I stare out at the waters of the ocean, numb with
shock.
There's lots about this world that's different, of course, but
there's also so much that's the same. Snow is snow. Mountains
are mountains. Rocks are rocks. And back where we were, the
landscape was nothing but snow and rocks covered by snow. It
didn't look so foreign, at least not to my eyes.
But this beach?
This is alien. This is otherworldly.
This is downright creepy.
The ship made it between the valleys of the jagged mountains
surrounding us and has come out to the water's edge. The long
ramp extends out into the sand, but the ship itself is already in
the water itself, resting on a tripod of legs that look like they
should be sturdier than they are to withstand the slamming of
the weird ocean.
And boy, is the ocean weird.
The water's black. Not a comforting sea foam green or even
blue-green. It's deep, charcoal-black and the froth that curls
along each wave is black as well. The sand is a dark, almost
jade colour and the grit is thicker than I seem to recall it being
on earth. It smells like the ocean, at least, even if it doesn't
look like it. The waves are chaotic, too. I recall summer
vacations spent at the Florida beaches when I was a teenager,
and being disappointed that the waves were so tepid that you
couldn't ride them like surfers did on television. They were
gentle, refreshing little waves.
Not here. These monstrous waves are chaotic and angry. They
crash and slam onto the beach as if trying to punish it. I know
that has something to do with the pull of two moons instead of
just one, but it's alarming to see.
And the creatures.
God, there are creatures everywhere. The crabs look more like
scorpions and the waves undulate with tentacled, serpentine
things. And lucky me! my vision has corrected itself enough
that I can see them in all of their glory. This is not a friendly
place. Somehow, when I heard we'd be taking the ship to the
ocean, I thought of white sandy beaches and rolling gentle
waves. Even if it's snowy, it'd still be lovely and comforting to
look at.
Yeah, not so much.
But…there are birds. It's not
quite like home, but seeing the birds somehow makes me feel
better. Watching them always calms me. It's interesting how
creatures here are similar to the ones at home but still wildly
different. The bird in the waves looks like a strung-out pale
cousin to a flamingo, but its beak looks more like a razor blade.
The crabs here are similar but creepier. The ocean is water, but
not quite the same as ours.
The people here…same thing.
"Well, this is…different." Harlow moves to my side, gazing out
at the water. She hugs her fur wraps closer to her chest as the
strange bird in the waves wanders away from us. She absently
kicks a tiny crab scorpion away from her boot. "I don't recall
the beach looking so very…spidery."
"Me either." I watch as one of the plate-sized spider-like crabs
scuttles nearer to the water. Something with tentacles reaches
out and snags it, dragging it into the waves, and I shudder.
"Good thing it's too cold to swim, huh?"
"Good thing," she echoes, agreeing, then glances over at me.
"Kyros says he wants you to help salvage some of the equipment
if you've got time."
Kyro's one of the big blue dragons, with tattoos and silver
horns. He looks very different from the others, and I think
someone mentioned that he was part of the crew on the ship
a long time ago. There are so many layers and backstories that a
newcomer like me is doing good just to keep names and faces
straight, so I try to focus on that sort of thing. I do know that
he knows a lot about the ship, and I know he and Theodora have
been working hard to strip components and small bits here and
there before the entire thing goes up in a blaze of glory at the
beach.
Seeing as how we're now at the beach, I guess it's close to
fireball time. "Sure, I can help. I don't know if I'll have an
idea of what I'm looking at, though. I'm not up on my
spaceship knowledge."
"Me either. I think he just wants extra hands. The other big
coloured dragon-guys are off hunting or setting up tents. Or caves. Or
something." Harlow makes a face. "God, I hope it's not tents
because I don't know if I'm going to be able to sleep on the
ground knowing those spider-scorpion things are around."
"Great. Now I'm not going to be able to sleep," I tease as we
turn back toward the ship. I can't resist one last look back at
the waves and I see the white bird dip its head under the water
and pull out something slimy. It glances over in my direction
and pauses, and I feel an absurd urge to wave to it like it's
giving me permission to live on its planet.
Stupid of me. It's just a bird at the end of the day. I'm stuck
here whether he wants me to be or not. But I'm smiling as I
follow Harlow back to the ship, anyway.
Inside, it's surprisingly quiet. For the last few days, there've
been people on top of people. Kyros told us that the ship
normally has just a four-man crew and I believe it. While it
seems large from the outside, the interior living quarters are
actually kind of cramped. You can't pass shoulder-to-shoulder
down a hall with one of the big dragons inside, not without
someone having to scuttle out of the way. Today, though, most
of the tribe is outside on the beach or away hunting, and the
place feels surprisingly empty.
Kyros is in the cargo bay, his back to us. He stands off to one
side, by the lid of one of the coffin-like pods we awoke from.
He's got a shining tool in his hand that reminds me of a
screwdriver and is using it to pry one of the circuit boards
apart. "I brought an extra pair of hands," Harlow announces.
Maria peeps over the edge of one of the coffins and smiles at
me, then ducks back to work. I grin at her, and then look over
at Kyros.
"Hi," I say with a timid wave when the big dragon glances at
me. I always think Kyros is one of the most intimidating of
the dragons. He's one of the tallest, and his horns are covered
with gleaming metal. One side of his body is heavily tattooed,
and I heard a rumour that he's part cyborg, though I can't tell
what part. That makes him a little scary. Then again, most of them are scary, even if
they're doing their best to seem nice. It's just taking me some
time to get used to things.
"Good, another pair of hands. I need all I can get, because
Domitrius wants to get this ship launched and underwater by the
end of the day today. That means I've got to get everything
powered down and taken apart in the next few hours and
time's wasting."
I roll up the sleeves of my long tunic. "Show me what to do."
Harlow claps her hands. "I'll go grab lunch and then I'll come
back and help."
She dashes off, and as she does, I lean in and watch Kyros
pry a tiny golden, three-pronged chip from one of the panels.
"I need as many of these as you can find. If you pry up this
layer of circuitry, you'll see that there are four on this level
and three on the next. With twenty of these pods, that should
give us one hundred and forty of them. Think you can do that
for me?"
"I think so," I tell him, and take the tool he hands me. He
walks away and I'm left on my own to get started. Oh, okay.
That's all the training I get. Well, all right. I size up the room
and decide to start by the far wall. One of the coffins is pushed
up against the side of the ship, and the panel I need is naturally
on the part I can't get to from the accessible side. I try to push
the coffin away from the wall, but it weighs more than I do
and if there were rollers on it, they've been stripped down or
turned off. At any rate, it's not budging. All right, then. I climb
atop the coffin and slide down the opposite side, my butt
wedged against the wall, against a bar and what looks like a
closed window. I bend over and start to pry the compartment
open.
"Wait! Mar, don't!"
I glance up. Is he talking to me?
"May," Maria corrects quietly. "Her name is Maylissa."
"Sorry. It's a lot to remember," he says, racing over to my side.
"How do you think we feel?" I blurt out.
Kyros laughs and shakes his head. "Sorry. I'm sure it's
worse for you guys. You're fine. It's just, don't lean against
that wall. I've stripped the escape hatch mechanism." He pats
the bar my butt was resting against. "If you push down on this,
the entire panel could open up and dump you into the water
below."
Eek. I guess that closed window wasn't a window but a hatch.
"It's almost like this dragon technology is dangerous," I say
dryly.
He laughs, surprised and pleased at my attitude. "Almost.