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One plant.

One creature.

One vial of altered water.

This was the whole thing living together. I could feel it now without drowning in it, and excitement returned hard enough that I had to stop myself from walking faster. My first deployment.

My first Rift.

Ahead of me, Alex was still complaining about the crates while Halver told him nobody cared. Corian walked at the front beside Dannian, already discussing the landing site, and Nykos moved several paces behind them.

Not alone.

That was new too. I had spent years imagining the day I finally left the Citadel for real, and every version of it had contained only me. I'd been wrong about that part and for once, I didn't mind.

Chapter Eight: Boop!

Jade

By the time the boat finally scraped against the narrow dock on the survey island, I had decided Water Rift boats were badly designed.

Not because anything was actually wrong with the boat. It had crossed the channel and inlets without sinking, which I understood was generally considered the most important requirement, and the two Aqua Battalion soldiers handling it seemed perfectly satisfied with the broad-bottomed vessel.

The problem was that it moved.

Constantly.

The water beneath us had spent the entire crossing lifting one side, lowering the other and occasionally tilting the whole boat just enough that my body prepared for a problem that never actually arrived. Alex had found this hilarious after noticing I had repositioned my feet four times during the first ten minutes.

I'd considered pushing him overboard. Dannian had informed me that the Water Rift contained several species likely to interpret that as a feeding opportunity, so I had postponed the idea.

For now.

I stepped onto the dock the moment Corian gave permission to disembark and resisted the urge to appreciate the fact the ground remained where it was supposed to be.

Broad leaves overlapped above my head, some large enough that several people could have stood beneath one without touching. Vines disappeared into the canopy, twisting around pale trunks streaked with blue-green moss, while tiny flowers grew from almost every available surface. Water collected in hollows between roots and moved through narrow channels beneath the ferns, clear enough that I could see flashes of silver fish before they vanished under floating leaves.

And life was everywhere. I could still feel it. The difference was that I had spent the boat journey practicing not feeling all of it at once. That had been less humiliating than needing Nykos to stand in front of me and remind me how breathing worked, although I had decided never to tell him that.

The others unloaded while I stood near the end of the dock and kept my awareness narrow. Myself first. Ashter around my wrist. The people nearest me. Then nothing further unless I deliberately reached for it.

Alex floated the first three research crates off the boat while one of Dannian's researchers watched him with the expression of someone who had just discovered an unlimited source of free labor.

"You've created a problem for yourself," I told him.

Alex kept one hand raised while another case drifted past his shoulder. "I was trying to be helpful."

"That was your first mistake."

"I thought friendship was supposed to make you more supportive."

"It has. Two weeks ago I would have let you discover this alone."

Halver stepped onto the dock behind us carrying his own pack and one of the researchers' waterproof cases.

Alex pointed at him. "See? He's helping."

Halver looked at the floating crates. "You don't need help."