The Merrin, part 28
The outside temperature seems to have stabilized at 143 below. Inside the cave, it's holding around 95 below. Not cold enough for cryo, but too cold to spend much time outside. Avy, having wrapped herself around Key, sleeps. Key, on the other hand,...
The Merrin, part 27
Key sits in the com shelter, trying to warm himself. It's nearing cryo temp outside, and the limit for his suit. He's managed to setup a second wind generator, but the available wind is nearly half of what it was. "All right, Drudge. New message for...
The Merrin, part 22
The eclipse has started, bringing out one of the worst storms yet. Key stands near the cave's entrance watching the storm. Avy sits beside him, her tail wrapped in a giant sleeve to protect her from the asrukes, holding Key's hand. She'd normally be...
The Merrin, part 21
Sliding around on his back under the shelter, Key slowly welds all the floor panels to their frames. This process is made more difficult by the number of eggs and small creatures attached to the underside of the shelter. Rather than weld the entire...
The Merrin, Part 20
All the loose items are packed into three packs. Most of the sections for the shelter lean against a pod. There's a few parts still standing and Key's working to rearrange those into a short hall that connecting the pods' doors together. With their...
The Merrin, part 19
With the storm finally passed, it's night. Key works on the com from the outside. So far, he's had to replace the antenna, and several of the connectors due to massive amounts of caesium scorching. Drudge has figured out that the storms coincide with...
The Merrin, part 18
Another storm rages outside. Avy stands in the first pod, intently watching the chaos through the windows. Key sits in the other pod, trying to clean out the long range com. Making very little progress, Key flops into a chair and turns to watch the...
The Merrin, part 17
Avy has taken to typing rather well and has spent most of the morning telling Key all she knows about her species. She started with the larva he found near the lake. That's essentially their first form after hatching from eggs. It looked like it had...
The Merrin, part 16
Having not seen Avy since giving her the larva a local day ago, Key tracks her using the tracking signal from the tag. As he nears her location, he realizes that he's in the same area where he had originally landed. Realizing her knows where she's at,...
The Merrin, part 15
Key watches the sun go down and the surface of the caesium lake change. It looses it's shiny silver-gold appearance and turns a dull red. Curious, he steps up to the shore and kneels down. As he puts his hand over the caesium, he realizes that it's...
The Merrin, Part 14
Having been up all night answering questions, Avy sleeps on some chair cushions in the corner. Key sits, slowly re-spooling the wire. As he does, he gently pinches it, letting Drudge repair it as it passes between his fingers. Not having proper tools,...
The Merrin, part 13
Working on the pod's transceiver, Key sits on top the pod, working through an open panel. As he works, he splits his attention between it and Drudge's findings about Avy. Since she's been inactive the last few days, it's given him time to do an...