EXCAVATOR: Tales from the Twelve Vessels

Chapter XIX: Salt in the Wound

It couldn't get much worse for Sauk. And that was saying something, considering just about every moment of xer life that led up to this moment.

Here xe was, stranded in a hole in a wall on a foreign planet, short stealth mission turned absolutely inside out and turned around. Xer absence had surely been noticed by now. Xe had acquired a grand total of zero units of rhodium. There was a throbbing pain in xer side xe couldn't identify. And to top it all off, xe was stuck here with a rule obsessed, worm worshipping Jinsuon sapien who seemed intent on studying xem as some sort of anthropological endeavor.

Xe cursed xemself silently and repeatedly. Xe was briefed. Xe had read the master report. Xe knew about the possibility of unpredictable extreme weather conditions, but there was nothing on the immediate forecast that suggested it would happen now, at the least opportune moment. Xe jumped too quickly, relying solely on instinct, too busy salivating over the idea of a commuted sentence to properly consider what the hell xe was doing.

There was no chance now that xe could return to the transport ship without consequences. Any alibi xe could fabricate would only be increasingly difficult to believe. What other purpose would a known criminal have leaving the ship to venture elsewhere, on a planet rich with so many valuable resources? If xe had a personality like the alien in xer company, maybe xe could feign innocence and not knowing any better. But there was nothing innocent about Sauk Wood.

At least the sapien didn't know any better. Xe wanted to keep it that way for as long as xe could.

Xer train of thought was hijacked, drawn back to the pain in xer side. Xe tried to remember when it started. Was it when the harsh winds threw xem against stone? Was it after xe had grabbed the sapien and ran for dear life? Or perhaps it just started up on its own, a ruptured organ deciding to make itself known the moment xe swore xe couldn't sink any lower. If that was the case, xe hoped termination came swiftly and without agony.

Part of xem wanted to examine it. It would've been relatively simple to slide off the exosuit just enough to check out xer abdomen, but the idea of the sapien being there, watching with a fascination reserved for only doctors or serial killers was enough to sour the idea. Xe would just have to suffer in silence. It wasn't the first time, at least.

And so there they were. A sapien and an nkrey, close in proximity, light years apart in any other capacity. Each trapped thinking of scenarios that could have been rather than the ones they were in.

Something stood out to Sauk. "Yo."

Meera sat up. "Hm?"

Sauk hesitated. "Do you hear that?"

She fell silent, tilting her head to see if she could pick up any noise.

"The rain stopped."

The two jumped up simultaneously and rushed to the lip of the cave. Both heads poked out of the narrow opening, trying to get a clear view of the scene in front of them.

Sure enough, the rain had stopped. No water fell from the sky, no lightning flickered in the distance. The pale sun shined through thinning clouds, hitting both their naked pupils with an intensity neither had experienced before. The ground was muddied, but there were no longer any flash rivers carrying anything in their paths out to the ocean. The future was now and the future was bright.

"I'm not sure if I should be confused it didn't last longer or happy that it's over with," Meers spoke up, just the slightest hint of levity poking its way into her voice.

Sauk didn't have the luxury of levity. "Take what you can get."

Standing here, like this, xe could finally better see the differences between them. Sauk was never a great judge of sapien height—they were all short compared to xem—but xe could tell this one was shorter than the average sapien. She was small in the way she didn't even reach xer shoulders, but defined in the way the exosuit exposed muscle depending on how she turned.  Her dark hair was technically shorter than xers if compared solely on length, but hers was thick, even by sapien standards. Her skin was vibrant, not like the pale pink some sapiens had, but earthy. Alive.