FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

“You said you weren’t a spy, but you sure know how this whole spy satellite thing works,” Joshua said. He held a volatile tool in his hand, equivalent to a blowtorch in his own lexicon, spinning it around by the finger guard.

“I suppose, in a manner of speaking, I was part of surveillance. I was not, however, among your people.”

“Tomato tomato.” He said that word twice with different pronunciations.

“Is that a saying I am unfamiliar with?”

“Yeah.”

“I had worried for a moment that your brain stalled on sentence crafting.”

Joshua made some expression at her, but at that moment she was too busy studying the satellite. It was one of the models she was familiar with. Indeed, she could work with it. The only issue was the matter of approach.

“Mind giving me your thought process? I’d like to know where I’m going and potentially dying.”

“I had wanted to withhold some of the technicalities, so as to not burden you, but so be it.”

“If you just want to call me an idiot, call me an idiot.”

“Had I wanted to, that is exactly what I would do.” Tyra motioned him over and pointed at the screen. “This is our target, here.”

“Alright, so it’s hiding behind that planet. What’s stopping us from digging in?”

“Safeguards. While there have been no reports of humans commandeering our vessels, there are protocols set in place to evade any approaching ship.”

“Hold on a second. You’re telling me I’m the first human to fly one of these things?” Joshua smiled.

“As far as I am aware. I suppose that makes you the first to experience warp in one as well.” Cadavers aside, that was.

“Killer. OK, on with the show.”

“Yes. Being part of surveillance, this ship is capable of trading information with the satellite using a series of codes. During that time, we may force it into a state of shut down by way of requesting its maintenance.”

“So that’s when I gut it open and pull out the part. Not going to explode on me, will it?”

“It does have similar reactive armor, yet with the tool you continue to flaunt, it should not detonate.”

“Smart. Wait, isn’t there like a maintenance hatch on this thing?”

“It does not grant access to the pinpointer directly. Extra safeguards had been placed to prevent additional theft of technology. A small annoyance in exchange for maintained superiority.”

“Wrapping up the toy so nobody else gets to it, alright. I’m guessing it’d pop without the codes.”

“Should it be unable to shift, yes. It would detonate quite violently as a final failsafe.”

“Vesperratus like to go out in style.”

Tyra looked to him. “Is that truly the slang term for our species?”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“It feels mindless, as if engineered to strike fear. Perhaps no better than the scientific classification. Lithovespa Sapiens.”

“Probably was made to strike fear. I’m sure you’ve got something just as bad whipped up for us.”

“In English it would roughly be ‘Exposed Expansionist,’ I suppose.”

“Exposed? As in, we don’t have a shell?”

“That is how define endoskeletal creatures. Yes.”

“I guess I get the second part. What’s the scientific version, then?”

“We do not have separate names for classifications in the same manner. In a way I am infatuated with the uniformity of the taxonomical system. Human ingenuity is precious.”

“I can at least see the king crab in you. Or I guess, queen. Not sure what the vespa part is, though.”

“With how many there are on your planet, it is a wonder that you managed to be the dominating species.”

“Brains and brawn.”

Not necessarily wrong. Though Tyra found the human spinal column to be quite disturbing. It was a test of the laws of the universe the way that humans were able to walk upright without risking atomization of their skeletal structure with every step.

“Let us focus on this task.”

“How much time do I get to do this?”

“Assumedly infinite.”

Joshua opened his mouth to say something, then clasped it shut. Likely another saying she wouldn’t be familiar with.

“Are you sure about that? It felt like that last time, until it wasn’t.”

“With our newfound maneuverability, there should be no risk of complete ship failure. While there are mechanisms for distress, you should be unable to activate them while it remains open for maintenance.”

“You’ve been making this seem way too easy.”

“True. I had hoped that it would ease your nerves on the matter.”

“What’s the hard part, then?”

“If there is anything in range of receiving its maintenance signal, there is a slim chance one of our ships will come to investigate.”

“I’m guessing your acting routine isn’t going to work this time.”

“They would easily recognize that this ship has been marked destroyed or inert should we attempt communication. Yes.” Among the other million protocols that went into ship-to-ship communication. Tyra needn’t burden him with that explanation. She could tell this new task was already wearing on him.

Joshua looked out at the ocean again, as if wondering if that was the right choice. Tyra looked as well. Likely, this was the best choice she had herself. Aside from the tedium of eternity. A small part of her held onto the hope that whatever hostilities would cease, and she might slink back into society, unseen. Unlikely.

The two of them returned to their planning, with Tyra going over some of the more technical details. It was clear Joshua had some vague understanding of disassembly of her technology, but not enough to do it cleanly. Just enough to profit off of it, she supposed. While distasteful, she couldn’t blame him for the choice in occupation.

“During this process, you will need to replace the original with our broken pinpointer. It will be unable to report a missing component, and once it requires shifting, we will have departed far before then.”

“And then what? Where do we go from there?”

Tyra looked to him.

“I do not know.”

“No neutral zone.”

“None.”

“Well, there’s got to be a backwater planet to drop me off on.”

Inconsiderate of her existence. As to be expected. Not surprising. Joshua likely pictured her as an automaton driven by logic, unbothered by reality. He couldn’t pick up on her bodily reactions, nor the pheromones released.

“And of myself?” She tilted her head to add slight indignation at his statement.

“I don’t know anything about you guys or your space.” He shrugged. “I don’t know how to activate the ship either, so I’m stuck asking you for help. If it were up to me I’d already be home, hocking some alien crap.”

Ignorance? That was far more amicable. The matter-of-fact nature he held was endearing at times, if plain. Certainly better than rampant hostilities over alien forms. Tyra briefly wondered if other humans would be so agreeable had they taken the time to speak to one of her kind. Perhaps not. Her compatriots were quite interested in the war effort, to the point of zealotry. It might have been the same for her, had she not taken an interest in human research.

“Anyways, that’s all I needed to know, right?”

“Yes. However, before we depart, we need to confirm the structural integrity of the ship.”

“You’re going to have to teach me that, too.”

“I had assumed as much.”

_

Tyra and Joshua positioned themselves at their respective stations. It unsettled her to see him at the controls. She expected an ally there. But they were gone now. It was simply her and the perceived enemy. It was wrong, wasn’t it?

“Begin ascent.”

Joshua nodded, taking hold of the controls and raising them off of the water. Tyra had to admit, she would miss that world a small amount. Maybe she should return once Joshua had been deposited. Plenty to research, possibly.

Before long, they were out of the atmosphere, and the blue ball below was simply a distant memory. The majesty of space opened before them, revealing deep blackness speckled with many stars. A distant yellow sun held this slice of space together.

“Punch in the orders,” Joshua said. His magnetic boots activated, anchoring him in place. Expecting the worst, was he?

Tyra inserted the coordinates to their satellite destination. The window lit up with guiding points and an array of data that Joshua couldn’t read. Fortunately, he didn’t need to, so she wouldn’t have to constantly update him. All he had to do was ease forward on the throttle. It wasn’t absurdly fast, of course, but it was enough.

The blinking light that was the satellite drew closer. Tyra wasn’t sure how to feel, as from that point on she would be indulging in the life of a vagrant fugitive. If that was what she had to pay for cowardice, she supposed it was better than eternal shame back in the burning eyes of her peers. This was going to be the end of her long journey, or crashing into a new one.

A rattling hiss echoed in the bridge.

“What in the world was that?” Joshua asked.

It took Tyra a moment to realize it was her own language. A cold and simple “Report status.” The messenger came into sight, pulling itself from the dark warp into reality. The viewport immediately outlined it, cheerily reporting its status as a friendly vessel. It was a smoothed trapezoidal shape, and roughly analogous to a corvette in human terms. A warship nonetheless.

“Motherfucker.”

“Avert course, immediately! Into the atmosphere!”

The hiss echoed again. This time the viewport questioned if their own ship should return the call. Tyra immediately moved over to another console to deny that request and made certain they weren’t broadcasting anything whatsoever. Their ship lurched, now headed toward their new planetary target.

“Have they seen us?”

“Uncertain. Maintain your aversion.”

“You don’t need to tell me twice. Just let me know when stuff starts to go bad.”

Things were beginning to go bad. Without the answer to their call, the warship began a proper, aggressive scan, visible only as a fuzzing of the heads-up display in front of them. It must have picked up something, as another hiss came through asking for a status report.

“I did ask you to tell me!”

“Focus on your task. We are not lost yet.”

Tyra felt entirely pointless in this encounter. There was little she could do to further obfuscate their position. She disabled what little she could to hide away their active energy output, but the engine would make up the bulk of that regardless. It was all up to Joshua to make a proper descent into the planet’s atmosphere as smoothly as possible.

As they approached the planetoid, another series of hisses came, mixed with an array of static bursts. The ship went dark, and the engines came to a stop. The only source of light now was the bright reflection of the planet and the many twinkling stars. The ship began to slowly spin, keeping its momentum.

Everything was silent.

“What the hell was that?!” Joshua yanked the controls every which way to no avail.

“They are remotely disabling our engines, believing we are in peril.” Tyra quickly moved to another console to try and get anything to work. It remained dead. She gripped the sides of the thing and shook it violently, hissing in her own tongue. Another cave-in on their tunneling fate.

“Easy! Maybe you can get the engines working at least.”

Tyra steadied herself and ground her mandibles together. “Yes. Yes, you are right.” She ran into the guts of the ship, feeling it continue to rotate around her. Another distant hiss. They must’ve disabled all but the most important of systems. Tyra cursed herself for being unaware of such a disabling system.

True darkness bathed the lower deck, now, forcing Tyra to feel her way over to a portable light. With vision secured, she scurried over to the engine itself. It was completely dead. Only now had she realized just how much it hummed. Its lack of sound was deafening, a comforting noise cast to the void.

As far as she could tell, the engine’s slumber was purely an electric shut-off. Then all she would need to do is restart it with a simple cycling. Tyra approached one of the fuel cores and turned it. A deep clunk, then the whole thing pulled out. Some bright blue lines on it confirmed it was still in working order.

“Joshua!” Tyra called out.

“Yeah?”

“Locate that patch and bring it to me.”

“The radio?”

“Yes.”

It didn’t take Joshua long to come clambering down the lower deck, managing to stumble into the engine room.

“I think they’re getting ready to send something over,” Joshua said.

“Naturally. The patch?”

Joshua handed it over. Tyra slapped it onto the fuel core, causing it to crackle loudly. She pressed on its surface, adjusting it to the ship’s broadcast range. The bridge above now buzzed with the artificial sound, drowning out whatever might come its way. She slid the core back in. Joshua was already on his way back to the controls.

Tyra rushed back to the bridge. Everything else would also need a manual restart, but the engines were back up. Joshua swung the ship into the atmosphere. The viewport was naked, lacking the helpful driving markers that would assist Joshua.

“A slow descent.”

“I don’t think we can afford to be slow.”

The distant ship was impossible to see now, but Tyra stared at where it was all the same. Again, the disabling signal rang out, failing to function a second time. She relaxed her muscles a small amount. That had worked?

Sparkling stars and inky black disappeared, slowly replaced by a bright blue sky. The ship hitched on the atmosphere, maintaining its rocky descent. Joshua’s entire face was plagued with stress. If he strained any more, Tyra believed his face might simply collapse. Through all of that, though, she noticed the determination. That instinct to survive rising to the surface yet again.

“Where do we land?” Joshua asked.

Tyra struggled over to the window and surveyed the land below. A battered, rocky landscape that was in the grips of desert sand. There was effectively no flat land. Closer, and closer they came to the ground. Another round of hissing from the radio, almost drilling into her head.

“Can’t you shut that crap off?”

“There is nowhere to land. Not amicably.”

“We need to find something so we can cut the engines.”

“I am very much aware!”

The hissing halted. There would be no more attempts at an amicable rendezvous. The ground crept closer.

“I see a good spot.”

“What?”

They pulled down into a ravine. At the far end, a cavern had worn away. A cavern just large enough for the ship.

“You are not prepared for such a horizontal landing!”

“Pick a better spot or take a hike!”

Tyra had to hold on tightly to the wall, as Joshua swung the ship around into the opposite direction. He slowed their momentum, but not nearly enough. They slammed into the cavern. Metal screeched.

_

Tyra lay on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. She wasn’t dead, not yet. Though everything was indeed bathed in darkness. Joshua wasn’t far away, rolling onto his stomach. She glanced down at the viewport. There was a speck of light, affording her a shred of visibility. The cavern must have collapsed, trapping them in a fresh tomb.

Joshua hissed. “You alright?”

Tyra considered swearing back at him in all sorts of poetic insults. Untold amounts of damage could have been incurred by his foolish landing, perhaps multiplying even now. But they were alive. And the rocky prison would actually serve to hide them from the ship above. That was two positive aspects among the increasing list of negatives she could begin weaving.

“I am fine.” For now. “May I ask why you did that?”

“Would rather you didn’t.”

“I am going to ask regardless.”

“I panicked a little.”

Tyra supposed it was her fault that she let him continue at the helm.

“We’re… not going to die, are we?” he asked.

“No. I do not believe so.”

Joshua let out a deep sigh of relief. The way it sounded, it was if all that air was keeping him together. For a moment, she envied those lungs, to feel the weight of the world simply dissipate from your body. Rigid chitin must have been so constricting in comparison, but that’s all she knew.

They toiled on the floor for a while longer before Joshua stood up and offered Tyra his hand. She looked to him, then the speck of light. Back into the reality of the situation, she supposed. Tyra grabbed onto him and stood up. Joshua shook his hand as they parted.

“We should have enough food for a while, not sure about water. Looks like a desert out there.”

“The ship is capable of pulling out minute amounts of moisture from the air. However, I doubt it will function here.”

“They really thought of everything, huh?”

“It is designed to function on alien planets in the slim chance of a stranding scenario.”

“Makes sense as a spy ship. So, what now?”

“There is nothing to do. We simply have to wait.”

“Could we at least turn the lights on?”

Tyra wanted nothing more than to stew in the dark, but she quickly realized how petty that was. She approached a nearby panel and opened it.

“Wait, that’s not going to let them know where we are, is it?” he asked.

“No.”

She flicked the power back on, bathing them in artificial brightness yet again. Her eyes adjusted to the blinding light before moving to one of the consoles. Surprisingly, most scanners were still in working order, though they only received minute amounts of data before they were shut off. Water was, indeed, an unlikely occurrence here. As for life, that was completely unknown.

Somehow, the engines were still functional despite that direct crash. She hadn’t even thought to disable them, believing they would have instantly atomized from the landing. Tyra quickly turned them off. The subtle hum slowed to a stop.

“Sorry.”

“I disabled the engines.”

“Oh. I guess it wasn’t that bad of a crash, then.”

“Moderately so.”

Getting back up in the air would provide some--

“Alright, well, open up, what’s going on?”

Tyra looked to him. Habits had still gotten the better of her.

“The vents that direct the pulsor have shattered in several places. Movement is going to be shaky at best and impossible at worst.”

“Vents don’t sound too hard to fix.”

“Their configuration means we may have to approach it from the exterior.”

“Right.” Joshua glanced to the buried viewport. “Guess we’ll check the cavern.”

“Provided the airlock is not also buried.”

“Then we dig through. You have to have something for digging around here.”

“Why would there be excavation tools?”

“I mean, I guess I figured you guys enjoyed being underground and all. Way your beds are, and how dark it is down there.”

“Reasonable assumption, then.”

“I was right. I knew it.”

“Some lingering desire for an underground existence remains in our psyche, yes. It does not permeate our societal dwellings, however, nor what we supply ourselves with aboard a star ship.”

“Didn’t mean to imply it did. Sorry you got all touchy about it.”

Tyra was somewhat surprised at the relaxed nature that Joshua had quickly lapsed into. Perhaps this was a veil. Masculinity wanting to hide any weakness. Or a social need to keep up a group’s spirits. Couple, rather. The misaligned pair. Then again, adrenaline could have been filtering through his blood now, prolonging the calm before the snap of shock. Perhaps all of her theories were wrong, and this was Joshua in his barest form. There was something pleasing about that simple explanation.

“Shall we see to that cavern, then?”

“Ladies first.”

Still, there was a casual comfort that now painted his words.

“As you say.”

Tyra moved over to the airlock and opened it. Much to her delight, there was no mound of dirt facing back, but rather the empty void. A trickle of the bridge’s light seeped out, allowing her some surveying of the innards. It seemed to funnel inward from the mouth.

Joshua picked up a rock and tossed it onto the ship. A loud echo rang through the cave.

“Seems stable.”

“I do not feel any shifts in the ground.”

“You can do that from the ship?”

“Small pressure changes and sounds allow me some degree of estimation.”

Just then, the airlock closed behind them. A moment of silence.

“You’re still there, right, Tyra?”

“I am.”

“Mind letting us back in?”

Tyra opened the door, allowing them to return to the safety of the ship.

“Do you at least have floodlights for the repair work?”

“Some similar analogues, yes. Whether or not the repairs can be effected is the true question.”

“More than enough time for it. Who knows how much bug army is going to hang out in the sky.”

“I suggest resting yourself for some time. Any number of injuries could have occurred as a result of the crash.”

“And you? All armor?”

“All armor, yes.”

Joshua slunk into the crew quarters. Tyra returned to a station, though not for the sake of more observations. She brought up the transmissions beamed at the ship, replaying them softly.

“Report status.”

“Reconnaissance ship, report status.”

“Shifting to assist. Do not alter position. Report status if possible.”

“Ship engines assumed to be compromised, relaying remote shut down. Stay aboard.”

They were generic military calls, but it was comforting knowing civilization was not far from her. These would likely be the last cordial words she would ever hear from one of her own.

“Requesting response. Ship reactivated. Explain situation.”

Speech was the less emotive of their expression, yet, there was a touch of confusion in that vocalization.

“Ship compromised. Submit or await death.”

Then it was gone, back to a militaristic neutrality. The last words from her own would be a resignation to her own execution. Tyra shut down the vocalizations and looked back to the viewport. She moved over to a panel and lessened the light, allowing that one speck of the world outside to shine through.

There were no panicked thoughts or grinding plans. She was back on the ground, hiding from her duty. Tyra opened her mandibles and tried to capture that human calmness. The heave of a steady chest. The flow of air through her body cavity. It didn’t work. Her form remained static.

Tyra retreated down below, finding the hiss of water breaking the silence.

“That you?” Joshua asked.

“It is,” Tyra replied. She stopped to afford him some privacy. “Were you expecting intruders so soon?”

“Well, another alien planet. Wouldn’t have a clue what’s on it. Something could’ve gotten in.”

“I would like to imagine I would hear such a thing.”

“You never know.”

“I suppose that is true.”

His words remained in a relatively neutral timbre. Joshua clung to some sort of hope, or had shed all fantasies of making a clean escape. Could be that he was trying to keep the general mood of their relationship in good spirits.

“What’re you going to do when we get out of here?” Joshua asked.

When. Not if? Flakes of hope might’ve yet clung to him.

“Exist. In a way I suppose I will also seek out a planet to wither away on.”

Joshua rounded the corner. The low light bound off his fragile eyes. He had clad himself only in a cloth that he was using as a makeshift towel. Somehow it seemed to carry more fragility than simply being nude. He was making the attempt of decency and not following through on it.

“You’re a scientist, right? Why not just find some nice planet to explore?”

“Is that any different from what we are doing now?”

“Without the guys out there trying to kill you. Probably one with more grass, too.”

“That would be best.”

“Let me reword it. If you could do whatever you wanted, what would you do?”

Tyra looked to the ground. Whatever she desired in the entirety of the universe. Without the adjustment of fate’s winding passages. Without the worry of death. Without a direct order to sway her mind.

“I don’t know.”

A solid pause. Tyra could hear the little droplets of water fall from his skin onto the metal floor.

“What would you do?” Tyra asked.

“I would go right back to Earth, sell this ship, buy myself a mansion, get a wife, and never leave bed.”

Tyra chittered. “Ha.”

“What, is that not good enough?”

“It is more than enough. I can see delight in an existence like that.”

“Something to keep me going.”

Tyra looked back to him and nodded. It may have been simplistic, but it was a drive to keep his mind focused. What did she want in all of this? She could not muster a response. To return to her work? Toiling over cataloging a peoples that would kill her given the chance, summarized for her own kind to better kill their foes.

“In your words, what is Earth like?” Tyra asked.

“Shouldn’t you know?”

“Generic facts are rarely so colorful as an anecdote might provide.”

“Mean, beautiful, and a hell of a time.”

“Colorful indeed.”

“Best description you’ll get, anyone else is lying.” Joshua slipped around the corner, no doubt to dress himself properly. “Why’d you ask?”

“It occurred to me that I might not receive the same opportunity to speak to a human.”

“Guess I just keep getting more special.”

“Indeed, you are.”

A shame such a special nature had to be gained from a dour situation.

“So, when do the buggers outside skip town?” A pause. “Sorry, I guess that was a little mean, huh?”

“Unlikely they will leave quickly. The opportunity for humans to reclaim a functional ship is a risk they will not want to linger. If they do not already believe it to be commandeered by humans.”

Joshua reappeared in his regular garb. “They guessed right.”

“In a way.”

And, he very well might have contributed to the human campaign were he able to actually return the ship. Tyra rubbed her mandibles together. It could have been argued that helping him to survive would only lead to some small boon to the very creatures that wanted to exterminate her, or at the very least imprison her.

“I’m used to being stared at, but not so hard.”

“Pardon me.”

Joshua was not pleased with that answer, doing that jaw and cheek shift to express discomfort.

“Look, let’s start this partnership thing over.” He approached her and stuck out his hand. “Can’t have you looking at me every opportunity and thinking something that might get me killed. You get it, right?”

“I have no intent of hostilities.”

“Then let’s shake on it.”

Tyra looked to his hand and grasped it. She could feel his pulse spark at that touch. Surprise or fear, he was certainly putting bravery to the test. There was a level of trust being put forward here, and she should do the same. She shook his hand, firmly but gently. The worried rate of beating veins slowed.

“Friends, then,” he said.

“Friends,” Tyra replied.

They parted hands.

“I’d offer to do whatever you guys do for an agreement, but I’m guessing I don’t have the parts for it.”

“It could be altered to a degree, yet I do not think you would enjoy it.”

“Yeah, fair enough. Alright, what now?”

“I would suggest we remain in the ship for a day or so. Our safest refuge. An approach may also be detected, giving some time to prepare an escape.”

“We shouldn’t be booking it as fast as possible? Even just gambling out with a jump seems like a better option.”

“First, the ship must be repaired. Second, we would have to clear a path for it.”

“And clearing the way is just going to reveal us pretty quick.”

“Far easier to notice us, yes. Were they closer to the planet and capable of finer tracking, I would suggest an escape. As for now, we will remain embedded in the depths.”

Joshua tapped his foot on the ground. “Anything else to do?”

“Rest?”

“Getting kind of sick of resting. At least on the ocean I could do some fishing.”

“That is the pathway presented to us. We may follow it, or stop and die.”

“Life just sucks that way.” He rubbed his eyes. “Alright, can we at least set up to start work on the pulsor things? I’m still working off the energy from nearly having my head smashed in.”

“I can see that.”

“I’m not vibrating, am I?”

“Agitated, certainly.”

Tyra waved him over, and the pair walked a little farther into the ship’s insides.

“I’m surprised that your boots did not keep you upright.”

“There’s a handy little feature built-in to shut off. You know, just in case a violent force happens to snap my ankles.”

“Clever. And a gruesome mental image.”

“Yeah, I’m good with those.”

A hatch on the wall opened readily at Tyra’s touch, revealing a set of emergency tools. Most of it was medical, but a few were more utilitarian. She took a light emitting device shaped simply like an orb.

“Not for playing catch, is it?”

“It’s for seeing. The light is quite grand for its size.”

Joshua mumbled something about size and nodded. They went back to the airlock, opening it up. A gentle breeze came from deep within the cavern before them, accompanied by a soft whistle. Tyra pressed on the orb and tossed it into the void. It glowed a brilliant white and bathed the space in a bright light.

“Damn, I might need sunglasses for that.” He rubbed his eyes. “Tunnel goes a way in, huh?”

“Far, far in.”

Despite the bright light, the tunnel refused to reveal all of its secrets. The inky black menaced them from a ways in. The ship had been partially submerged in dirt and fine sand. The tunnel was surprisingly robust all things considered. They stepped out onto the grimy hull.

“A creature might have made this tunnel.”

“I really didn’t need to hear that right now.”

“Unlikely that it is still here. If it were a dwelling, it would have returned to protect itself and its abode. Then, perhaps this is a mere side effect of it moving forward.”

“Great, it’s a giant earthworm.”

“Of sorts. I doubt it is a direct analogue to annelids, but it certainly must have a similar function. It must have contributed to the stability in some way.”

“Repairing?”

“Yes. Indeed. Repairing. This way.”

“Great.”

The spot where they had to repair was half-buried into the ground.

“That should be easy. So, what, we start with our hands?”

“You are eager to embed yourself in dirt?”

Joshua knelt down on one knee and grabbed a clump of the earth, letting it fall back down to the ground.

“You know how good it is to be on something solid?”

“I would think so, yes.”

Joshua glanced to the ship. “Right.”

“Nonetheless, I suggest makeshift shovels of some sort. We cannot be certain of the soil composition, nor what it will do to our bodies if it manages to work its way into our system.”

Joshua furrowed his brow.

“So what you’re saying is, I should wash my hand?”

“Among other things.”

He stood back up and reached down to wipe his hand on his pant leg before stopping. Joshua sighed, looking to his hand.

“As I said, rest would be our best option. After you clean.”

“Yeah, OK, fine.”