“Stay still,” he placed his hand on her chest as she moved to get up. He smelled the tears in her eyes before they rolled down her cheeks. When Rylie settled back, he kissed her forehead.
Netto breathed her in and caressed her hair until the crease in her brow vanished.
“Is...it over?” she mumbled over the apparatus in her mouth.
“Shh, now. It will be soon. There’s a lot of damage and a lot of people hurt. The death count is climbing, Kepler has taken a significant hit to its population.” Netto located a cloth and began to clean the smut on her face. “We saved a lot.”
He fell into silence as he cleaned her up, taking care to avoid any skin that appeared raw. The dirt pulled free from the chemicals on the cloth and disintegrated into the air. With each slow swipe of his hand, her bronzed skin came back into view.
Rylie watched him.
“Fert Tech was the cause of the phosphates in the water, which increased the algae bloom in the area. The fertilizer they made went toward the crops for the local agriculture farms. And I think toward farms off Kepler’s surface. The increase in demand increased the run-offs.”
An android peered into the vehicle and Netto willed it away. He didn’t want his words to be recorded before he had contacted the EPED and Montihan.
“The amount in the water—although I haven’t analyzed it yet—was at devastating levels. It went unchecked or ignored for some time. Enough to affect the natural balance. Zeph is interrogating one of the CEOs. Everything came to a head when the algae attracted the attention of those creatures on the other side of the barrier.” Netto ran his tongue over the points of his teeth. “It’s the only explanation I have. My only guess.” He took hold of Rylie’s hand and cleaned her palm. He lifted it to his lips and kissed the clean surface.
“If it wasn’t for your father contacting us...”
She muttered something then sighed, giving in to the breather attached to her face.
Netto continued when she gave in.
“More would have died. When we fixed the module, those creatures that were stuck on our side gravitated toward the overgrowth. The phosphate irritated me, and I have cells that filter toxins. I can’t imagine what it did to them.”
Rylie closed her eyes tight before reopening them. She gripped the breather and pulled it out. Netto didn’t stop her but instead helped her sit up as she coughed up phlegm.
“I hate those things.”
“Everyone does,” he held her hair back. “But you took in a lot of toxins. The drip clears your systems, it’s not meant to be comfortable.”
“I’ll put it back in in a few,” she conceded with another cough. “I only want a couple of minutes. The android said I wasn’t poisoned.”
“No, but the air is still thick.”
Netto got up and closed the door to the vehicle before he returned to her side. He adjusted the settings to filter and sanitize.
“Are Janet and Da okay?”
“Yes, they’re still at the colony.”
Rylie wrapped her arms around her middle and sat forward. One of her hands rose to cup her throat and massage her trachea. “My throat tickles, ech.”
“So does mine,” he smiled until her lips lifted. For once, for several moments there was nowhere else he needed to be but with her and vice versa. He wanted to enjoy her smiles.
“Will Fert Tech pay for what it did?”
“Yes, and more.”
“More?”
“They’ll go to trial and their off-world licenses will be reviewed, possibly terminated, and those that were responsible to report to the government will be interrogated. There was negligence. It’s up to the EPED to figure who the guilty parties are.”
“Good. I hope they're dealt with,” Rylie sniffled. Netto ran his hand up and down her back; he couldn’t stop touching her. He never wanted to stop touching her. Amongst the corruption and death, the fire and blood, he found her and, although he was worse for wear, exhausted in his own right, he was happy.
Happy when no one else was.
“Yes.”
