“Actually, you've made about eight hundred meters,” Calvin replied before Kyle could respond at all. “With rests, that means you'll take about an hour and a quarter to go a kilometer. Roughly eight days if you don't sleep.”
Henry snorted.
“So we have to go twice as fast?” Kyle asked.
“More. We lost two days getting ready. That means there's eight left. If we calculated everything right. That's not enough. We need time for surprises, for rest, and maybe some time when we get to the marble,” Henry said.
“The forest is thicker down here, near Pluto. It thins out above the atmosphere.”
“It won't make that much difference.”
“So how do we go faster?”
“I'm thinking,” Henry said. “Meantime, let's restock.” The stems were designed as conduits, with at least three veins running through each stem; one for water, one for air mix, and one for a form of liquid energy both humans and plants could consume, dubbed “plant broth.”
Leaves always grew with one anchoring structure in the pure water vein, one in the plant food. The broth fed the stem itself, fueling super-fast growth. This was what they plunged their siphons into first. Kyle's suit filled with a cloyingly sweet smell as the thin gel filled a pouch in his lower back. It took time; fifteen precious minutes. As he pulled out the siphon and stuck it back in, fishing for water, Kyle asked Henry how well he balanced.
“As good as the next guy, I guess.”
“It's a way to get there faster.”
“Huh?”
“Walk. Lean back against a rope and walk vertical. We've both been using hands and feet. I bet there's a walking pace that won't need that for one of us—as long as there's rope between. Let me lead. I'm stronger—I can go faster. I'll hold on. You walk—use the toe stabs. Let go with your hands and walk.”
Henry smiled at him. “Worth a try.”
It worked better; not twice as fast. They kept going for an hour, Kyle leading, using his hands and feet, arms and legs, back and belly ... he was feeling the strain everywhere. Henry walked behind. Once Henry came loose, falling outward and down, and Kyle had to clamp his legs around the thick stem, brace for the jolt, then reel him in. Henry just grunted and suggested Kyle get on with it. It was more bravado than Kyle expected from Henry. How much were the cameras affecting the older man?
They stopped once, refilled their supplies, and kept going, Kyle on point again.
They changed stems at a cross-point. The new one was thicker, easier to balance on. Even with periodic leaves to step over, the pull and step, pull and step, pull and step made a cadence in Kyle's head. His lower back screamed misuse, and he needed distraction. He imagined words to the cadence—"Lark be safe ... Lark be safe.” It was almost a mantra.
A knot of leaves and tangled stems stopped them at the ten-kilometer mark. Long streams of flowers spread out around the knot. If it weren't an obstruction, it would have been beautiful. They'd have to climb over and somehow pick the right stem. Henry sat. “Hey kid, time for a break.”
“We haven't gone far enough,” Kyle said, easing onto a spot where leaf met stem, hooking a leg over a leaf. “Stopping is crazy.” At least Pluto finally looked further away. He stared down on the top of Little Siberia and picked out the observatory. “Let's push until we make at least sixteen klicks. We need twenty-five klicks.”
“Ever run a marathon? If you sprint the first five kilometers, you never make the end. Besides, it's time for a word with our sponsors.”
Henrywanted to talk to Calvin?
“Calvin?”
“Yes?”
The camera probe had stopped too. “Calvin, can you pan the probe cam and give us directions? I want to end up somewhere near Lark.”
Kyle eyed the knotted mess of growth. Styx looked like a close-knit weave of plant life, but there were gaps. The long strings of forest moved and twisted and intertwined, constantly knotting and shifting. Silver threads of carbon fiber trellis flickered in and out of view. Choices had looked simple from a distance. Here, tangles and obstacles were everywhere.
Meanwhile, Calvin described a full incident support team assembled—virtually—at the currently nearest Trans-Neptunian object, Kiley3, mere light-minutes away. He described doctors, climbing experts, psychologists, child psychologists, biologists...
Henry interrupted. “So did you scrape everyone on Kiley3 into your support team?”
“They're getting paid. Thought you'd be grateful. They're not all on Kiley3—”
“I'm grateful,” Kyle said. They might be able to use the help.
“Want to be introduced?” Calvin asked.
Henry shook his head. “I'd rather have visuals of the best path out of here.”
“Dr. Yi is working on it. In the meantime, Dr. Gerry thinks you should have at least a twenty-minute rest. That's time to meet everyone.”
Kyle suddenly understood why Henry was being so irascible. A hot thread of anger mixed with his worry about Lark. He checked: they had enough water and broth to last a few hours. He withdrew his siphon from the stem, making sure Henry saw him. Henry winked, tucked his siphon carefully into a belt pouch.
As a concession to their need for rest, Kyle let Henry lead.
“But ... but you haven't met the team yet!”
Henry spoke for them as he reached up into the knot, grabbing for a writhing stem. “It's not your little girl up there. Do not slow us down to entertain your viewers.”
To his credit, Calvin shut up and produced Dr. Yi, who guided them across the knotted region without a hitch. “So now you understand the relationship?” Henry asked.
“We'll help you any way we can. But you should meet the team.”
A kilometer further on, they did stop for rest. Although he knew Lark was descending at the same rate, the sensation of slow movement as the vines below them grew and wriggled and twined toward Pluto was strange. Starting again, Kyle realized how much his shoulders and arms hurt. Hundreds of the same motions wore on muscles. They got to twenty klicks before exhaustion won. Half a kilometer higher, they found a good place to anchor their habitat. They stopped and called for it, waiting.
Their suit radios could talk to Lark from here. “Lark, how are you doing?”
“Hi Dad, Henry. I can see you on the feed from the probe-cam. Wish I was out there with you.”
“Yeah, like we're here on purpose,” Kyle said.
“You've got a better view of Styx than I ever had, except for a few minutes EVA. I'm looking forward to climbing down.”
“Yeah, I plan on taking Shooter down.”
“We'll climb. Shooter' s dead. Besides, I want to walk the Styx.”
“What's so exciting about the Styx? It's actually pretty boring. Kilometers of stems and leaves, and then more kilometers of stems and leaves. Sometimes there's a flower.”