his suggestion as an order - another development that the commander wasn't entirely pleased about. Boylan, of course, was fighting the decision tooth and nail, and had now taken to appealing to the better judgement of his most likely allies.
"Mira, please, surely you must see that we have to get out of here while we have the chance. Staying here is suicide!"
The leader of the Sixers had been silent up until this point, but since an answer was now required, she responded calmly.
"I've seen a lot of people die out there. I have Sienna to think about now."
"Little Leah managed to survive just fine."
"Leah's different." Mira evidently wasn't in the mood to explain herself. "Shannon wouldn't put his own family in danger. We're staying."
Boylan curled his lip and shook his head again in disbelief.
"Then more fool you."
Jim decided it was time to jump in. Mira looked as though she was about to spill someone's blood on the wooden floorboards.
"Look, I didn't want to have to do this, but I have no choice. Anyone who leaves this colony is on their own. Their houses will not be protected."
The bartender smiled smugly.
"Never thought you were the petty type, Commander."
"Lives come first." Jim's voice had taken on a stony edge that everyone except Boylan knew better than to mess with. "We take the shields off the empty houses so we can better protect the ones with colonists in them. Surely even you can see the sense in that."
The retired soldier growled under his breath.
"Careful .."
In the silence that followed, Boylan stared around the room and decided to change tactics. He smiled encouragingly, attempting to jog his listeners' memories and appeal to their better judgement.
"Look, contrary to popular opinion, we can survive out there. We did it before the colony fences were up, we can do it again."
Jim met his gaze solidly.
"Did you have civilians with you then? And children?"
"Well, no, but-"
"Boylan, will you think. Think about all the people that aren't military trained. Think about all the children. Think about the old people and the sick people and the terrified people that can't defend themselves. We can't look after them all." He sighed in resignation as Boylan stared back at him, unmoved, "Look, leave if you like. Run. Save your own skin. I'm trying to save everyone else's."
The Australian held his hands up defensively.
"Now that's not fair. I'm simply trying to make you see reason."
Jim's temper was wearing thin. They were wasting time, something they now had precious little of.
"This isn't a dictatorship. If you feel you should go, then go. Take your life into your own hands. I won't stand in your way. But I think you're making a big mistake."
Boylan was silent for a minute, staring grimly around the group. Quite obviously, they all agreed with the crazy plan, though how Jim Shannon had managed to convert every single one of them was unimaginable. Then again, they were all in his pocket anyway, weren't they? Well, not so Thomas Boylan.
"Fine." He folded his arms and pursed his lips stubbornly. "Stay here and drown, though I'm not too proud to say I'll be sad to see it happen. Still .. it's your funeral."
The owner of the bar-turned-swimming-pool next to the Command Centre smiled unpleasantly.
"Say goodbye to your sweet children for me. I wish you all the very best, though I doubt I'll ever have the pleasure of seeing you again." He sauntered toward the door and gave a last glance over his shoulder at them. "Cheerio."
Carter cast another suspicious glance over his shoulder. Still no one there, yet he couldn't seem to shake the feeling he was being watched. It only seemed to be growing stronger as he neared the fence. The Sixer shook himself a little. Nevermind. A few more seconds and he'd be home free.
8 steps, 6 steps, 2 ..
Just before he reached his usual escape spot, a shadowy figure leapt out of the gloom and intercepted him. Carter's heart jumped sharply into his throat, but his momentary terror turned to annoyance when he realised who it was.
"What's your problem?! You scared the living .."
Carter trailed off as Lucas raised a metallic object in front of his face.
"In the Sixer camp, under my bunk, in the green box, you'll find the main internals of this. Here's what it looks like." He placed a small scrap of material in the Sixer's hand. "I need you to get it and bring it to me."
Carter folded his arms.
"Why do you need it so badly?"
Lucas peered back at him from under his hood.
"None of your business. Can you get it or not?"
"I might be able to."
"Good." Lucas ignored the Sixer's noncommittal reply and shoved the device casing back into his pocket. "If there's a couple of parts missing, don't worry, but that chip I need. It'd take months to recode it, and I can't do that without someone getting suspicious."
"Can I go now?" Carter raised an eyebrow as Lucas stepped aside to let him get through. "Thank you."
"Oh and don't .. tell Mira about it." He held the Sixer's gaze for a moment as the rain continued to roll off the hood of his jacket. "This stays between you and me."
Carter shrugged and squeezed through the gap, melting rapidly into the wilderness on the other side of the fence.
"Whatever."
The gate rose slowly, creaking and grumbling as the rusty mechanics were forced to do their job for the first time in over a week. The sound was an ominous one, seeming surprisingly loud to the ears of the solemn crowd that had gathered to watch the event. Harlon and Boylan stood closest to the gate, speaking to one another in quiet tones and apparently ignoring the curious spectators that had braved the deepening water to form two lines on either side of the street. To the left of the two men stood another small group, huddled together and waiting in silence. It came as a surprise to no one that the vast majority of the group members were Sixers. More notable perhaps was the fact that there was a smattering of very unhappy colonists added to the mix.
The remaining Terra Novans stood watching with something akin to scorn. There was no sympathy, no fond farewells. They had made their decision, they had chosen their side, and now they could jolly well stand there and bear the piercing glares of their former friends in silence. They were deserters now, and deserters gained no favour with the loyalists. Perhaps it would be a mercy after all if they never came back. They surely wouldn't be welcome here anymore. They were traitors, abandoning their friends and their colony for their own interest. Well, goodbye and good riddance.
Jim stood close to the end of the line nearest the gate, Mira on one side, Josh on the other. He had broken the plan to the community about an hour before, and while there had been many anxious faces and frantic questions, the outcry hadn't been quite as great as he had been preparing himself for. It would seem Malcolm's calculated predictions had been correct - the majority of the colony had chosen to trust him after all.
Jim sighed internally as the gate reached its peak and quieted. Unlike the vast percentage of the colony, he felt neither resentful nor betrayed by the choice to leave. A person had to do what was best for their family. He watched the huddled group a little sadly. Chances were, this was the last time he would ever see them - the jungle didn't give them very good odds. But they were free to go as they wished. He had no desire to run a dictatorship. Besides, under different circumstances, he may very well have done exactly the same thing.
A sideways glance at the former leader of the Sixers revealed nothing. Mira's expression was unreadable. Jim turned back to the scene in front of him where the two men seemed to be finishing up their conversation.
"I'd sleep a lot easier if you were going with them."
"Are you asking me to?"
Mira's flat reply didn't inspire much hope, and yet .. Jim looked at her quickly.
"Would you consider it? You'd be their best chance."
Mira was silent for a few moments. Secretly, she was more than pleased at this turn of events. Staying inside the colony and putting her life into someone else's hands seemed to go against everything in her, but for her daughter's sake, she had been willing to make the sacrifice. Still ..
Jim was watching her carefully.
"Your home will be protected. I'll make sure of it. And we'll look after Sienna-"
"No." Mira turned to him quickly. "If I go, Sienna comes. I can protect her from a few prehistoric reptiles. I can't protect her if all of this goes sideways."
Jim looked over at the young subject of the conversation, who was standing nearby happily talking to a classmate.
"Very well."
Mira folded her arms and watched as the smaller crowd gathered and prepared to set off, Harlon and Boylan at the helm. It was apparent that they were both vying for the sole leadership position, and it didn't seem to be going down well with either one of them. Mira turned to Jim with a flicker of satisfaction.
"I'll see you when this is all over, Shannon. Don't forget you owe me."
Jim smiled at the solemn dark face.
"Thank you."
As he set off toward the closest members of the deserting group, Mira turned away and gestured to her daughter.
"Come on. We're going with them. It's time for your next lesson in survival."
Sienna stopped mid-sentence and looked up, startled.
"But .. are you sure it's safe?!"
"No."
Jim was shaking a middle-aged man's hand a few metres away.
"Take care. I want you all back in one piece."
The man wrenched his hand carefully from Jim's grip, gave an awkward nod, and managed to escape around the other side of the crowd. Before the commander had the chance to capture anyone else, he found himself left behind. The colonists gave him a rather wide (bordering on ridiculous) berth as they passed. Not one person would meet his eyes. Jim shrugged and returned to take his place beside his son.
They watched the solemn parade in silence as it trailed out of the colony and began the precarious and tedious journey around the rim of the pool, picking their way carefully through the shallowest parts. Mira and Sienna had infiltrated the group as unobtrusively as possible and thus far, the leaders hadn't noticed they'd gained a couple of extra members. Sooner or later, they would realise, but by that stage, it would be too late. Mira had silently and smoothly taken the crown of leadership from both of them, and they hadn't even been aware of it.
Josh frowned as the group waded heavily away. It made one tired just to watch them. He glanced at his father and spoke in a low voice.
"Can't help but wonder if we should be going with them."
He caught Tasha's eye from across the street and smiled a little. Jim exchanged a look with Reilly, who had stepped into Mira's place on his other side.
"I fully believe you could survive it, Josh." He hesitated meaningfully. "But there are some people that would never make it past the gates."
Josh fell silent, his eyes still focused on that particular spot across from him. He didn't bring up the subject again.
"Maddy! Hi!"
Maddy walked into the small cubicle awkwardly.
"Hi. I heard you - They told me what happened! Are you okay?!"
Skye laughed as the younger girl came in and sat on the bed, then immediately sprang up again.
"Sorry. Can I .. ?"
"You can sit there." Skye reassured her, and Maddy sighed with relief and sat carefully down onto the bed once more.
"And in answer to your first question, I'm just fine. Be out of here before you know it .." Skye trailed off and watched Maddy closely. "Are you okay?"
Maddy smiled a little and looked around the room.
"Yeah, I'm .." Her voice wobbled a little as she responded. "I'm fine."
"Maddy!" Skye pulled herself up to a sitting position as tears filled the other girl's eyes. "What's wrong? What is it?"
"Oh, nothing!" Maddy laughed and shook her head. "It's just .. the wedding's getting closer, and Mark's been so preoccupied lately .."
Skye frowned.
"We've all been preoccupied. Have you looked outside?"
"I know, I know!" Maddy sniffed and tried to pull herself together. "And I know it's stupid to be worrying about the wedding when the colony might not even be around in a few days, I just .. you're right, you're right! It's stupid."
"Maddy!" Skye laughed in bewilderment. "I never said it was stupid. I don't even know what it is yet! Tell me."
Maddy sighed and began a muddled attempt at an explanation, her words gradually building up speed until they were tumbling out like oranges off a runaway wagon.
"It's just .. I was looking at my things this morning, and seeing what I'd need when I moved and what I could get rid of .. weird timing, but you know, they said it was better to go about our normal business since all we can do is wait." At Skye's slightly confused nod, Maddy continued. "And it suddenly hit me. I have to move. One of these days - assuming we don't all die - I'm going to have to walk out that door and it'll never, ever be the same again. I just .. I can't bear the thought of leaving them. My family means everything to me."
As her voice began to shake again, Skye leaned forward and put her hand on the other girl's shoulder.
"Maddy, it's not a big colony. The Lab's right next door! You'll see them all the time!"
"It won't be the same!" Maddy responded with more passion than she'd meant to, and immediately looked apologetic. ".. sorry."
Skye shrugged a little as the younger girl shook her head.
"Back in Chicago, I wasn't really so good at making friends, so my family was my whole world. I was heartbroken when Dad was taken away .. and then Zoe. But we made it in the end. We've had a couple of awesome years together .. I mean, besides the whole Lucas-imminent-destruction thing .." Skye tilted her head in agreement and smiled a little as Maddy continued. ".. and now I'm leaving. And it won't be the same! It'll never be the same again."
She put her head in her hands. Skye opened her mouth to reply, but Maddy looked up with tears streaming down her face and was talking once more.
"I'll miss them, that's all. I'll miss Zoe's snoring in the middle of the night - she says I snore, but she's definitely the snorer - and Josh's stupid jokes over breakfast, and Mom and Dad .. they won't get to say goodnight!"
Maddy choked at this point and fell silent, the tears still pouring down her cheeks in an attempt to rival the rain outside. Skye patted her shoulder awkwardly.
"I know it won't be the same, Maddy, but you'll still see them. More than you probably want to." She smiled mischievously. "And I don't think you're gonna get away from Josh's stupid jokes that easily."
Maddy laughed and blinked hard at the roof.
"I know it's hard to understand. And I do love Mark! I do. But you should've heard Zoe the other day. She doesn't want me to leave."
"Of course she doesn't, but she'll get used to it! And she gets her own room now, right?" Skye pointed out hopefully. "That's gotta be a bonus."
Maddy smiled.
"Sometimes I think she'd sleep at the end of my bed every night if she could." She sighed and turned to Skye. "Sorry for dumping all this on you. I know it's hard to understand, and I came here to try and cheer you up .."
Skye laughed as Maddy suddenly looked appalled with herself.
"It's fine. Trust me. To be honest, I'm kind of glad you did come. I haven't really known what I'm supposed to be doing - you know, with this whole .. bridesmaids thing .." She forced herself not to grimace as she said the word. ".. but I had a feeling I wasn't doing it properly."
"Oh, don't worry about that." Maddy waved her worries aside airily. "If it helps, I don't really know what I'm supposed to be doing either. Just .. let me come and cry all over your linen once in a while and we'll call it even!"
Skye choked with laughter and put out her hand to the other girl.
"Deal."
Maddy shook it and then leaned forward, hugging Skye gently. When she pulled back, her tears had already begun to dry.
"Thank you. Really."
Skye shrugged.
"Don't mention it. My door's always open."
"Guess I chose the right person for the job, didn't I?"
Skye's snort was reminiscent of one of Malcolm's.
"Did you?"
Maddy grinned back at her.
"I'm sure of it." She stood and gestured to a nearby vase. "And sorry. I would've brought you flowers, but they're all dead."
"Eh, it's the thought that counts."
Maddy stood in silence for a moment, wringing her hands nervously as she looked around the room. Skye watched her in amusement. Finally, Maddy smiled at her and took a step back.
"I'll let you .. get some rest now."
"Bye, Maddy."
Skye waved as the younger girl left the room and then sank back into her pillows happily, her ears once again tuning into the ongoing barrage of rain on the roof.
Josh trudged toward the Infirmary, dragging one leg forward after the other. The water had been coming down from the sky fairly consistently all day. As a result, it was practically thigh-height now - one practically had to leap over the shield wall to get in or out of the building. Anyone shorter than Josh would struggle to get over it at all and would be trapped on either side. He continued dragging his feet forward, the water resisting his every movement. His legs burned like he was walking through lava instead. He thanked his lucky stars that it was his last trip. One more trip to the Infirmary and then home. The curfew was set for an hour's time. Everyone who wasn't isolated in a building by then would be locked out. Anyone inside would be shut in. Any provisions that were to be made should have already been made. The colony was eerily quiet, save the faint plipping of the raindrops and the low splashing of the water. The streets were deserted .. that is, almost deserted. A splash behind him made Josh spin around nervously. As he regained his balance, he frowned. There was no one there. He glanced around quickly, his nerves growing more on edge with every passing second. Silence. The sooner he got to the Infirmary, the better. Turning, he almost yelled in fright as something exploded out of the water in front of him.
"HYAAAA!"
Leah flicked the water out of her eyes and cracked up laughing as Josh's knees struggled to hold him up.
"You should've seen your face!"
"What are you doing?!" Josh snapped. "You should be inside! What are you doing out here?! You're soaked!"
"So are you." The girl answered reasonably.
"If you're still swimming around come lockdown, you'll be stuck out here. Does anyone know where you are?!"
Leah floated calmly in front of him and rolled her eyes.
"Calm down, Mom. I'll get back in time."
"And you shouldn't be swimming around in this anyway." The young doctor looked around at the dirty water, growing more displeased with the situation by the second. "You don't know what's in here. You could get really sick .. or worse."
Leah sighed loudly and splashed him a little.
"Calm down. Worrying isn't good for your heart."
Josh studied her for a moment and shook his head, sloshing past her as elegantly as he could.
"Go home right now. We're both on a time limit here."
He struggled forward several painful steps before he noticed the girl paddling easily beside him. He glanced sideways at her, trying to look as authoritative as he could. She seemed to be managing this journey a lot easier than he was. Maybe he should be giving in and paddling along too. He shook the thought out of his head.
"Leah. You have to go. You can't follow me."
Leah grinned.
"It's not like you're hard to keep up with. I know old men who walk faster than you."
Josh remained silent and steeled himself against the growing burn in his legs. His companion decided to change the subject.
"Hey, I heard you got an Ovosaur staying in the Lab. Maddy told me he was yours. Pretty cool!"
"Yep."
"You called him Inky, right?"
"Yep."
To Josh's great relief, Leah fell silent temporarily. Even under normal circumstances, he was uncomfortable with her attention, but this was ridiculous. Leah was searching her brain for another interesting topic. Suddenly, she brightened up.
"Did you hear what they found at the autobay this morning?"
Josh snorted, shaking his head.
"You are such a little busybody."
"Well, do you want to know or what?"
He glanced at her. At least this was taking his mind off his laborious task.
".. fine. What?"
Leah's eyes shone as she paused for dramatic effect.
"A giant centipede! Hid under the hood of one of the Rovers to try get away from the water. Max almost had a heart attack!"
Josh chuckled.
"Poor Max."
"Yeah, poor Max." Leah agreed. "But it was funny."
"What, you were there?"
"No, I just-" Leah stopped abruptly and grabbed Josh's arm. "What was that?!"
"What?!" Josh glanced around sharply, at once nervous and jumpy again.
"I heard something .."
After a minute of silence, Josh glanced at her in annoyance and wrenched his arm away from her grip.
"That's not funny, you know."
Leah stared up at him in dismay.
"No, I really did hear something! Honest!"
"Uh-huh."
Josh had barely started walking again when he found his arm captured once more.
"LOOK."
He turned in surprise to see a rather large wave making its way towards them.
"What-"
There was barely a second to react before the wall of water ran right over the top of them and struck the side of a nearby building with a smack. Josh emerged from the catapulting water a few seconds later completely drenched. He pulled Leah up beside him, spluttering and looking like a small drowned rat. She came up with a great deal less enthusiasm this time than she had several minutes earlier. Josh released her arm when she had found her feet.
"Where did that come from?!"
"It almost swept us away!"
"Would have if I hadn't grabbed you." Josh waited for a moment and then rolled his eyes at her. "You're welcome?"
Leah pushed her soggy blonde hair out of her eyes and stared around suspiciously.
"Wow. There's only one reasonable explanation for this."
Josh looked doubtful.
".. which is .."
Leah swayed along with the up-and-down motion of the water, staring toward the looming fence with certainty.
"There's obviously a sea monster out there that wants to destroy us so he can take over the colony."
Josh snorted.
"You've been spending too much time with Zoe."
The smaller girl looked up at him disapprovingly.
"Oh yeah? And who's soaked now?"
Josh rolled his eyes again and shook the residual water out of his dripping hair, finally resigning himself to his fate and sinking down to swim the rest of the way back to the Infirmary.
"Come on."
"You don't understand-"
"No, YOU don't understand .. with all due respect .. ma'am." The agitated soldier forced himself to maintain a civil tone of voice as a warning glance told him he was on very thin ice. "The scorpions are bad enough, but now we have these .. things to deal with as well! My men can't-"
He was interrupted then as the screens around the room began to flicker madly. The blonde scientist turned away immediately to begin messing with some cables and he realised he'd lost her. There was little he could do but watch in silence as she worked. Finally, she smacked the side of a nearby comms box with great enthusiasm. The sound of the metallic impact on her bare hand made him flinch, but the screen flickered again and then continued on as normal.
"This RAIN." Kensinge sighed and turned back to the intruder impatiently. "Look, the spinosaurs come to shore to snack on the scorpions. They're just looking for food, and two water predators are much easier to deal with than a thousand of these dog-sized crustaceans, correct? Herd the pulmonoscorpius in that direction and let them be. Just stay out of the water."
The soldier's whole frame slumped in defeat as she turned her back on him.
"We can't keep going on like this. They're like a plague we just can't shake. We've already sustained heavy losses."
Kensinge barely appeared to be listening anymore. She squinted at the closest screen, her face far too close to it. Her subordinate wondered vaguely if he should tell her that her nose was about to leave dirty streaks on the plexiglass. Before he could make up his mind, she spoke up.
"How heavy?"
"Twelve."
"Twelve?" Kensinge turned from her screens incredulously. "We've lost twelve men?"
"And women." The soldier replied, looking disheartened. "The scorpions are so fast. Lightning fast. And the poison's so toxic, they die almost instantly."
"Venom." The scientist corrected absently.
"Whatever."
Ordinarily, her soldiers would be severely reprimanded for speaking to her this way, but the woman in front of him obviously had other things on her mind.
"And the scientists in 2151 still haven't come up with an antidote?"
"With respect, ma'am, I doubt it'd make a difference. The poi- .. venom .." He corrected himself. ".. just works too quickly. We wouldn't be able to counteract the effects fast enough. We don't even have enough time to get the wounded to the medic tent."
"Hm." Kensinge abandoned her screens and wandered toward the door, leaning on the doorframe and looking out thoughtfully. "What about a vaccine?"
The soldier shrugged.
"Might work. You'd know more about that than me."
"Yes .." Kensinge glanced back at him for a moment. "Anything else?"
He nodded wearily.
"We've had a message from future command."
Now she was truly interested. She looked right into his eyes for a few seconds and then nodded, pulling the hood of her anorak over her head and stepping out into the rain.
"Walk with me."
The soldier and the scientist wandered along the outskirts of the camp in the rain as he finished his briefing. Finally, they reached the top of a low rocky hill and paused to gaze about them.
They had settled on the edge of a wide bay, and it was here that the camp had been built. A couple of docks had been haphazardly constructed near the middle of the crescent - it was here that anyone who was feeling particularly brave could try to catch some food. Their ever-changing camp stretched out in a semi-circle around the bay, then expanded inland, where her wooden shack could be seen directly in the centre, made all the more obvious by the giant antenna above it. To the left of the camp, a sharp rocky cliff stood guard, and the large waves foamed and crashed violently against it. To the right, an odd plain of hairy grass stretched out for miles and then dissolved once again into sand. Unlike the sand of the Badlands, the sand surrounding the bay was fine and soft, though of course recently it had been transformed into the thick, wet substance that they were now tramping through.
The previously-mentioned giant scorpions speckled the sandy landscape here and there. Every now and then one would get too close to the bank and a large aquatic creature would suddenly charge out of the water and crunch it up. The exact type of animal varied, most commonly a small sarcosuchus or sometimes a spinosaur - there was one in particular which was becoming quite a familiar sight on the outskirts of the camp. Very occasionally the long neck of a large plesiosaur would snake out of the water abruptly and retreat just as rapidly with the unfortunate scorpion in its grasp. The sandy embankment dropped off very sharply a metre or two from the beach and with the wide variety of aquatic predators around, the men had learned very early on that swimming was rather a high risk activity. Some of the boaters that made the short trip back and forth from the future had described seeing giant squids with glowing red eyes and phantom rays that disappeared when you shone a light on them and all manner of wild creatures under the murky depths, but Kensinge dealt only in what she could see for herself. She may have been a scientist, but she was a reasonable enough person besides the fact.
She looked to the south, where the flickering lights of the Badlands were just visible over the horizon. This world had its price, but it was a vast improvement on the world they had left behind - monster scorpions nonwithstanding.
They stood in silence for some time overlooking Base Zero, each one occupied with their own thoughts. Finally, the scientist was jolted out of her daydream by a tap on the arm. She followed the soldier's gaze back across the water to see a blue flash appearing out on the middle, the electric glow made quite a lot more visible in contrast to the dark clouds overhead.
"New shipment."
"Finally."
Kensinge only allowed the faint expression of relief to cross her face briefly before it disappeared again, but the soldier beside her saw it and smiled, turning back to the water to watch the welcome boat come in.
"Indeed."
