Standing under it, I try to lift the pod up on one end to pour the blood out of the hatch. But while the pod is a hollow cylinder, the walls are coated in heavy ceramics, thick enough to handle an atmospheric entry without melting.
“That didn’t work,” I report. “We may have to use that pod only as a shelter in emergencies.”
I check on the radio beacon, which is still flashing. “Assuming the Gladiux is in this solar system, will they be able to pick up the signal?”
“I don’t know,”Bellatriz says. “Too many variables.”
Umbra checks with her AI. “They will. There aren’t any other radio sources here, except for cosmic radiation. The beacon isn’t powerful, but it should stand out to any spaceship.”
“Is that Virea telling you that?”Bellatriz asks. “I wouldn’t trust that Stone Age thing. She keeps doing strange things on some really unusual frequencies.”
“She’s never failed me so far,” Umbra says calmly. “And her name isVera. I’m surprised you haven’t been able to store that simple piece of information correctly, Bellatriz. Are you sureyou’renot the ‘Stone Age thing’?”
Bellatriz translates with an icy voice. “I may be ancient,”she adds. “But at least I’m not strapped to someone’s wrist like a simpletimekeeping device.”
There’s a loud, rude-sounding beep from Umbra’s AI, which I suspect contains a long, acid response.
Bellatriz gasps. “Dull blade?! Why you littlesundial, I’ll have you know?—”
I grab Bellatriz’s hilt loosely to shut her up. “Let’s not make enemies where there are only friends. Umbra, you have more training for this than I do. Should we build a shelter?”
Umbra thinks about it. “Looks like the sun is setting. The first thing we should do is to secure our position. We’re pretty exposed here.”
We spend a good amount of time building obstacles around Umbra’s pod. I cut down smaller trees with Bellatriz, against her loud protests, and heap them up in a loose, semi-circular barricade that should at least keep small predators out of the way. Umbra builds a simple shelter, basically a lean-to with a roof that I highly doubt will keep any rain out. But it’s not bad.
When we’re done, the sun is definitely setting and the jungle has become much darker. The beacon is still flashing steadily, showing no sign of its signal having been picked up.
Umbra builds a fire, and Bellatriz whines a great deal before she uses a strange effect of her phase-shifting ability to create a small, but intense ball of glowing, green plasma that lights it. Soon we have a good blaze going while we’re breaking open the first of the emergency rations.
The contents are bland and have a consistency that’s just on the tolerable side of disgusting.
“Tomorrow morning we’ll find some fruits,” I promise, making a face as I finish the pack after Umbra’s eaten her fill. “This stuff is really only for use in the most dire of emergencies, and I can’t imagine I’ll ever be in an emergency so bad that this becomes tempting.”
“It’s not fancy,” Umbra agrees, wiping her lips. “But if it keeps us alive, I won’t complain.”
The jungle is surprisingly noisy, even at night. There’s a constant rustle from the undergrowth, there are distant sounds of what may be large monsters fighting, there’s an occasional crack likea distant gunshot, and creatures up in the trees are making shrill shrieks.
Despite having Bellatriz in my belt for defense, I’m happy that we have the fire. “This is a lively planet.”
“Very,” Umbra agrees. “I’ve been to one jungle on Earth, and it was not like this. This place is lethal. You saved my life, Mareliux.”
I grab a stick and poke the fire. “From the monster? It seems likely. It was a big brute.”
“From the monster and from the Vyrpy. Up in the ship. I think they would have killed me.” She picks a straw and chews on its end.
Satisfied with the fire, I lean back on straight arms. “They wanted to kill both of us. Getting you away from the fight was the only thing that could work. I’ve fought Vyrpy many times, and I know how many I can handle on my own. Eight is too many. They can walk on walls and ceiling as easily as the ground. And they’re fast. They’re extremely hard to defend against. More so now than before, it seems to me.”
“You could have escaped the way we came. There was nothing in your way.”
“Is there a point to this?” I growl, not happy about the implications. Itisextraordinary that an Imperial prince risks his life for a relative nobody like Umbra. An alien, even. It’s not the easiest path to the Tentacle Throne. But the real reason is one I don’t want to think about right now.
She gives me a quick glance. “Just to say thank you. You’ve risked your life for me several times now.”
“And you’ve thanked me an equal number of times. So I’ll just say ‘you’re welcome’ once and for all. Now, see this?” I show her a dry little twig, then toss it on the fire. “Take it out of the fire using only Syntrix.”
“All right.” She straightens and stares at the twig.
I relax and reach out a little thread of Syntrix, sensing Umbra’s. I stay ready to sever that connection if it becomes too strong, like during the wedding.
