Opalina Outpost

Chapter 21 /Part 2/

The next day was barely better than the first, but at least Ravi smiled at him and worked beside him so that their shoulders kept brushing while they were sorting the rest of the supplies. The second day was even a bit better than that, because Jossen unearthed the waffle iron and Lio got to make a production of licking cream off a spoon while Ravi tried not to look at him. On the third day in the camp, Yorune started humming again. By the fifth day, she and Rosareen were debating where to establish a succulent garden.

Ravi pestered Archcom Huseda daily for updates, and the ziggurat commander must've felt at least some shred of guilt for their situation, because she granted Duhar's request for an outrageous sim machine and shipped it and all its accompanying gadgets to the camp the next day. Eight days in camp, and things were starting to feel familiar. Aziri and Orvaska had a blow up fight that Onfenka ended in record time by calmly saying, "Would you two just fuck each other and get it over with," which mortified them both into silence and had Teres on the lounge floor bellowing with laughter. It was nearly normal.

Lio was happy to see his friends regroup, but he made no progress on his own private quest to return to Opalina. Yet somehow, his belief was unshakable. They wouldn't keep him away from his lightship forever. Two full weeks passed in the ring of trailers that was their new home, and Ravi was starting to brief them on possible commendations again, when a missive from Archcom Huseda reignited his hopes.

They were all gathered in the lounge, which doubled as their muster room, just after breakfast. Ravi was in the middle of outlining their plan for the commendation task when he glanced at his flashing holowatch, read the contact code and stopped talking.

"Sorry," he murmured. "Hold on." His eyes raced across the missive, and when he looked up, his jaw was tight. "We're going to have to scratch our plans for the day. Archcom Huseda said the Enlightenment crews have some questions for us. Hov is on the way. We're heading back up the mountain." He didn't say it outright, but they all knew this was their chance to see Opalina again.

The ride was the opposite of the one they'd taken two weeks prior. The hov was definitely not meant to accommodate all of them, but they packed in regardless. Everyone was babbling, guessing what the Enlightenment crews wanted to ask that needed to be done in person. Duhar half-convinced himself that it was military secrets they couldn't say over a call line and was nearly hyperventilating by the time they reached the end of the mag lane.

Lio climbed out, and his stomach lurched. The little trail he had climbed to Opalina a thousand times was gone. It was replaced by a wide, flattened road stamped with the footprints of enormous machinery. The crew quieted as they hiked up the tracks, Ravi in the lead.

The noisy bustle of activity reached them before they rounded the rock curve that had always hidden Opalina from view. Insistent beeping, people calling instructions to each other, and smooth, electronic bot voices echoed off the rocks.

He was walking faster, loping past Ravi and up to the crest of the ridge to see—

The mountain was demolished. Cratered. Enormous piles of reddish shale banked either side of a narrow through-way. And beyond the shattered remains of the rock that had hidden the Mastali's secrets, dwarfing the remains of the sandstone cloak it had worn, the lightship stood. Lio stopped running, stopped breathing, stopped thinking.

It was immense. A gigantic, smooth, silver dewdrop in the desert. Of course it was Mastali made. The lightship looked flawless. The sun glanced off of its silver dome and blinded him.

"Merciful goddess," Jossen whispered. "That can fly?"

"It looks fast," breathed Duhar.