Rome and Rei sat at the dining table, plotting out the mission on Rei’s quantum tablet. Steben’s data showed that Wally and Aleesa’s last known location came from the coordinates they transmitted during their final call after landing on the lower continent of Sul.

“We’ll start here,” Rei said, pointing. “But based on what Steben told us, I’m pretty sure they were headed north, to Toraode, toward the Eye.”

Rome traced the route, nodding once. “That would seem most prudent.”

“I’ll go fetch us a flyer. Can you pull together the supplies you think we’ll need?”

“Not a flyer,” Rome said. “A skiff would be more appropriate.”

Rei sat back down, eyebrows drawing together. “Why?”

“They took instruments and supplies. A flyer wouldn’t have enough room to bring everything back, including Wally and Aleesa, should it be necessary.”

“We could probably squeeze it all in,” Rei said, though his tone made it clear he wasn’t convinced.

“We can’t assume that. We’ll need supplies for several days.”

Rome hesitated, her gaze lingering on Rei.

“What?” Rei asked.

“We should take stretchers and medical equipment,” Rome said. “Just to be sure.”

Rei nodded. “You’re right. I’ll stop by the University and have them put together a complete kit. Tracking gear, a more powerful transmitter, whatever LIBCOM thinks we need. And the stretchers.” He stood up. “I’ll meet you back here in a little while.”

Rome stood and kissed him. “I’ll pack food, water, clothes and the rest. I’ll be ready.”

 

A few hours later, with everything stowed, they made their way to the cockpit. Rei reached it first and settled into the pilot’s chair. Rome stopped in the airlock entryway and waited for Rei to notice.

Rei spun in place. “What?”

Rome replied, “I thought I would fly. I am the better pilot.”

“Maybe in spacecraft but not a flyer. I do that every day.”

“Well, Rei, this is a space skiff.”

“Oh. Right.” Rei sighed. “But we need your superior eyesight to look for any signs of Wally and Aleesa. I need you focused on that, not on flying the skiff.”

Rome tilted her head. “You’re correct. I’ll do it. As long as you acknowledge I am the better

pilot, at least in space.”

“Yes, dear, you are,” Rei replied, completely sincere.

“Very well.” Rome sat down in the co-pilot’s chair.

With Asquarti’s warm, bright coastline dropping away behind them, the skiff arced over the ocean in a semi-ballistic climb, its thrusters humming from the rear. They were wearing pressure suits because they were brushing the upper atmosphere, their helmets close at hand as a

precaution neither of them questioned.

The winds were calm, leaving little to see from this height near the edge of space. Rome brought up a high-level map of the lower half of the Eastern continent, Sul, the region appearing as a tilted rectangle on the display. The last known coordinates from Wally and Aleesa were marked with a bright red dot, and they were headed straight for it. Most of Sul lay under cloud cover, so they relied on instruments for the final approach.

As they closed in, Rei cut the plasma thrusters and brought the skiff to a halt using the EG lifters alone. They settled onto the ground a moment later. Leaving their helmets inside, they stepped out through the rear cargo ramp and used their instruments to search for any sign that Wally and Aleesa had been there.

Rome got a ping from the metal detector about half a mile to the north, so they followed a narrow path through the cane-trees toward the location it indicated. The trunks stood close together, tall and smooth, their long, flat yellow-green leaves scattered across the ground in overlapping layers. As they approached a broader clearing, the leaves showed clear signs of disturbance. They were pressed down, swept aside, and bent in irregular arcs.

The clearing itself was wide enough for a small flyer. The ground formed a rough oval where the craft had settled, the cane-tree leaves flattened outward in a radial pattern. Several patches of bare soil showed shallow gouges from the landing struts.

They moved across the site, scanning as they went. A faint trail of displaced leaves led them toward a smaller clearing on the far side. There they found a fire pit, a shallow ring of scorched earth with a few blackened fragments of cane-tree wood. A single metallic sample container lay nearby, cracked open along one side as if it had been dropped.

Rei crouched beside the pit. He held his hand over the remains of the fire, then pressed a finger into the ashes. “Cold,” he said. “A couple of days, maybe.”

“According to Steben, they were going to head north. I can…” Rome snapped her fingers. “Wait.”

“What?”

Rome looked around the site, then turned toward a dense stand of cane-trees. She studied the canopy for a moment, gauging the height and spacing, and stepped inside.

“Watch out for Falling Blankets,” Rei called out.

“That’s exactly what--“

A soft whump cut her off, the sound a Falling Blanket makes when it glide-drops to the ground.

Rei froze for half a second, then ran into the cane-trees. What he saw made his heart stop. A large Falling Blanket lay on the ground, its broad surface draped over a wriggling bulge that could only be Rome.

“Rome!” Rei sprinted to it and began clawing at the edges, his movements sharp and frantic, but the whole thing opened on its own. He reached down and hauled Rome up.

“You scare me half to death every time you do that,” Rei said.

“I got what I needed. The blanket told me they were here for one day. Then they reentered their flyer and rose up into the air.”

Rome walked out to the clearing and pointed north. “It also said they went that way.”

The blanket used its ground ripple mode to reach Rome. It coiled up her leg and rose along her side. She steadied it with one hand, then caressed it as it wrapped itself snugly around her waist, almost like a thick belt. “It wants to go with us. It says it can get us better information if it can connect to the other blankets in the north.”

Rei shrugged. “Okay. If it wants to come, I’ve got no problem with that.”

Rome ran her hands along its surface. “It said I can call it Blankey.”

“That’s a dumb name.”

Rome tilted her head. “Not for a Falling Blanket.”

“Sure.”

They reentered the skiff and took their places in the cockpit. Blankey unwound itself from Rome and rippled down to the floor, wrapping itself around the base of the seat.

They headed north, flying just above the treetops toward the Eye. As they got closer, the trees grew thicker and taller, and Rei adjusted their altitude accordingly. But when they were about twenty-five kilometers out, the instruments began acting a little wonky. Rei decided to set down and check things out.

While he was doing that, Rome and Blankey entered the next stand of woods. When they returned, they found Rei under the console in the cockpit, tinkering.

When he heard them return, he scooted out and stood up.

“I can’t find anything wrong,” he said. “There’s some sort of interference coming from somewhere. I think maybe I should pilot manually until we know what’s going on.”

Rome nodded, her Blankey belt still cinched firmly around her waist.

“Blankey’s brothers saw the flyer go by. It went up and over the crater’s rim.”

“Well, that’s super-helpful. At least we don’t have to guess. But with this interference, we need to use our eyes, or specifically your incredible eyes, to look for them.”

“Very well,” Rome said. She sat back down in the co-pilot’s seat, and Blankey took its position wrapped around the base.

Rei tried to bring up a map on the skiff’s main display, but it was balking again. He bent forward and looked out the cockpit. He pointed ahead. “Can you see the walls of the crater?” he asked.

Rome squinted, looking across the horizon. “There,” she said, pointing to the right. “It’s that way.”

“You got it. Rei pulled back on the joysticks and they lifted into the air. He goosed the plasma thrusters for a little extra speed and altitude and headed toward the crater. The skiff began bouncing up and down as if it were hitting turbulence.

“Better put your harness on,” Rei said as he tightened his.

“Do you want to fly the perimeter first?” Rome asked.

Rei pointed forward. “Nah. Knowing Wally, he’d go for the inside right off the bat.”

They were moving at a good clip as the outer edges of the crater loomed in the distance, and Rei was already angling them upward for a higher approach.

“Look at that,” Rei said. “That must have been one hell of a rock to make a crater that large.”

Rome tried to activate the MIDAR. It was nothing but static. “MIDAR is out,” she observed.

“Don’t need it. We’ll just go up and over.”

As he said it, he felt the joysticks tighten a bit. He pulled back harder, lifting them far above the crater’s rim and giving them a wide, extra-high margin.

Just as they reached their peak, the whole skiff jolted as if something had slammed into it. The EG lifters cut out instantly, and the skiff dropped like a rock. Their forward momentum hurled them toward the ringed lake that circled the inner part of the crater.

“What the hell?!” Rei snapped. He stabbed at the screen, trying to restart the EG lifters, but the menus wouldn’t even load.

“We’re going to crash!” Rome shouted, panic sharpening her voice.

“Hell no, we’re not,” Rei said. His expression hardened as he flipped the toggle from atmospheric to space mode. The skiff shuddered as the systems switched over. He hit the rear trim jets, pitching the skiff tail-over-nose until it was upside down and backward, its centerline aligned with their vector of descent. Then he mashed down the thruster lock, forcing the plasma thruster to pour out maximum counterforce to slow their fall. It was the only thing keeping them from slamming into the lake at full free-fall velocity.

Rome tried to call up a virtual inclination indicator, but the display wouldn’t load.

It took every bit of Rei’s piloting skill to keep the reverse thrust aligned. The plasma thrusters roared, the deceleration hitting them hard, but they were still dropping straight toward the circular lake below. Upside down, Rei used the left joystick to fire the aft trim jets continuously at full output, squeezing out every bit of retro thrust he could.

Bang! The skiff slammed into the lake, inverted and sliding backward. Rei and Rome were pushed hard against the backs of their seats, the harnesses going slack for an instant under the inverted impact.

The windshield struck a submerged rock, hard, and a long crack shot across the surface. Water began seeping in at once. Even inverted, they could see they were sinking. The windshield scraped along the stones as they slid deeper, the crack spreading with every jolt. The water outside was too cloudy to make out the bottom at all.

“Rome, this thing is going to flood. We gotta get out of here,” Rei said, unbuckling.

The moment the X-harness released, he dropped toward the ceiling, which was now the floor. He caught himself with the straps and lowered his weight carefully, boots landing on the cabin roof. The helmets, which had been sitting on the real floor, had already fallen past them and were now rolling along what had been the ceiling as the skiff swayed.

Rome unlatched her harness. She swung downward in a slow arc, using her harness straps. Rei reached up and steadied her as she touched down beside him.

“Grab your helmet,” Rei barked.

Rei reached up toward the console, working the main screen upside down as cold water dripped past his wrists. The emergency controls were close enough for him to hit without searching. He activated the rescue beacon. A steady red light blinked back at him through the rising water. Once he was sure it was engaged, he said, “Let’s go.”

Another crack split across the windshield. Water started streaming in.

“Where are we going?” she asked, her voice tight.

Rei reached out with his hand. “To the side airlock. We have to get there before this thing fills with water. The pressure suits are airtight, so they’ll work in water the same way they work in space.”

“Understood,” Rome said. She pulled open the neck seal of her pressure suit just enough for Blankey to slip inside. The creature flattened itself against her torso, safe in the suit’s air pocket. She resealed the collar with a practiced tug and followed Rei out of the cockpit toward the side airlock.

Rei braced one hand on the frame and stepped into the airlock, his boots slipping slightly on the inverted surface. He reached up toward the manual release, since the door controls were now above his head. As his fingers found the latch, an even louder crack sounded from the cockpit. Water started gushing in from the cockpit side, flooding toward the airlock now that the windshield had given way.

The skiff shifted under the new weight. The entire cabin rolled until they were standing at a sharp angle, fighting to keep their footing as the water climbed toward them.

“We gotta hurry,” Rei said. He helped Rome step over the archway that had served as the door. With the skiff tilted at a forty-five-degree angle, the arch was now a slanted lip they had to climb across rather than walk through. Rei steadied her with one hand, guiding her into the small room as the water rose behind them.

Inside, Rei said, “Seal your helmet.”

Even with gloved hands, both of them were very practiced at locking their helmets. A satisfying click meant they were now airtight.

Rome gave Rei a thumbs-up.

Inside his helmet, no sound could escape, so Rei couldn’t speak aloud. Instead, he “called” her on the cell-phone in his head.

“Hold on to something. When I open the outer door, the water’s going to come rushing in. Wait until we’re completely submerged before trying to go outside. Once you’re free, get to the surface, then swim to shore. I’ll be right behind you.”

Rome nodded once, signaling she was ready.

Rei pulled hard on the manual release and the outer door opened all the way. Cloudy water surged in at once, flooding the airlock in a rising sheet. It took less than a minute for the chamber to fill completely. When they were fully submerged, Rei motioned for Rome to go.

Rome pushed off the slanted floor, swam through the water, and slipped out the airlock door. She angled upward at once and began swimming toward the surface.

Rei scanned the airlock for anything useful he could grab.

Suddenly, Rome’s mind flared with panic. “Something is biting me!”

“What?” Rei asked, the thought spiking with alarm.

“I don’t know. Ouch. Ouch.” Rome’s mind flickered with sharp pinches. “They’re tearing at my suit!”

Rei yanked a hammer and a hand-thruster from their brackets, then pushed himself out of the airlock into the cloudy water. The tilt of the skiff helped him drift clear, and he kicked once to steady himself.

Rei looked upward through the murk and saw Rome thrashing. A cluster of wriggling shapes swirled around her, snapping at her suit. Rei aimed the hand-thruster and fired it, the sudden thrust driving him upward in a straight line toward his wife. Without easing off the trigger, he hooked an arm around her waist and carried her with him, the thruster pushing them both toward the surface. Something clamped onto his leg, a hard pinch through the suit, but he ignored it. Keeping the thruster engaged, he angled them toward the shore and jetted through a stand of strange, reed-like plants until they slid up onto the bank.

As soon as they hit the shore, Rome lurched to her feet, clawing at the wriggling creatures still clamped onto her pressure suit. Several hung from her arms and legs, their bodies twisting as they fought to keep their grip. She tore a few off, flinging them back toward the water, but more remained latched on.

Rei dropped the hand-thruster and grabbed at the fish clamped onto Rome, but they were too slippery to pull free. He shifted to the hammer, knocking them off one by one until they tumbled to the sand, flopping violently.

A sharp pinch lit up his leg. He looked down and saw one of the creatures locked onto his pressure suit. He tried to yank it loose, but it slipped through his gloves, so he brought the hammer down squarely on its head. The body fell away onto the sand.

Rome removed her helmet and peeled off the pressure suit, heavy with trapped water. Her jumpsuit clung to her, soaked through, and several small red spots showed where the creature’s teeth had broken the fabric and scratched her skin. She stood there for a moment with Blankey still cinched at her waist, catching her breath. Water dripped from her sleeves as she steadied herself.

Rei took her cue and stripped off his pressure suit as well. Water poured out, and his clothes underneath were also soaked through. His leg was bleeding from two shallow punctures where the creature’s fangs had barely broken the skin.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his eyes flicking to the red spots on her jumpsuit.

Rome rubbed her arms and legs, then looked up and nodded. “What are those things?” she asked. “They certainly are not swishies.”

Rei stepped over to one of the still-living fish and bent down to examine it more closely.

“They’re some kind of mutated fish,” he said. “They look like a cross between a tilapia and a barracuda, with a little saber-tooth tiger thrown in.”

The few remaining fish stopped moving, except for one that wriggled toward Rei. He stepped forward and brought the hammer down on its head. The creature jerked once and went still. Satisfied it was dead, Rei took Rome’s hand and pulled her farther away from the water.

Rome pulled Blankey off her waist and touched one corner to her head. “Blankey is okay, too.” She wrapped the creature back around her waist.

Rei gripped the hammer and glanced back at the water. The only sign their skiff had ever been there was a faintly clouded patch where it had gone under, and even that was already fading. Soon the surface looked untouched. He noted the stand of reeds nearby, though he doubted the information would do them any good.

“We can forget about the ship,” Rei said. “Let me call for some help.” He tapped his wrist communicator, but the display stayed dark. “There’s no signal,” he muttered. “That makes no sense. Gravitic transmission should reach Asquarti without any trouble.”

“Maybe yours was damaged in the crash,” Rome replied. “I’ll check mine.” She tapped her wrist communicator, but her display stayed dark as well. She let out a brief burst of air.

“Nothing. Mine’s dead, too.”

“How about the PPT transceivers in your head?” Rei asked. “Can you reach the Overmind, or Pegus? Or even Aason?”

“I’ll try.” She touched her temple but only heard static. “I need a little space,” she said. She walked farther up the beach toward the crater wall, making sure she was completely in the clear. Then she put her finger to her temple again.

Rei watched her move away. A sudden clamp on his boot made him jerk his leg back. A tilapacuda had latched onto the tough composite. Reflexively, he swung the hammer down, smashing the creature and knocking it loose. Its two front fangs were now embedded in the boot’s heel. Rei bent over, yanked them free. He turned them in his hand, impressed by how sharp they were. He slipped them into his pocket then slid the hammer into a loop on his jumpsuit.

A sudden whooshing sound cut through the air. Rei looked up.

Movement flickered at the edge of his vision. Off to his right, two large shapes were swooping down. Their wings were birdlike, but the creatures themselves were far larger and more predatory than any bird he knew.

“Rome!” he shouted, but he was too late. One gigantic flying creature and another slightly smaller one dove at her, each grabbing her by a shoulder with their talons and lifting her off the ground.

“Rei!” she screamed as the creatures lifted her into the air. She struggled against their grip but couldn’t get free.

“Rome!” Rei shouted, running after her. The birds and his bride were already rising fast, climbing to the south and gaining altitude with every beat of their wings.

“Rome, Rome,” he shouted again, but he could only watch helplessly as the creatures carried her over a stand of willow trees, practically a small forest, until he lost sight of her.