Neither had been keen on the idea of rowing their way ashore, even with their suits’ temp regulation systems. In the middle of Epsy’s southern hemisphere summer, where temperatures frequently exceeded an unlivable 60 C, waiting for the current to carry them most of the way would be more than acceptable. That was, if none of the other evacuees felt inclined to amble out their way with a few skimmers to carry them to the rally point.
Aether wasn’t holding her breath. The other teams had their given tasks, and unless called upon for emergency assistance, all should have been heading to the rally point and setting up. Once the sun set, the heat would rapidly dissipate, and she and Qin would spend the better part of the evening paddling the EV the rest of the way in.
Qin, face contorted by his growing dread, sat with eyes squeezed shut. While an exceptional pilot, Qin had always been at home in a lab. He despised the outdoors and all that lived within it—animals (whether furry or not), bugs, even plants for some reason. Among all of Aether’s crew/patients, she knew Qin would never have issues with cabin fever, irrational antagonism, or space panic. But that was on the station. He loved the station. Now, she wasn’t so sure how he’d manage. His SP rating had always been worst, and by a wide margin from the next lowest, Zisa. Since evac, whenever he wasn’t busy, Aether had him deep-diving into transitionary input. And that’s what he was doing now, brow furrowed with concern as he sat transfixed by Threck Country maps, pics, and vids from the emergency file pack. Minnie had been utterly meticulous with its content.
Minnie.
Yesterday, with 13 orbits remaining out of 74, Qin had worked out EV5’s and EV6’s trajectories. Minnie, John, and Ish had been headed straight for Hynka Country’s middle highlands, chillingly close to one of the savages’ most populous villages.
Aether closed her eyes and tried to see the situation as John would. Focus on logic and tasks at hand. Do what could be done while mentally compartmentalizing all she couldn’t control. In addition to their top SP ratings, Minnie and John were the most “generally capable” crewmembers, regardless of their differences. If they followed protocol, they’d now be a team of three, with Ish’s Hynka expertise at their disposal.
A comms alert rang out, startling both Aether and Qin.
Qin leaned forward and reached the panel first. “We’re in range!” He pulled out the old wired-style headset. “It’s Zisa. Kind of freaking out. Calling for Tom. Should I tell them where we are?”
Aether shook her head. “Sounds like she might have more pressing concerns. And it’s radio. We don’t want to step on Tom if he answers. Give it thirty seconds. Relay specifics.”
“Angela’s on now… handing off to Tom… Zisa and Pablo landed in farmland… several adult Threck approaching… Tom’s all over it. So now? Before they go away? Should I tell them? When they’re done, you know, maybe they can—” Qin was already bordering on panic just hearing about others’ distress.
Aether smiled softly and patted the air with a “settle down” hand.
She spoke gently. “In a minute. Make sure they’re both done transmitting. But no distress call. We’ll stick to our plan while they do what they need to do.”
Qin waited in fidgety silence for exactly one minute before pinching the mic. “EV-One to Four and Two. In comms range.” He relayed their current coordinates and glanced at Aether. “Should we request periodic check-in?” Aether returned a no-nod and motioned him to calmly finish. “We’ve made a water landing and will meet you all at the rally point tomorrow. Over.” He sat and listened.
“Any response?”
“Nothing.” He wiped the sweat from his head. “I think you’re right. They’ll be indisposed for a bit.”
“Did it sound like Zisa and Pablo were in serious danger?”
Composure returning, Qin shrugged and gave her a knowing look. “Yeah, but.”
Aether nodded. Zisa’s tone wouldn’t be the most accurate indicator of a critsit.
A dull thud struck the EV hull. Aether and Qin looked around and then at each other. A wave? Their motion hadn’t been affected. Another thud, this time at the very top of the EV.
“What the hell is that?” Aether said.
“Seabird?”
“No birds on Epsy.”
“A fish? Some kind of jumping fish?” Qin’s face remembered and said duh. “Optics!” He popped up, squatting in his seat and peering around.
Aether followed suit and set her fone to autoglide through spectrums. She paused on the thermag overlap, spotting through the EV gear and walls a group of figures in the water beneath and around the pod. “You see them?”
“Ahh man, I ahh, yeah, I ahh…” He began hyperventilating, head snapping from figure to figure. “What ahh… what’d’you ahh… what’d’you think they’re doing?”
The colorful blobs of warmth appeared to be poking at the hull and conversing. Aether counted only five.
She adjusted focus and intensity until the bodies gained definition. “Just checking us out. Slow it down. Remember that these are all peaceful people. In nose, out mouth.”
Unconvinced, he tried to watch each individual at once. “Nonono-why? Why us, too? All the way out here? Ah-hey!” He jumped as if to avoid a probing Threck tentacle touching his foot.
Typical phobic behavior. The full meter of gear and hull between him and the Threck in the water below offered no solace. His mind was operating as if the visitors were inside the EV with him.
“Qin, sweetie, look at me.” She annunciated as if speaking to a child. “I really don’t think we need to worry. Not about Sea Threck. These are Sea Threck. You remember Minnie talking about Sea Threck? They’re the purist hippie types, right? They reject the modern comforts of the city and return to the water, remember?”
He looked at her, desperate for it to be true. “Yeah, sure, yeah, but doesn’t that make them hunters versus farmers?”
“Yes, however we look nothing like fish or crustaceans. Besides, how could they possibly breach the hull? Even if they had the very best bronze weapons from the city, they’d hardly make a dent.” She glanced down. “Look, some of them are leaving.”
“Great, but some are staying.”
Aether watched as three orange figures slowly descended into darkness, tentacles waving gracefully around them. The two that stayed behind appeared to be keeping their distance, floating beneath the EV.
“If you were amphibious,” Qin began with a shaky voice. A valiant effort at self-distraction via idle conversation. “Would you ‘return to the water’ or stick to the city?”
Aether wished she could be more thrilled by this moment. She stood mere meters from another intelligent lifeform—people they’d never expected to see up close with their own eyes. “I think I’d choose the place I didn’t yet know.”
Qin looked up, wearing an aspiring smiling. “I guess that’s all of us, huh? Thus the current predicament.” He peered back down between his feet. “When they’re swimming like this, you can really see how they evolved for land… the ruined symmetry… and yet still so suited for the water.”
Aether watched the two Threck under the pod. Side by side, they “lay” beneath the surface as if on an invisible hammock. They supported each other with one “arm” tentacle wrapped under the other’s back, the unoccupied arm gently waving at their sides to maintain position. On land, the Threck’s two front tentacles stretched out below them as legs—thus their wider girth and stiffer structure. Over millennia, the rear appendages had become arms, and the ends—called pads or clubs, or even hands when the team got lazy—evolved increasingly useful features. The arms were thinner and considerably more dexterous than legs, and for precision tasks such as sewing, Threck used the thousands of cilia on their pads as little fingers. A couple years ago, Minnie captured a clip of a Threck artist painting a detailed mural on a city wall. The clubs were dipped into various paints and then gradually slid across the wall as individual cilia hairs applied paint to specific “pixels.” The pad was washed, a new paint applied, and more blank areas were filled. “They use them like inkjet printers!” Minnie had enthused.