Far from the turmoil of crumbling mines and the shattered promises therein, two men walked beside each other near the gray waters of the South Atlantic. To their left, the sun descended behind thin, speckled clouds, as the gleaming city of Florianopolis came alive for the night. This destination was the reason Sohrab hadn’t been able to join Nash and the others on their most recent venture. He’d been ordered by his boss, Max, to help Vito out on a little encounter with one of their Earth-based suppliers, just in case things weren’t adding up, of course. Though he was beginning to wish he hadn’t come. Something was wrong that he couldn’t put into words, not with the situation, for it was typical enough, but rather with himself. They hadn’t landed but a few hours ago and he was already itching to leave, unsure if the feeling would follow him or not.

  “Heads I do it, tails I don’t. What say you?” The doe-eyed Earthling proposed, holding a golden coin up to his companion’s face.

  “You’ll do it, no matter what that thing tells you.” Sohrab pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Much like this pointless trudge up the beach, Vito’s chatter served only to drain him.

  “Oh, come on,” the Human teased, flipping the coin, and catching it in his hand over and over. His eyes followed its glittering form up and down with all the wonder of a child. “Where’s your sense of adventure?”

  “One of your filthy ocean birds must have carried it off… And – and just how long is this supposed to take tonight?” Sohrab stopped in the muddy sand and gazed towards the city, prompting Vito to do the same.

  “I don’t know, isn’t that what you’re supposed to figure out, Mr. Psychic?”

  “I swear you must be deaf sometimes…” Sohrab winced, rubbing his temple. “…I can’t literally tell the future, I only read minds.” “Only… that’s rich. As if anyone else he knows can ‘only’ do that.”

  “Okay then, Rapunzel. What am I thinking now?” Vito cautioned a lurid glance at Sohrab.

  “Even here, so far away from anyone else, you’d be ashamed for me to say it out loud,” he seethed, passing his associate by to escape the creeping tide. His scorn was met with silence. Sohrab almost regretted it. Like a cat with a moth, it didn’t serve him to swat too hard at his plaything, but it was the only response he could muster. The building sense of unease chased him in waves, punctuated by an undercurrent of mild to moderate doom. He walked on towards the city, not bothering to turn back, assured of the fact that Vito would slink behind him at a respectable distance. There was nothing more to be said until the meeting that night, anyway. “If I even get that far,” he wondered, unsure if it was his stomach, bones, or withered brain stem that ached more.

  #

  At the same approximate time, another sun rose over a different beach. The crystal aqua waters glittered as golden light illumined the shores of one of Cuanerel’s few islands, while an imported colony of dolphins chirped over the sound of the gentle waves. It wasn’t absolutely necessary for the disheveled five to stop here before heading back to Celhesru with their tails between their legs, that much had been made perfectly clear before the endeavor began. Though now, in light of the darkness they’d witnessed, the detour’s purpose shone brighter than the dawn over their landing.

  The ship touched down on the same seaborn platform all besides Mia had visited before. It was a mercy for the Human that Grapefruit Morrocco and Dale Painapple were nowhere to be seen that morning. Though, he briefly scanned the site for their faces when he and the others emerged. Part of him felt shame over his earlier behavior, and another part of him still found it funny. He tamped down this baser impulse and treated the station chief and ground crew with dignity and respect as he arranged for service on the Stardust and procured a boat to take them to the nearby coastline. These were his responsibilities for the time being, as Nash still wasn’t fully online. She followed along in a daze, still disquieted by the things she had seen and heard.

  Soon, they reclined by the shore, staring solemnly at the waves, dressed for a vacation but not at all ready to act like it. Kory, in particular detested the sun dress she wore. It was the one she had to fight the eel in. Countless washes had weakened its once robust shade of vermillion, but nothing could rid her of the memory of the smell.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  As the day grew hotter, Greg was the only one who ventured into the sea. Without a word to the others, he fixed his eyes on the horizon and walked into the waves fully clothed until his shoulders were covered. He dunked his head below the surface for a moment, then re-emerged, only to repeat the process a few more times.

  “What’s he doing?” Kory drawled.

  Like her sister, Mia was more content to fry on the sand than enter the water. “Who cares,” she moaned, feigning indifference. She and the rest watched in silence as the Earthling muttered something unknowable to the sky. His words were too quiet to hear, especially now that the din of a primitive out-board motor was approaching.

  When the little craft was upon them, Greg had no choice but to play the hand he had drawn for himself. He swam out further to meet the boat, which slowed to a crawl some thirty yards offshore. Inside was a Human man, part of Cuanerel’s community of foreign expats who made a living on what little land the aquatic planet had to offer. The strange fellow reached down over the edge to help pull Greg aboard. For a while the two sat across from one another, having a perfectly regular conversation, one dry, and the other soaking wet, as if naught were amiss. After a few technical matters were exchanged, they proceeded to pleasantries, followed by the knowing laughter that underpinned a shared understanding. The boat pulled in closer to the shore and its captain greeted the others with a wave and a friendly shout.

  “What did he say?” Kory said, still unmoving from the hot sand.

  “Ahroi?” Nash proposed, unsure herself of the other Earthling’s greeting. It was the first word she’d said since they’d left the collapsing mine.

  “You’ll have to pardon my friends,” Greg said in jest to the other man. “They don’t love to swim like I do.”

  “I don’t think anybody loves it like you do, buddy.” He said, looking the sopping wet guest up and down.

  Greg ignored the slight and called out to the group. “You guys, this is a business partner of mine, Ron Drangus. He and I were just discussing a little… what was it Ron?”

  “…a distribution –”

  “A distribution deal for his wine at my course’s club house. It’s going to be great! He owns a little vineyard on the coast here and he’s invited us to come chill with him for a while.” Greg pointed up the beach to a gentle hill where a cluster of Mediterranean styled buildings overlooked sloping rows of grapes. Turning to Ron, he lowered his voice and said, “I know they seem a little prickly now, but like any cacti, they’ll bloom when watered.”

  #

  After three more days the five disembarked in the port of Cinnfoara. It was noontime on an early spring day, and a crisp breeze blew through the open bay doors of the massive hangar the Stardust called home. The faint scent of shu’lua blossoms hung on the air, enlivening the spirits of the passengers who came and went hither and yon.

  Greg, his arms heavily laden with a wooden crate full of clinking bottles, was the first to leave the ship, not so gently prodded by Mia who was desperate to be anywhere else. He must have turned back five times to ask Nash if she needed help. After him came Zol, who said little, as always, but looked over his shoulder at least once to see if anything was amiss. Kory followed. She wanted to stay behind, but was shooed away by the one she wished to comfort. The sadness in Kory’s eyes betrayed a knowledge neither she nor her friend could speak on. She’d heard the muffled sobs from Nash’s room in the dead of night, when they were supposed to be asleep. But by the time the ship’s artificial morning came she was back to herself again, assuming the mantle of leadership and smoothing it all over, as usual.

  With one last pained smile, Kory bade Nash farewell for the time being, urging her not to take too long ‘wrapping things up.’ Walking down the center row of the hangar, a troubling idea entered her mind. “How do I know she’s not turning right back around without us to go get whatever that parasite promised?” She shook the notion and soldiered on, hoping to be wrong. To her relief, she was, though she would not learn it until several hours later, after Nash cemented an equally unsavory alliance.

  Nash was honest about staying to ‘wrap things up.’ Greg’s term as pilot had done a number on her preferred operating settings and she didn’t want to have to reset everything the next time they flew. Though she was grateful he’d stepped in competently without being asked. “It’s always nice to have help from someone I don’t have to spell everything out for.” The thought no sooner came and went when she spied the next phase in her plan as she left the ship at last. “Speaking of…”