A Mountain Camp

The world that held the Durathisian research site was an attractive jewel in an otherwise unremarkable system. Blue oceans, lush green forest, glistening swamps that would have been mangrove on Earth but here hosted a delightfully bizarre tree with pastel-yellow leaves and a rich orange bark. Even from orbit it looked fantastical, a wonderland for scientists, and Dustin was sad that there would be no opportunity to study it. He’d have liked to be able to give his science team a few days while the rest of the crew refreshed to drop planetside and pick over the fascinating botanical life.

Alas, the mission came first. While the Durathisians below lacked any method of scanning for vessels in orbit, Sola was not constrained in the same way. They’d deployed a drone satellite on the way in, opting to park the starship on the far side of the planet from their contacts; while the Durathisians might lack any method of scanning for ships, there was nothing stopping them from just looking up - and even a simple telescope could pick out Sola’s hull against the void of space.

Thus, the drone - far smaller, far less likely to be spotted, and all it needed to do was scan for life and relay messages to and from the surface. Messages such as the one Dustin was currently looking at that gave a time and a set of coordinates for a cave in the mountains. “We’ll have to take a shuttle down, but if we land close there’s a strong chance they’ll spot us. Or hear us - even the Rabyth built ones have pretty loud engines.”

Yril’k nodded. “Indeed’k. I have reviewed’k the topographical map’k of the region and potential’k routes with Macch from the last’k time he visited’k. We can land’k on the far side’k of the mountains, but’k it will be quite’k the trek.”

Sighing, Dustin picked up his tablet again. “A rough hike just for a meeting. It’d be so much easier if we could just land nearby, but c’est la vie. You sure you want to come Aricia? It’s unlikely we’ll be taking photos at this point, you’re more than welcome to stay on the ship for now.”

The Lieviran frowned, tapping her own tablet. “The planet’s gravity is higher than standard - not by enough to inconvenience you, Yril’k or Defia, but enough that my wings are going to be less use than normal. That’ll throw my balance out… if you don’t mind then yes, I’d be better off staying behind for the initial contact. As soon as we’re going after the lab or whatever then I’m fully ready to go.”

“That’s settled then. I’ll let our friends from Tho’unn intelligence know, and we’ll reconvene in the cargo bay in half an hour. Pack for combat - this is supposed to be a friendly meeting with the rebels, but I’d rather make sure we’re geared up in case it’s a trap.” Dustin stood as he spoke, glad to have a plan at least as he headed out to finish his own preparations.

The shuttle curved down into the atmosphere, Dustin’s hand on the controls. This was going to be his longest flight yet, even periodically trading out pilot duties with the others. Given the need to approach quietly, the team had opted to break orbit just below Sola on a gently curving path, and would then need to circumnavigate almost half the planet to reach their meeting point. They’d be able to fly at full power for most of the time, but would have to drop sub-sonic long before the mountains so as to not risk their passage showing up on any of the Durathisian’s equipment.

Settling in for the flight, Dustin glanced at the man beside him. Macch had opted to take the copilot’s seat for the start of their trip, picking up how the human craft worked quickly so that he could take over when Dustin needed a break. Defia and Yril’k were also ready to rotate in should they be needed, while Linth sat in the back double checking the equipment, his large hands making it hard for him to work the delicate controls of the shuttle.

The hours ticked by, lush jungle and bright swampland passing underneath them in a blur. Eventually, the ground below started to slope upwards, the mountains loomed in front of them and Dustin returned to the controls, taking over from Yril’k. “Get ready to start hiking people, we’re going to be landing in that clearing up ahead.”

A short time later, the airlock cycled and hot humid air rolled in. Dustin grimaced as he stepped out, the heat already making sweat bead on his nose as he turned towards the mountains above them. “We’ve got a three, maybe four hour hike to get out of these woods, then we camp out for the night before making our way through the pass to our meeting point in the morning.” Shouldering his pack, he turned to the others. “Let’s get going.”

With the shuttle disappearing into the undergrowth behind them, the heat only seemed to worsen. As they moved, Dustin paced himself, taking measured sips of water to replenish what his body was losing to its efforts to keep him cool. Macch and Linth copied his actions, although Defia was unsurprisingly fine in the heat. Yril’k meanwhile took point and stalked forward calmly, her fluid intake precise and minimal as they moved on.

Slowly the ground rose underfoot and the remaining pockets of swamp faded to jungle, then to loose woodland. The sunlight was starting to fade as Linth brought his blades down, carving through vines across their path and breaking through into the scree at the base of the mountain.

Now, movement grew even more tiring. While the temperature rapidly dropped with the sun, the ground underfoot grew increasingly uneven and shifted with every footfall. Progress turned to a slow scramble as they moved ever upward, the shadow of caves higher up indicating their stopping point for the night.

They reached their campsite just as the last of the sun faded from the sky, ducking under a roof of rock after Defia declared it empty of wildlife. The group dropped to the floor, exhausted - they’d already had to pass by two potential rest areas after the rogue Fractal had glanced in, shaken her head, and commented about the various mountain predators that made the caves home.

Moving away from the entrance that was hidden behind a large boulder that would hopefully shield most of the light, Dustin reached into his pack and pulled out a small camping heater. A moment’s tinkering later, and the freezing mountain air was replaced with the warm glow of a campfire as the device came to life.

The others gathered quickly, Macch coming last after setting a few traps by the entrance in the event of any hostile wildlife. None of the group expected any Durathisians to be poking their noses around, but the possibility of an animal sneaking in either for warmth or to try and make a meal out of them was higher than they’d like.

With that done, the group broke out their ration packs, eating quickly before setting up a rough watch. Again, the bigger risk was from the wildlife, but still it paid to be observant. Even if the Durathisians weren’t looking for them, there was the chance that the aliens would have their own movement over the mountains before morning, and so watching out for lights might let them adjust their plans for the next day before they walked into any kind of trouble.

Just before dawn, Defia shook Dustin gently awake. The rogue Fractal had taken the last watch, her ability to pick up the presence of life without needing to see it highly appropriate for the pitch-dark night. All around him, the others were similarly rousing and preparing for the next stage of their trip - the hike up and over the mountains themselves… or rather, under them.

Pushing the heater back into his pack, Dustin shouldered it and stepped outside. The cold of the night before was fading rapidly with the rising sun and he frowned as he looked up at the peaks ahead of them. “Do we need to worry about snow melting and causing avalanches?” He asked to no-one in particular.

Macch stepped up alongside him and shook his head. “Naa, me and Linth came here before. The cave we’re heading for is part of an interconnected set of passageways through the mountain, we’ll be inside well below anywhere the snow will be a risk, even if it does slip. C’mon.” With that, the small group turned and began to climb yet again, moving forward towards the passages and the meeting beyond.