Dara, Page, and the Secrets of the Multiverse

▷ 5.3

The pulsing vastryan core scritched and scratched behind them as Dara hauled it across the forest floor. Unlike Page whose hands were free, Dara stayed on the ground while the Viz'ni swung from tree to tree, keeping track of their progress.

"How much longer to base?" Page's voice sounded distant mostly because it was. The tree they perched on was an ancient svriness, and those could grow a thousand times Dara's height. This one was a sapling compared to the reigning centenarians in the Idalaci Peaks. "I can't see anything from here."

Dara bit back a retort. They have the core, so they should be grateful to Page. They only had to get the Viz'ni to an amplisetter, and they'd be free of any responsibilities. "Hey," Page said from the sky, launching off the tree and swinging onto the next. Dara did their best to heave the core over an exposed root. The bolts and welded edges almost crushed their foot on its way over. Too close. "Why did you agree to help me?"

The question came from the heavens. It sounded rude to ignore it. "I have nothing better to do," Dara answered with a shrug. "Besides, I got a nice deal out of it." They gestured to the core they lugged behind, for once wondering if they had done the right thing. For such a small skycraft, using this much vastryan and such a large core would be problematic. Dara had no reservations about believing the skewed weight ratio with the rest of the craft was what led to its crashing. Using mismatched parts was suicide, and even a scavenger like Dara knew that.

Page, thank the Great Mother, didn't ask anything more until they made it to basecamp. Dara doubted they'd have any breath and muscle strength to keep talking and walking while being bogged down by the core.

Soon, they snuck around the back to avoid the patrol guards, the counselor's spies, and the workers. Dara led Page past the maze of canvasses of tents, before stopping by their residential tent to drop off the core. They'd come back to it later. For now, an amplisetter. One should be around here...

They stalked towards the gadgetry department and threw the tent flap open. Page, smart beyond their years, ducked inside before a troop of Sivr-id spotted them. Dara played it cool by giving the passing troop a two-finger salute on the chin. Then, they ducked inside. An array of crates, tables, and complicated machinery accompanied their every step as Dara shouldered past Page on their way towards the opposite end of the lengthy tent. They pulled the cloth off a cubical device the size of a stool.

"An amplisetter, as agreed upon," Dara said, giving the top a few light taps. Despite being as hollow as a metal pipe, the mechanisms inside allowed the user to blast out signals across several frequencies, and each setting could be tailored to control the range, the level of frequency, and the volume of the message to be sent. That was why it was called the amplisetter.

Dara stepped aside as Page stalked towards the device as if it was a spooked mruubi cub. "I will leave you to it while I deliver the core to the counselor," they said. "I will be back after I secure my cut."

They doubted Page heard any of it with their fingers already flicking switches and pushing buttons. Huh. Dara stepped out of the tent, leaving the Viz'ni in their own business. If bio-studies were correct, Viz'nir could camouflage themselves too. Page would be fine.

Dara retrieved the core and dragged it towards the counselor's desk. After an intense round of haggling, Dara secured their hreed and picked their way back to Page. With scavenging jobs flying in and out faster than anyone other than the counselor could keep up with, someone was bound to have entered the gadgetry tent within the timeframe they left Page alone.

Instead, they dropped in on Page tapping aggressively on the amplisetter's side in some sort of coded message. Not even a spoken word. Just scratches made by twisting a random knob on the amplisetter's dashboard. When they finished, Dara leaned closer. "What did you say?" they asked.

Page's lips curled inward. "Tagradelo," they replied. "I advised them to pick me up on the outskirts. I did not want to endanger your people further."

"What code did you use?" Dara prodded.

The Viz'ni squinted. Their dark eyes turned even darker. "It will not be a code if I tell you."

Before Dara could say anything, Page strode out of the tent. It was only through sheer sense of responsibility that Dara followed like a lost pup.

As soon as Dara stepped out of the tent, a laser point flitted and settled into their chest. At the opposite end, a GK rifle pointed at them.