It was a vehicle of some kind. Low to the ground, with a narrow body that curved upward in the front like the prow of a ship. Where wheels should have been, there were two thick spheres covered in chunky treads. They looked like they could rotate in any direction. The whole thing was sleek and dark, with a seat long enough for two people and handles that swept back like wings.
This must have been why we met here, at the storage outbuilding. I hadn’t been expecting to travel on a vehicle like this.
Iris saw me approaching and straightened, turning toward me with a nod that was almost perfunctory. “You’re on time.”
“I try to be.” I stopped beside the vehicle, studying it with open curiosity. “What is this thing?”
“It came with the diplomatic transport and I requested it be left, among some other supplies and equipment. The D’tran allowed us to put up this small, temporary outbuilding for it all.” She rested one hand on the vehicle’s curved body. “But this beauty is called a Raycer. Riding it will be more efficient than walking.”
“Efficient,” I repeated. The word sat oddly in my mind. I’d been prepared for a long trek across rough terrain. I’d packed accordingly, my supplies organized for a full day on foot. Her pack, I noticed, was considerably smaller than mine. Perhaps I’d overpacked.
“I wanted to make sure the trip wasn’t too much,” she added.
I felt a flicker of something that might have been offense. I was in excellent shape. She’d seen me handle the mountain climb without difficulty. Did she think I couldn’t manage a day’s hike across the valley?
Then I looked at her face. What little I could see of it beneath the hat and behind the glasses. Her expression was neutral, as always, but there was something in the set of her shoulders that suggested practicality rather than judgment. She wasn’t questioning my fitness. She was just…being efficient. Getting us to the objective faster, with less wasted energy.
It was, I realized, exactly the kind of thinking I should have expected from her.
“Makes sense,” I said, pushing down my initial reaction. “How does it work?”
“Get on behind me and I’ll show you.”
She swung her leg over the seat with practiced ease, settling into the front position with her hands on the winglike handles. The seat behind her was clearly meant for a passenger, with small grips on either side and indentations for feet.
I took a breath and climbed on.
The seat was narrower than I’d expected. To fit properly, I had to tuck my thighs around hers, my knees pressing against the outside of her legs. The position was intimate. Close enough that I could feel the warmth radiating from her body despite the cool morning air.
Her hair was pulled back in its usual tight braid, but this close, I could smell it. The scent was confusing. Blaster ozone and flowers. Sharp and sweet, technological and natural, all mixed together in a combination that shouldn’t have worked but somehow did. It was distinctly her.
The small pack she wore pressed against my chest, providing at least some barrier between us. I was grateful for it. Being thisclose to her was distracting in ways I didn’t want to examine too closely.
“Tuck your arms in close,” she instructed. “The energy shield will keep you stable, but you’ll be more comfortable if you’re not fighting it.”
I pulled my elbows in, resting my hands on my own thighs. Something told me she wouldn’t appreciate me holding onto her.
She touched something on the console and the Raycer hummed to life. The sound was a deep, resonant purr that I felt more than heard, vibrating up through the seat and into my bones. Blue lights flickered across the control surface, and then something shimmered into existence around us. The energy shield wrapped around the vehicle like a bubble, invisible except for a faint distortion at the edges.
The shield felt like a warm wall pressing gently against me from all sides. Not confining, exactly, but present. Supportive. It would keep us steady, even at high speeds, I understood. Keep us from being thrown off when the vehicle turned or accelerated.
“Ready?” Iris asked.
Before I could answer, she hit the accelerator.
The Raycer shot forward with a force that pressed me back against the rear of the seat. The rollerballs beneath us spun with impossible smoothness, carrying us over the path and through the gap in the wall with barely a vibration. Forest blurred past on either side, and then we were racing toward the dark mouth of the tunnel that cut through the mountainside.
I took a deep breath and tried to relax.
This was new. I’d traveled on Solas my entire life. The massive living ships that moved through space with a grace that belied their size. I’d been in escape pods and transport vessels. I’d been on stolen Brakken vehicles that stunk of death and horror as my species fought for our lives in a war that nearly ended us. I knew sensations of acceleration and artificial gravity.But this was different. This was speed I could feel in my gut, rushing air that the energy shield barely contained, ground that flew beneath us at a pace that made my heart race.
Part of me was in awe. The technology was impressive, the sensation exhilarating. Another part of me, a larger part than I wanted to admit, was afraid. Not of Iris’s skill as an operator. She handled the Raycer with quiet competence. But of the sheer velocity, the nearness of the ground, the rocks and debris that flashed by close enough to touch.
Then we plunged into the tunnel and everything went dark.
I tensed, my hands gripping my thighs hard enough to leave marks. The blackness was absolute, swallowing even the blue glow of the console. I couldn’t see the walls of the tunnel, couldn’t judge how close they were, couldn’t tell if we were about to crash into an obstacle that Iris hadn’t noticed.
Then I leaned forward, peering over her shoulder, and saw the display.
