I'll just go back to sleep."
He doesn't even answer me and I can't sleep another minute, so I sit there in silence until we start the docking sequence. The world is not a planet-like habitat like Justice, nor is it a torus like Amelia. It's nothing but a non-reflective sphere just hovering out in the dark. Once we get closer in I discover that the outer boundaries are transparent and there are actually two spheres, one inside the other. I squint to see the splashes of terrain. Mountains, desert, grasslands… I almost moan with desire when I see it.
When we disembark the ship and enter the interior of the massive habitat it really does feel like Earth. Same G, same atmosphere, same clouds, sky, sun – all fake of course, but everything is just like Earth.
We unpack our gear and catch a ride on a small plane up to the mountains. By the time the trip is all said and done we've lost all the daylight, so Isten and I pitch camp in the dark under the dim light of two solar-powered lanterns that work just well enough to throw shadows everywhere and make life more difficult.
Throughout all this Isten has only said three words to me that weren't absolutely necessary. And they were 'Move that ass' as we were hiking with packs that weigh more than I do up the side of the mountain to make our base. There is only one tent, so bunk time should be a fucking riot.
"Hey, Junco?"
I swipe a hand over my forehead to wipe the sweat off me. "What?"
He throws me a ration. I pocket it and keep cleaning Big Boy. Isten pulls the tab off his packet of food and squeezes it into his mouth. Just thinking about food makes me want to vomit. I shoot him a disgusted look.
"I hope you're not going to be moody the whole time, Junco. I'm sick of it already."
I look up and smile. "Fuck you, Isten. I don't know why you're mad, I didn't do anything to you. Nothing."
He comes over and kneels down next to me, automatically picking up pieces of my rifle and helping me put it back together. "Yeah, actually you did, Junco. You went and wasted three fucking weeks messing around with Tier when we could have been training together."
I throw up my hands. "Are you fucking kidding me? That's why you're mad at me? Because I wanted some downtime?"
His hands are moving fast on the weapon parts now, so I sit back and stretch my legs out and let him have at it. He doesn't look up when he answers. "Tier is not the most important person in your life, Junco. I am." He does look up then. "I am, you get it? I'm your spotter, you're my spotter. The only thing that counts is us. No one else matters, Junco. Just me and you." He stops for a minute and puts the final piece on the weapon with a satisfying snap. "And we could've had this shit all worked out weeks ago if you had the good fucking sense to give a shit."
I just stare at the back of his head. "I didn't know, Isten. I worked alone on Earth. Or with my father. I only did assassinations, remember? I only used a spotter for training."
"Which means," he says, looking back at me now, "it will be even harder to get our minds synced up, Junco. We probably won't be able to do it. It's gonna be a disaster."
I shake my head at him and smile. "Isten, this is my home we're talking about. I could do this mission blindfolded. I know that place, we're gonna be just fine."
"We're not going to be in the MR or the RR, Junco. That's wishful thinking."
I shake my head. "You're wrong, Isten. That's exactly where they'll be. I've been thinking about this a lot, even when I was on vacation, so shut the fuck up about me being a slacker." I wait for him to look at me before continuing. "Moju is probably in with those Subjack people, my mother, Selia – all of them. So we just need to go get him first, then he'll know where they are. He will. And I'll bet you anything you want right fucking now, he's gonna say they're in the MR. Not all of it was bombed, only Peaks was. And Peaks is on the very Eastern edge. There's another world up there
He doesn't even answer me and I can't sleep another minute, so I sit there in silence until we start the docking sequence. The world is not a planet-like habitat like Justice, nor is it a torus like Amelia. It's nothing but a non-reflective sphere just hovering out in the dark. Once we get closer in I discover that the outer boundaries are transparent and there are actually two spheres, one inside the other. I squint to see the splashes of terrain. Mountains, desert, grasslands… I almost moan with desire when I see it.
When we disembark the ship and enter the interior of the massive habitat it really does feel like Earth. Same G, same atmosphere, same clouds, sky, sun – all fake of course, but everything is just like Earth.
We unpack our gear and catch a ride on a small plane up to the mountains. By the time the trip is all said and done we've lost all the daylight, so Isten and I pitch camp in the dark under the dim light of two solar-powered lanterns that work just well enough to throw shadows everywhere and make life more difficult.
Throughout all this Isten has only said three words to me that weren't absolutely necessary. And they were 'Move that ass' as we were hiking with packs that weigh more than I do up the side of the mountain to make our base. There is only one tent, so bunk time should be a fucking riot.
"Hey, Junco?"
I swipe a hand over my forehead to wipe the sweat off me. "What?"
He throws me a ration. I pocket it and keep cleaning Big Boy. Isten pulls the tab off his packet of food and squeezes it into his mouth. Just thinking about food makes me want to vomit. I shoot him a disgusted look.
"I hope you're not going to be moody the whole time, Junco. I'm sick of it already."
I look up and smile. "Fuck you, Isten. I don't know why you're mad, I didn't do anything to you. Nothing."
He comes over and kneels down next to me, automatically picking up pieces of my rifle and helping me put it back together. "Yeah, actually you did, Junco. You went and wasted three fucking weeks messing around with Tier when we could have been training together."
I throw up my hands. "Are you fucking kidding me? That's why you're mad at me? Because I wanted some downtime?"
His hands are moving fast on the weapon parts now, so I sit back and stretch my legs out and let him have at it. He doesn't look up when he answers. "Tier is not the most important person in your life, Junco. I am." He does look up then. "I am, you get it? I'm your spotter, you're my spotter. The only thing that counts is us. No one else matters, Junco. Just me and you." He stops for a minute and puts the final piece on the weapon with a satisfying snap. "And we could've had this shit all worked out weeks ago if you had the good fucking sense to give a shit."
I just stare at the back of his head. "I didn't know, Isten. I worked alone on Earth. Or with my father. I only did assassinations, remember? I only used a spotter for training."
"Which means," he says, looking back at me now, "it will be even harder to get our minds synced up, Junco. We probably won't be able to do it. It's gonna be a disaster."
I shake my head at him and smile. "Isten, this is my home we're talking about. I could do this mission blindfolded. I know that place, we're gonna be just fine."
"We're not going to be in the MR or the RR, Junco. That's wishful thinking."
I shake my head. "You're wrong, Isten. That's exactly where they'll be. I've been thinking about this a lot, even when I was on vacation, so shut the fuck up about me being a slacker." I wait for him to look at me before continuing. "Moju is probably in with those Subjack people, my mother, Selia – all of them. So we just need to go get him first, then he'll know where they are. He will. And I'll bet you anything you want right fucking now, he's gonna say they're in the MR. Not all of it was bombed, only Peaks was. And Peaks is on the very Eastern edge. There's another world up there
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