Jin and I were standing near the smaller transport which made the trip from orbit down to the planet. He had a crew of ten on standby waiting for his decision as we argued.
“You seriously want to go in alone, before I go in and threaten them into compliance?” Jin said, his eyebrows raised.
“Most people tend to be less hospitable when you rob them at gunpoint.” I responded. “Shocking, I know.”
He rolled his eyes at my sarcasm. “Logical conversation over brute force, do I even know you anymore Naomi?” He said as he extended his arm for me to enter the small ship. “I’m not sure I like your sisters influence on you.” He commented, but its clear, I’d won. I smiled, stepping aboard, but then he followed me in.
“I’m not sending you in alone though.” He turned to his crew. “If we don’t check in within ten minutes of landing, send in the brute force.” They nodded in unison.
Inside the transport two seats awaited us in the cockpit with a small room which doubled as a kitchen. Its a multifunctional ship for smaller trips and its much more practical than his home ship, no stuffed leather sofa or sconces here. I sat on the right and he on the left and we both strapped in. After entering the coordinates we sat quietly as the ship speared through the atmosphere. Dark clouds swirled all about us as a heavy weight sank into my bones. It was like I was being compressed.
Jin eyed me. “I feel it too. Increased gravity compared to space and Erizen. “Shall we don the exo’s?” I mulled it over for a moment. The exo’s were a show of wealth but this was supposed to be a station funded by a large wealthy corporation. A show of wealth might put us on even ground in their eyes. Also, I would be able to conserve my energy and defend myself if needed. I nodded.
He brought over half an exoskeleton suit which I stepped into. It was pretty lean, not big and bulky like older iterations. The black and brass struts extended from where they snapped over my boots, up the outside of my legs, to a joint at my knees and encased my thighs. It ended below my waist, where it snapped into place, snug over my pelvis, using my own skeleton to support me. I hit a button on the side of the strut and the device engaged, stiffening so that I was being held up.
Jin looked me over. “Is that enough or a full body suit?” I tested it out with a few steps. I could still feel the compression on my trunk, my shoulders wanted to hunch in, but I fought it. I’d wear out faster, but I didn’t want to be fully encased yet.
“This will do for now.” He nodded and donned the same. “How are you and Nia getting on?”
I sighed deeply.
“That good huh?”
I practiced walking away from him as I answered. “What would you do if someone close to you converted? You know what the kneelers become, how they change. How can I accept that?”
His deep voice responded “We’re not like the original settlers, our great great grandparents. We can survive on the harsh planet easily enough nowadays but that is thanks to the Monstravi. There’s no denying that.”
“Are you saying that makes it ok? You said it yourself, we don’t need the gods anymore. Why sacrifice everything?”
“For power. For love. For comfort. For purpose.” He walked into my view, no longer allowing me to avoid eye contact. “Why does anyone become religious throughout history? It comes down to what your sister needs. What she values most. That’s what you should be asking yourself.” He reached up to tuck a strand of loose hair behind my ear.
The intimacy of his gesture, his closeness, and this conversation was too much. I stepped back, breaking eye contact, hating that I could feel my face flushing, as if the years away hadn’t dimmed my body's reaction to him. He wasn’t that person to me anymore, he didn’t get to comfort me or flirt with me anymore. He chuckled, knowing full well the effect he had on me and distancing us was exactly what he expected me to do. We’ve known each other our entire lives, but in moments like this, that felt like a curse. I couldn’t hide behind my usual distractions. He left the ROG years ago, knowing that I couldn’t follow, but our history suddenly felt fresh, like newly reopened wounds.
That pain slapped some sense back into me. Unfortunately, he still knew me well. I wanted him to agree with me, not take her side. I tried to step around him, but he shifted his weight so that I would have to be more aggressive to avoid him and continued. I considered shoving him, but even I wasn’t that petty.
“I don’t know what is happening between you and your sister, but you won’t get past it until you get past your prejudice. We all cope with life in our own way and sometimes that takes us down a different path.” He donned his mask, which unfolded larger than usual, an extra oxygen filter in place. I did the same, grateful for the reprieve from his goddamn preaching. “You should talk to Airin. Her husband converted not long ago and they were able to work through their differences. Well, until he passed that is.”
The ship suddenly slowed as we emerged from the clouds. Before us an ocean more massive than anything on Erizon stretched out before us. Its a deep dark blue and churning angrily. I tried to imagine its depths and what might live within it and shivered. We were pulling up to a long outcropping of organic towers of some sort. There appeared to be four of them, surrounding a smaller manmade structure in the middle.
As we pulled closer the towers appeared almost osseous, off white, with symmetrical protrusions. They almost resembled spines jutting out of the ocean. Manmade buildings perched along the outside of one of the towers, sitting atop the spines extending out of them with a bridge from that tower to a derelict drilling rig of some sort. It should be pristine with current technology, instead the rust had eaten away at the metal struts and marine flora swallowed the structure in dark winding vines which seemed to pulsate.It reminded me of the eerie River of Gore back home.
We landed on the roof and stepped out onto the large square platform. No one came out to greet us. Jin frowned, then headed for the staircase. We made our way down and into the building, our exo’s quietly shifting with each step. The decontamination chamber didn’t turn on and no light broke the heavy darkness in the hallway. The quiet exo’s suddenly seemed unbearably loud in the echoing halls.
“When did you last receive information?” I whispered as I turned on my armor so that it lit up enough to guide us through the dark hallways.
“It was only about six months ago.” He responded, as confused as I was.
“What did they say exactly?“ Was this a trap? This spot showed evidence of prolonged desertion, a lot more than six months worth.
He stopped suddenly. “They lured me with promises of treasure-bloody beasts, I’m an idiot.”
We pivoted to head back to the ship, but as we did, an eerie clicking echoed down the hall behind us, like something chitinous tapping on metal. My imagination helpfully supplied an image of the arachnids back home, large enough to suck a human dry. We froze and peered into the darkness, me holding my breath, nothing was visible and the sound paused too.
“Let’s get out of here. Quickly.” Jin said and I followed, running back the way we came. Behind us, the clitter clatter matched our pace getting louder the faster we ran. The exo suit picked up our intent and pushed me forward faster than I was typically capable of. I could get used to this.
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We burst out of the stairway to find two people blocking the ship, large guns pointed at our head, causing us to skid to a stop. They looked like they used to be in a metal band but got too old and fat to sing on stage anymore. One was tall with a beer belly large enough to imply he was nine months pregnant and the other had the wiry appearance of someone with too many years of hard drugs eating them from the inside out. They hadn’t even bothered with armor, but well worn exo’s held them up.
“Give us the goods and we’ll be on our way.” The wiry one said. His greasy mohawk and gold rings stacked along both ears screamed, I am in denial that I’m middle aged now. I knew, because I was also in denial that forty was fast approaching..
“What goods? We don’t have anything.” I said, then twisted to see if those things were coming behind us, but just as before, as soon as we stopped, they went silent. I felt like a mouse being toyed with, but how long before the inevitable ambush?
“Don’t play dumb. We know who you are. Give us what your sister stole and we’ll be on our way.” The potbelly had a gruff voice as if he smoked a pack a minute.
I froze as his phrasing sunk in. Stole? As in stole Marcus’ unborn child? Or as in stole the priceless thing she claimed she didn’t take. “She stole nothing, Clio is the one you’re looking for.”
The man laughed, and it was so ugly it made me shudder. “Is that what she told you? Clio never left Xenalba. We know Nia has it. We know who you are though, and are willing to give you a percentage of the bounty for safe passage.” He looked at Jin for that last part.
He couldn’t be right. “Don’t you mean-”
Jin grabbed my arm and tugged me out of the way. As he pulled me to the side and forward, my boots slipped but the exo engaged, some sort of stumble recovery pausing my momentum. We sprinted around the two men as shiny black iridescent claws exploded out of the building.
A horde of black beetles, each as big as two of me, engulfed the bounty hunters. Screams and shots rang through the air as Jin and I dove around our ship- the creatures were right on our heels and ducked behind it where the bounty hunters ship lay waiting. But before we could close the meter of space between us and a safe getaway, a woman rose up, blocking our path to the entrance.
I should bowl her over, attack, something, but instead Jin and I stumbled to a stop, the joints of the exo’s keeping us from flipping forward, causing my back to strain. Something niggled at my senses, a feeling of deep unease, even worse than what I felt in the dark tunnels. The woman had dark hair cropped short, around a narrow face which framed creepy large eyes. They were dark shimmering things, no whites visible, reminding me of sharks' eyes, beady and soulless. Her mottled grey skin transitioned to crimson spikes connected via webbing along her arms.
She was godtouched, which meant there was already a Monstravis here.
Behind us the screams started to die down and Jin pivoted, attempting to watch our backs without losing sight of the woman. She was clearly here with those creatures, calmly watching us, while blocking our escape.
“Maybe she knows something about the rig.” Jin whispered.
I eyed him but said nothing. Seriously? Somehow I doubted her hospitality.
He shrugged then, as if to say what choice do we have? I grumbled a little, but, something, perhaps morbid curiosity, pulled me towards her too. I gripped my gun, which I didn’t even remember drawing, and fought against the weight of gravity. Why didn’t I wear the full body exo again? A fine tremor began in my arms already; I wasn’t sure how long I could point this at her.
“Rude way to say hello.” He chided. Was this guy for real? I forgot how exasperating he could be. This would be two traps in one day. I couldn’t believe he gave Nia shit for her survival skills. Maybe he relied too much on his reputation and let his flunkies do the real work.
“Hello. My name is Jin. We are seeking information,” He put his gun away, hands out. He was already resorting to negotiation, which surprised me, but I felt deep in my bones that our weapons wouldn’t match her. He must feel it too. My arms were actively shaking now, but still I struggled to keep it up.
She stood unnaturally still, and it took me a moment to realize she wasn’t even blinking. She was wearing the remnants of an old synth suit, the style decades outdated, but with some sort of thick rags around her waist, forming a sort of long skirt. Her head barely reached my shoulders.
What is it you seek?
A feminine voice asked within my head. Her voice flowed through me, but somehow it reminded me of a whale song, beautiful and otherworldly.
Jin smiled confidently, unbothered by the strangeness of this woman. I had heard of godtouched who live in the oceans back on Erizen but I had never met one. The godtouched I came across were typically trying to kill or capture me so I never really go the chance to soak in the otherness that seemed to encompass them. She was mesmerizing.
“I heard there was some energy source out here. My ship is low on fuel. Perhaps you can help us out and we’ll be out of your hair.”
He was practically oozing charm as if this were a beautiful woman he was trying to get into the pants of, not a creepy fish lady. Although she did have a delicate face, if not for the eyes.
She smiled slowly and rows of sharp teeth gleamed. Out of the corner of my eye, two more faces popped up. A man on my left with long stringy black curls and dark striped skin, and on my right a woman with dreaded red hair and pearlescent striped skin. They hauled their bodies over the edge, slithering on long sinuous tails, like that of an eel.
She does not seek this energy source. The woman gazed at me, now ignoring Jin completely.
Was this lady reading my mind?
“I am seeking a shelter for my sister and I to hide.”
My arms lost the fight with gravity. I was becoming acutely aware of the weight of my head being held up by a small spinal bone.
Negotiation it is. The absence of screams and chittering closed in, and I was suddenly certain that if I turned around, a thousand eyes and claws would be aimed at us, patiently waiting to attack.
I didn’t look behind me.
The two humanoids flanking us paused their advancement, eyeing me carefully, as if trying to place my features. Or perhaps assessing where I would be tastiest, it was hard to tell.
You are kin to the women who helped hide our planet. A male voice now chimed in. Jin must be able to hear them too because he frowned. Were all three of them sifting through my head? How could they possibly know such a thing? I clenched my jaws in anger. Of course the godtouched felt entitled to rifle through my memories.
But still, curiosity nagged.
“When was that?” I asked. My mother didn’t really travel much anymore, but was pretty notorious in her younger days.
Perhaps it was two generations ago.
The other two nodded in agreement. They looked at each other and I suspected they were communicating. The red headed one smiled in glee. Were they discussing when to feed us to their beetles? Irritation swept through me, but I pushed it down. Negotiation remember.
“You are also hiding? From who?” I asked.
From people like your friend who would seek to ruin our planet for their gain. Your grandmother helped free us and guide us when we were just becoming godtouched as she called it. As payment for her help and her silence, we will recommend a home. A planet one of our friends used to reside on. There is much food for your growing little one.
So they were reading my mind. I wondered about my grandmother’s past, given my blurry memories of her from ten years prior. But I had no desire for her to keep rummaging about in my brain. It was time to get back to my sister. What if more bounty hunters were on the way. “What planet?”
Nouvalis. She swept along the surface, moving like an octopus dragging themselves toward the ledge.
Before she reached it she faced us one last time, her expression still too alien to be readable. Good luck.
With that, all three of them dove off the ledge, down down down all the way into the ocean. Behind us, clattering sounds moved further away as if they were retreating back into the hallway. It was probably a nest of some sort, which we had walked right into.
Why did they just let us leave? She really trusted me because of my grandmother alone? They could have killed us at any time. Maybe the godtouched weren’t as evil here as back on Planet Erizen. Regardless, it was time to get off this watery dump.
“So is there an energy source?” Jin commented, as I brushed past him.
I shook my head. “Leave it or they will sick the hordes of beetles and their Monstravi on you. Trust me, it's not worth it. Let’s go.”
He growled in frustration but followed me on board.
“We’re headed to Nouvalis next.”
Based off context so far, what do you think the Monstravi are?
