FALAHA'S JOURNEY 2: Graveyard of the Gods

Episode #4

Gal Runagh was a massive ship, made to carry a crew of thousands. I observed its shiny black hull of the vertices from afar, standing on one of the stones at the side of the landing site. Tagai skillfully completed the dive and secured the ship on the flat rocks of the vast plateau.

"All set for the temporary camp," Baro said, standing below my rock. "Looks impressive. You Danna sure like to camp in style." We observed both Bradohs heading for the cargo gates. Zero-Two turned to me and waved the machine's arm. I replied the same.

"Better than some flimsy tent," I said. "Nothing beats the good old ship-turned-base for exploration."

"Hey, I lived some time in a tent, wasn't that bad."

"That's because you were young and stubborn back then. You could have stayed with Tarrenat and his parents."

"Oh, please, not you too." He laughed. "Besides, you can't change the past."

"True." I jumped down and landed on my feet, rising dust. "But I wouldn't even try to. I like how you turned out."

"Thanks, I guess."

"Do you feel comfortable in this gravity? It's close to what we had on Dannan. You were built for a lighter world, and we kept your settings in the ship's gravity field, but we had to switch to similar environment before we started our mission for you Medans to adapt."

"Nothing I can't survive. I don't think I will have any health problems with active soma. I heard no complaints from the others either."

"Good."

"As long as any of the Eaters won't press me into the bed or any other furniture with all their masses." He laughed again.

I nodded. "It's an alien world. Surely it will set them into romantic mood at some point."

"It's inevitable."

"Haven't you been practicing this for the whole period of adaptation? Come, lets observe our planetary scientist team on their first venture into the unknown." I started walking towards the ship. Baro followed. "They have been waiting for this since the beginning of our journey."

After some time of walking, even before we approached the cargo gates, we saw Asa and her spouses in space suits jumping out onto the dusty rocks. Following them, Tarrenat drove out a compact gear.

"They don't plan to sit tight," Baro commented.

"They have their own schedule for exploration. As long as it is within our mission limits, they are free to do as they please."

As soon as Asa saw me approaching, she waved her hand.

"Mission Specialist, Asa Sorenen kennar Kljvk, reporting for duty," she shouted, ignoring her Node. Surely, she got this habit from her men and her new kennar.

"Going for a ride?" I asked.

"We'll look around a bit, before doing any field work," Goto said. "Dad prepared the gear for us, so we can go." Tarrenat nodded. Being a full-bodied man, the suit severely accentuated this trait of his. Still, he was a healthy, strong man, having hard muscle mass in his core under that fat belly. Ato and Goto were more like their mother, Neve, though not as lean, tough and wiry as Baro. "Won't take long, so don't start the meal without us."

"You have an hour," I replied. "And don't get into trouble."

"We're taking Orewen with us," Asa said.

"That's more reasonable, than running off on your own."

"Come on, Falaha, we're scientists, not small children. Highest alert, combat ready."