And after millennia, some of these corridors had grown absolutely wild. Plants stacked so close together, craning for the artificial light, that it was nearly impossible to venture through it without a machete and an envirosuit.
And those two things weren’t easy to maneuver together.
“The air quality is toxic,” Moss intoned from Peat’s speaker. The tiny fox-dragon was hopping alongside them, finding much easier paths through the thick brush. “Do not remove your helmet. Captain Perrosk, I’m talking to you.”
Torian glanced sideways to see Amelia’s hands drop to her side. “I was just going totestit.”
“Oh, that’s a very bad idea,” Dutch said gleefully. He was having a much easier time, strolling behind Zenthielutos while the draic captain literally clawed the flora into submission. The nylarianwaved a hand at one of the purple plants nearby. “This is a zomast. It emits a powder when disturbed—”
Zen, also in an envirosuit, albeit a bulky one with even less maneuverability, sliced one of them. A puff of purple powder coughed into the air, and settled on his suit. He glanced at it, then back at Dutch.
Dutch stared, then cleared his throat. “—ah, yes. Like that. Without a suit, that powder eats right through—”
“Eats?” Zen began swatting at his shoulders, batting the dust off.
“It can hardly dissolve these suits,puatic,” Dutch tutted.
Zen paused. “Oh.”
“But what it does to your lungs? Eeesh. Anywho. This way!” Dutch pressed forward into the space Zen had cleared.
Lyric cleared their throat, yet again speaking over their headsets. “Ah, youarealmost there. Ten more paces forward. At least, according to Moss’s scan.” The mechanic had indeed packed up their entire workshop and relocated to Vaesa, and now delighted in helping them explore the space station… from the safety of theirnewworkshop.
Dealing with this voyage, Torian couldn’t blame them.
It took another sixteen minutes of cursing, cutting, and thrashing, but finally they made it through the jungle-like mess. Dutch keyed in the code to unlock the door.
(Plants could snake through energy barriers,he’d said when they first entered the corridor.Nylarian leaders decided doors were a better choice for separating biomes.)
(Amelia had replied,Just get it open,to which Dutch had stuck out his blue tongue.)
Now, Dutch hauled this door open, revealing aneven biggerjungle. “Inside, quickly.”
Zen stepped in first, grimacing as he stretched his arms out. His suit was exceedingly awkward, where they’d saved on materials by forcing his wings flush against his back. The result wasa thick, turtle-like shell that made the fearsome draic look… almost comical.
Amelia slid through next, then Peat followed. Torian drew up the rear, and Dutch closed the hatch behind them, locking it with certainty.
They stared at Biome 4, the first bio-dome they chose to explore. “I admit,” Torian said skeptically, “that I had higher hopes for this place after you said it could be the easiest to repurpose.”
“The fastest to repurpose,” Dutch corrected. “This biome has the closest ecosystem to Verdaan’s surface, or Rhymarra’s. But itisstill a jungle from the draics’ star system, which means it’s hot, humid, and vaguely deadly.”
“Can I breathe here?” Zen asked curiously.
Dutch waved it off, but Moss was the one who answered. “Not at the moment.” Peat leapt onto Torian’s shoulder, one of the places it had found to get the best view of their surroundings. Moss spoke through its speaker as the creature examined the dome curiously. “Scans indicate this biome has fallen out of balance and grown toxic. In another hundred years, everything will likely be dead.”
“Can you fix it?” Torian asked.
“I can fix anything,” Moss said. Peat added its own chirp to the mix, then hopped back to the ground, purring as it wound between Amelia’s legs.
She bent down to pet it through gloved hands. “Well, let’s get started. I want to take off this suit.” A dark mutter: “Could be traveling with my crew, butnooo, I wanted to stay and help Torian. Opula must be having a field day as acting captain.”
“She’s on a supply run,” Torian replied. “We’re exploring somewhere no one’s stepped for ages.”
Amelia offered a fond smile that made Torian’s heart flip. “Yeah, I don’t think I care about that as much as you do.”
Zen sighed. “At least your crew is coming back soon.”
Dutch patted his arm. “When the Empress calls—”
