Page 2 of Stellar Drift
Unless someone had stolen the aircar for a joyride, Ranger Houyen Albasrey was at the controls.The RRS had other rangers, but he was the only one that anyone had reported seeing in the rainforest the last four years.Before that, according to the locals, ranger visits were rarer than triple blue moons.Albasrey had made regular appearances every twenty or thirty days ever since he’d arrived.And he was more than just a handsome face and a ready smile.He was a good listener and put his plant-affinity minder talent and botanist training to good use in helping the locals with permaculture projects to create symbiotic relationships with the ever-challenging environment.He seemed to get along with the more colorful personalities in the local towns, too.Better than Sairy did, who found quick reasons to be elsewhere when people pushed her boundaries.
As much as she liked the man, which was truthfully too much for her own peace of mind, she didn’t want to talk to him now.The clearing was too close to her hidden home.Nor did she want to answer any questions about what she was doing.It was a lot easier to evade personal questions when running into him in the town of Irakat’s regular trade day than one-on-one in the middle of the rainforest.
Sairy kicked the bright blue rope into the mud, then started walking toward the trees.“Come on, Kyala, let’s get a drink and see what’s in the cold box.”
Doubts snuck up on her as she retraced her path back to her airsled.Houyen’s rough landing was unusual.He wasn’t reckless, at least as far as she’d seen.If his military aircar had mechanical trouble, she could probably tell him what needed fixing.In one of her previous life chapters, she’d been part of an air and ground vehicle maintenance unit.
On the other hand, maybe he was tired and just needed a rest.In which case, he didn’t need any help from her, and she should leave him alone.
People sometimes forgot that the Ranger Service was actually a partnership between the planetary government and the Citizen Protection Service, the galactic government’s military division that had many missions, all related to minders.But Sairy couldn’t forget.Despite Houyen Albasrey’s many virtues, he was first and foremost a CPS employee.If the CPS ever found her or Elkano, their atoms would become one with the universe as soon as the CPS could make it happen.Whatever had gone horribly wrong with their last mission, the CPS disliked admitting mistakes.They’d do whatever was necessary to keep the public from learning anything about the ultra-secret black-box project she and Elkano had been a part of.
More doubts reminded her that if Houyen really was in trouble, the rainforest had a dozen ways to make it worse.Toxic plants, biting insects, hungry snakes, deceptive terrain… and that was just in the immediate half-kilometer radius.
She sighed and tapped her earwire again.“Elkano, please send a camera to check out the aircar and the pilot.Tell me if there’s anything unusual.”At least one of the cameras would have registered the rough landing.But Elkano relied on her to judge the significance.
“Will do.”
Meanwhile, both her stomach and Kyala’s wanted food, and stopping to rehydrate and eat lunch would take care of that.Plus, it would give the Houyen problem time to resolve itself without her having to do anything.She ignored the twinge of guilt that she wasn’t being more neighborly, and the recognition that if she’d been in trouble, he wouldn’t have hesitated to help.Then again, he likely didn’t have secrets that could get him killed.
Considering how muddy everything was at the moment, she was glad she’d parked the airsled on the relatively flat rock and protected it with a tarp.The wet season had come early and stayed late this year.
After removing her gloves, she opened the box and fished out the container of gargoyle food, chuckling at Kyala’s intensely focused interest in each movement of her hands as she removed the lid and set the large, flat bowl on the ground.
Kyala’s wide mouth helped her practically inhale the custom blend of proteins and supplements that Sairy and Elkano had developed through trial and error.Kyala could and would eat anything if she was hungry, but prepackaged human mealpacks or processed dog food gave her eye-wateringly stinky flatulence.The custom-blend food was self-preservation on Sairy’s part.
She filled a second bowl with water from the large tank on her airsled.“Glad you approve,” Sairy teased as she watched Kyala’s flat tongue chase the last morsels.
Outside of scars on her neck and left haunch, the gargoyle looked sleek, healthy, and in peak condition.A marked improvement from when they first met.Sairy liked most people once she got to know them, but she’d make an instant and violent exception for the abusive asshole who still lingered in Kyala’s memory.
After pulling out her own water pouch and lunch container, she made sure to close and seal the cold box.Ubiquitous rainforest insects never passed up the chance for a free meal.
She was just about to take a bite of mixed vegetable salad when Elkano’s voice sounded in her earwire.
“The CPS flitter is powered and appears undamaged.The right side door is open.The pilot looks like Ranger Houyen Albasrey.He is not awake.He has no visible injuries.”
Sairy ate two forkfuls of salad as she considered plausible scenarios.It was possible he’d been flying the aircar while gliding high, but she doubted it.The locals in Irakat Collective who made homemade chems and alterants teased Houyen for refusing anything more stimulating than real coffee.He said it interfered with his minder talent.Exhaustion or illness was much more likely.
She ate a couple more bites, but worry soured her stomach.Her medical training would probably be enough to determine if he needed emergency care.And if he just needed to sleep, she and Kyala could leave quickly and come back some other day with better equipment for prying out the piece of ship debris.
She swallowed several swigs of water, then stowed the pouch and food containers back in the cold box.Then she pulled on her gloves and unhooked her toolkit and first-aid bags to sling crossbody over her shoulder.
“Come on, Kyala, let’s go see about the ranger.”
“I’ll keep the second camera on you.”Elkano’s tone had a thread of concern.
“Thank you.”Gratitude warmed her.Between Kyala and Elkano, she was never truly alone.
After picking their path through the muddy track left by the skidding aircar, she found the door open just as Elkano had described.
“Hello?”
No response.
She pulled a knife out of its thigh sheath and used its hilt to tap on the exterior side panel.“Ranger?”
Unexpectedly, Kyala jumped up and into the aircar, leaving muddy paw prints.
“Kyala, no.”She leaned to poke her head through the open door.“Sorry about…”
