Page 3 of Nebula Hearts
But I keep looking at that fissure in the cliff face, calling to me like a song only geologists can hear.
TYNRAX
The damage is worse than the initial reports indicated.
I run my scanner over the collapsed transmission housing for the third time, hoping the readings will somehow improve. They don’t. The primary coupling is completely destroyed.
The secondary coupling shows stress fractures that will propagate if we attempt to channel power through them. Three solar arrays are offline, and two more are operating at reduced capacity.
I make notes on my datapad, cataloging what we’ll need. Replacement coupling from the ship’s stores. Reinforcement materials for the foundation. New power conduits. The list grows longer than I’d like.
“How’s it looking?” Sarpi calls from ground level.
“Complicated.” I climb down from the platform, checking my mental timeline again. “We’ll need to fabricate custom connections for the coupling integration. The original specs don’t account for the seismic damage.”
“Can you do that?”
“Yes.” I’ve built more complex systems in less favorable conditions. This should be manageable. Should be. “But it will take time we don’t have excess of.”
Sarpi nods, accepting this. He’s a good pilot, calm under pressure, doesn’t waste energy on complaints. I appreciate that. “What do you need me to do?”
“Return to the ship. Bring the fabrication equipment and the spare coupling unit. Also the reinforcement struts from cargo bay three.”
“On it.” He heads off across the regolith, moving at a steady jog.
Which leaves me alone with Dr. Saavik.
Aris. She prefers Aris, mentioned it twice on the flight from Prospect’s End. “Dr. Saavik makes me sound like I’m eighty and grumpy,” she’d said. “Just Aris is fine.” But I continue using her title because maintaining professional boundaries seems wise given we’ll be working in close quarters for days.
She’s currently circling the relay foundation with her scanner, taking readings every few meters. Muttering to herself as she works. “Subsurface density here is... okay that’s weird. No, wait. That’s just a density gradient from the volcanic substrate. Normal. Totally normal.”
I’ve noticed she talks to herself constantly. At first I thought she was addressing me or Sarpi. Then I realized she’s simply narrating her own thought process.
The habit is informative rather than distracting. I always know what she’s thinking. Right now she’s recalculating subsurface density measurements and talking herself through the corrections.
She’s pulled her dark auburn hair into a knot. Already coming loose. Strands catch the light, showing red highlights the ship’s artificial lighting hadn’t revealed. There’s a smudge of dust on her left cheek. She has no idea it’s there.
Emotional regulation. Basic training. There’s no reason for my markings to respond to Dr. Saavik’s dust-smudged face or the cadence of her voice.
No logical reason.
But… now she’s thinking about the fissure in the cliff face. She keeps glancing at it between readings. Her attention splits between the task at hand and whatever she thinks she saw in that opening.
To be fair, the formation did look unusual. The edges were too straight for a natural break in the basalt. And what I initially dismissed as shadows inside the opening might be worked stone.
Might be.
But we have a relay to repair and limited time. Geological curiosities can wait.
Aris finishes her circuit and returns to where I’m reviewing schematics on my datapad.
“I’ve checked for two meters around the base,” she reports. “No subsurface voids within scanning range. Stress fractures are superficial, shouldn’t compromise structural integrity during repairs.”
She stands close enough that I can see the scanner’s reflection in her dark brown eyes. The data density on her display indicates thoroughness. Competent work. I’ve worked with competent engineers before.
This feels different.
She shifts her weight. The movement is economical, no wasted energy. Practical. Everything about her is practical except for the enthusiasm that animates her when discussing geological formations.
