Cassio and Halley’s antics weren’t going to ruin this for her.
At least that’s what she tried to tell herself as she stomped deeper into the mistforest, immediately consumed by the perpetual low-hanging fog, sweat beading on her skin. The artificial atmosphere generator kept their campsite blessedly cool, but out here in the elements she felt truly alive.
Like she was one with the flora and fauna.
The team had been making preparations for weeks, scanning the forest floor to find the dormant orb glows, crystalline seeds buried underneath layers of bioluminescent moss and absorbing cosmic radiation. They were studying other plants too, of course, but the pièce de résistance would be theLumaria vitellus.
There wasn’t much of a clear administration on Thitis 4X, not compared to the expansive galactic government she was used to, but they’d been given a special dispensation to seek out the orb glows and collect spores by the Oslieths, an intelligent humanoid species that called this planet home.
Masses of Oslieths had been wandering around the transpo center in Aerumi—the city closest to their mission site—when they had arrived on theirship, the humanoid appearance and ultraviolet skin a dead giveaway. It always surprised Gemini how similar some extraterrestrial species looked to each other, though convergent evolution was as good an explanation as any.
Aside from the purple-blue skin, most of the Oslieths looked quite human; bipedal, two arms, slightly larger than the average person, but not by much. They wore a variety of clothing, but comparable enough to styles back on Earth, more skewed toward simple silhouettes and jewel-toned fabrics.
Some of the Oslieths were unique, easily seven feet tall with two strange tentacle-like appendages extruding from what appeared to be their upper backs, waving behind their bodies like extra arms. Others seemed abnormally small, though she was certain they weren’t children, often seen in the company of one of the tentacled behemoths.
The FLOW knew little about Oslieth culture, just that they were relatively peaceful and eager to trade with the hundreds of species within the galactic government’s purview, but unwilling to join. A diplomat had greeted the team and got them set up with the supplies they’d ordered, and after a day in a swanky Aerumi hotel, they were off into the depths of the Lumeris Mistforest.
A deep breath escaped her as she ambled through the glade they’d spent much time in, fern-likeMinima arboreusbrushing against her bare legs.She was careful not to stomp on any of the delicate plants with her heavy boots, the little glowing yellow lights at the apex of each leaf lighting her way.
The sounds from the campsite were long gone, and the serenity of the mistforest lay before her.
The sky was mottled out here on the edges of deep space, purples and blues and reds, unfamiliar stars dotting the swirls of galaxies. It was awe-inspiring, so unlike anything she’d ever experienced. A person would be lucky to see a single star through the smog of Neuroplex Prime, one of the largest cities on Earth and the home of NovaFlora Headquarters.
Here, she was surrounded by the most magnificent vegetation, things beyond her wildest dreams.
A strange aroma wafted past her nose, strange only because it was new, though she had spent many days out here in the forest. It had the crisp, refreshing scent of pine, though there weren’t any conifers in this area, as far as she knew. And the smell was strong, sharp and resinous, like she’d been dropped in the middle of a candle factory that made only one delicious scent.
She found herself following the aroma, wandering until it began to grow stronger and continuing on in that direction.
Was there a patch of conifers somewhere around here? It was one of her favorite scents, reminding her of the coziness of winter even though she was in themiddle of a stifling forest during this planet’s version of summer.
As Gemini came out into a small clearing, she paused, an intriguing plant in front of her. It had a bulbous red base—like a pincushion or a sea urchin without its spines—which was about the size of an apple with a long, black stem protruding from the top. A sharp, dagger-like pistil poked out viciously from a ring of glittering red petals, the dangerous appearance intriguing her as she bent down to examine it.
Gemini grabbed her field notebook and pen, jotting down some notes and a quick sketch. She preferred her initial study to be on paper, the physicality of her words being etched onto something real and not just typed into a console that would pop up with suggestions no matter how many times she tried to turn those features off.
She wanted her first thoughts to be her own, untainted by artificial intelligence in any way. And beyond that, there was something so quaint about having all of her original notes together like that, her initial impressions that had nothing to do with how the plants could make NovaFlora money.
After each away mission, she scanned her notebooks into her console, spending time cleaning up her initial sketches and adding color. Combined with her photos, she had an extensive collection of botanical studies like the old almanacs and fieldguides from Earth that she loved to check out at the digital library.
She dreamt of creating her own botanical diary someday, a compilation of her studies complete with handwritten notes and drawings. As she finished up her sketch, she put her notebook away, crouching down once more to take a photo with her AnaCam.
Before she had a chance, a crack echoed through the forest like a gunshot, and she jumped up, the plant completely forgotten. Her eyes darted around the area to see what had made the noise, a line of bushes a short distance away obscuring much of the view.
When had it gotten so dark? She could no longer hear Halley’s annoying laugh, though she couldn’t be that far from camp. How long had she been walking?
Gemini glanced at her wrist out of habit, only to realize she hadn’t brought her comm. Fuck. She’d taken it off to shower, her nightly ritual after a sweaty day in the field, and in her rush for some alone time she’d left it at camp.
There weren’t supposed to be any large predators in this sector, though, of course, that was based on what little information they had about the planet. It was still a bit of a mystery here on the outskirts of the Fringe, and as a strange yelp pierced the night air, she made her decision.
Run.
Gemini took off into the forest, but it wasdifficult to see with only the satellite to light her way. Probably a bad decision, knowing there were some animals you weren’t supposed to run from, but it was like her prey instincts had kicked in and all she could think about was escaping.
She held her arms up as she sprinted, trying to avoid getting smacked in the face with a rogue branch, though she should have been more concerned with what was on the ground. Her ankle gave out as her foot came down hard on a crooked root, and she tumbled to the forest floor in a heap.
A sharp pain radiated up her leg, her wrists tender where they had collided with the hard dirt. She was flat on her stomach, quickly flipping onto her ass and grabbing her booted foot as she tried to see anything in the darkness.
If she got eaten by some vicious alien beast because of Halley and Cassio, oh, she would most definitely haunt them.
