“Probables,” he said, jerking Nenn to the side.
“Am I that predictable?”he asked, twisting to meet Aehort’s solid-black gaze.
“Yes, but do not be offended.We find comfort in the familiar.”
There was wisdom in that even when the habit was harmful or dangerous like pock jumping.Not for the last time did Nenn think about Tugo and how his friend was doing.The symbiotes would flood him with knowledge the moment he stepped foot on Qaldreth.Until then, he had to remain in the dark.That alone had been hard to deal with as if he’d been severed from everything he knew and cast into silence.
Caah skimmed the shuttle along flat fields of white.In the distance, a hazy silver-blue marked mountains.The sight was breathtaking.Having seen only Erasril and Ivoy, this landscape was beyond Nenn’s ability to imagine.Beauty was in the shades of white and blues, in the crevices slicing across the ice sheets, in the deep blue of the cliffs descending into the abysses.He doubted magma sat at the bottom.Only freezing water, more ice, or the depths of hell awaited the unfortunate.Still, he’d descend one of those if given the chance.
“The good news is that the…pod is at the base of a mountain,” Caah called across his shoulder.“You need not go far to find something to climb, Nenn.”
“You are not serious,” Ulvus spat, settling his yellow gaze on Nenn.
“Sava, you will guard the shuttle,” Drafe said, his tone calm.
Ulvus scowled.His eyes darkened to amber.He opened his mouth to speak, but Caah touched the shuttle down.It skidded for a bit, scraping the underbelly.
“Sorry,” he said.“The heat from the re-entry caused a slick landing.”
They jerked to a halt with a sickening crunch.
He slapped the console, and as the door opened, he leaped to his feet.“The air is breathable,” he said, winced, then hurried out.“And cold,” he called.
Nenn shivered at the blast of frigid winds swirling through the shuttle.He double-tapped the nodule in his neck to form a shield that would last for two hours.When it covered his body, heat flowed over his skin and summoned a moan.He unstrapped and trailed Aehort who glided across the snow without leaving more than his footprints behind.Drafe crunched beside them.Not even ten meters away sat a red object.
Drafe stared at it, then squatted to examine it.“It does resemble the pod in the Senate.”He scanned their surroundings.“It splintered upon impact.Spread out, Vaen, Caah, Nenn; find the other pieces.”
Nenn headed toward the mountain, his calls merging with the others when they located anything red.Until he found a body.
“Drafe, over here.”Nenn removed his med-dev and ran it over the crumpled and stiff corpse.“The readings are as per the archives.This one is male.It appears he was dead before the pod crashed.”
“How would you know that?”Vaen asked, leaning over Nenn’s shoulder.
“No blood around his body.Had he died after impact, he would have bled out from his injuries.”Nenn withdrew his ceremonial dagger and sliced the body’s arm.“They bleed red.”He parted the flesh to show anyone curious.Then with a nod, he sheathed his dagger.
“Interesting.”Aehort hummed.“Once you have gathered the information, you may attempt to climb.”
Nenn stilled.Attempt?He raised his chin to study the summit of ice towering before him.From left to right, he searched for footholds, any ridge he could crimp.A few shone through in a solid black stone he couldn’t name.But to reach those, he had to get through a meter or two of icicles formed along the bottom.
Excitement charged his heartbeat.He splayed his fingers across the ice and felt nothing, no cold, no texture.With a scowl, he double-tapped his nodule, dismissing the shield.The cold seeped into him within seconds.Under his touch, the chill stung his fingertips.
“Summon your armor.”Vaen asked, “Want a step up?”
Nenn did as instructed and urged his symbiotes to solidify across his skin.They kept a little of the wind at bay and still allowed him to register the textures beneath his touch.With his dagger in hand, he stabbed the ice at knee-height to form a toe-hold.Up he climbed, slower than he would’ve liked.Worse, what lay ahead was an overhang of icicles he couldn’t see a path over.On either side were thinner, sharper spires he doubted would bear his weight.
His arms burned, and his armor flickered like his symbiotes were failing.Exhaustion shot along his back and settled at the base of his spine.He glanced down and frowned.His males and Aehort had returned to the shuttle to await him.The door was shut, too.
He’d need more than an hour, and perhaps an ax or a pick would be beneficial.Spikes on the tip of his boots would also speed this up.Failure bowed his shoulders.Yet another climb he couldn’t complete.
This time because of lack of preparation.
He hung by one hand to return the dagger to his belt, then he shoved off the rock, planning on using his power boots.Aehort had said to wear them.How much did that male discern?Probables, he’d said.Didn’t that mean statistics?And Nenn didn’t know anyone else who climbed like he did.So what data was out there on this?
In midair, his boots remained deactivated.He shouted, flailing as he plummeted.In a panic, he slammed his heels together.One spluttered then shot him upward in an uncontrolled spiral.He spun; his vision was white-blue-snow-sky.If he didn’t learn how to fly with one boot, he’d crash land beside the corpse.
Taking a deep breath, he pressed his heels together to center the propulsion.Then he threw out his arms until he stabilized.Once he had that stabilized, he tilted to the left and rolled.Again, he settled himself, praying to Osnir that his power boot would last.With a gentler tilt, he veered toward the shuttle, a dark speck on the horizon.
He was coming in too fast.If he switched off the blast too soon, he’d hit the ground hard.He swooped and dipped until he was a meter above the snow.Preparing for the worst, he tapped his heels and dropped the moment the thrust ended.
