A Fortunate Accident – Chapter 25

Back into the jungle. I need to return to work and drown myself in tasks that have nothing to do with my actual life. I had a routine going before this brief trip to the city, and it would be a shame to lose that momentum.

Right now, every part of my life is stressful. There is no relaxing. Life on the Amagi is strained, with talk of it being repossessed and Carlos digging through my dirty laundry. The time in the jungle is aggravating with the plants, animals, and military incursions. My love life is bound to give me an ulcer. Saif’s family wants to do business with me and make me one of theirs. Kalvin’s mother is sick and he’s worried about her. And now Takemo is trying to butt in where he doesn’t belong, and I can’t get rid of him.

As the shuttle circles the landing field, I stare out the window and go over my options to make this easier. There aren’t many. Sigh. I wish I had called Vivian or Amira while I was on the ship and had a reliable duonet connection. They would have had advice for me.

Regardless of what they would say, I need to keep going. India Dellis’s initial deposit is sitting in my bank account, ready to be spent. If I want to invest in my future, I need another few months of employment under my belt. Hopefully, this new network mate Marcelo is working on will work out for me, though I dread having to do this whole first-date song-and-dance again, especially when I’m worried about the others leaving. Everything is a lot more complicated when my heart gets involved.

My head is not in the game. I’m way too wrapped up in my own drama to concentrate on anything else. I adjust the bag at my feet and think about the next steps. Next steps, Skylar. Just put one foot in front of the other and keep moving.

“We’ll be landing soon, and then we’re heading straight into the jungle,” Luca says, leaning across the aisle to speak to me. “We had to abandon our use of the gem mine. Unfortunately, the military caught on and started setting up camp around the perimeter. People flying in and out and staying on the mine’s property are fine. The minute they step out of the fence?” He slices across his neck with his hand.

“Really?”

“Oh yeah. If they aren’t killed, they’re picked up and thrown in prison for treason.” He sits back in his chair. “That’s what they’re calling it nowadays, treason. As if they run everything in the Duo Systems.”

“Don’t they?” I ask with a snort. “The military has always been a bunch of assholes with delusions of grandeur. They think they own us.” I flex my fist. “They stole my ship a few years ago. Stripped it to almost nothing. It took over two years to put it back together.”

“So you’re not friends, then.”

“Understatement of the year. I’d be happy to see them erased from the timeline.” I rest my head back in the chair as the shuttle makes a quick descent. “Something needs to be done about them, but like ten years ago. It’s too late now.”

“Yeah,” Luca agrees. “The upper ranks are full of Reformer sympathizers now. Absolute egomaniacs. And getting rid of them would take a miracle.”

The shuttle lands with a soft thump, and the engines power down.

Luca slaps his legs and stands up in the aisle.

“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. You all will get changed into the camouflage gear, just like usual. When the shuttle door opens, my men will be out first at point. They’ll sweep the grass to the forest, and we’ll follow. It’s a four-kilometer hike from here to the new camp.”

I groan and close my eyes.

“Sorry.” Luca shrugs. “I know you’ve been on the run a lot lately, but this was the closest we could get.”

“On the run is another understatement.”

Now I understand the constant pressure Vivian was under when she was dealing with the stress of buying back the family farm land. I’m locked in an eternal dance of earning money, wooing potential network mates, and saving my ship from being repossessed. And that’s just this week. Who knows what other shit the universe will dump on me next week?

I inhale and straighten my shoulders.

“No matter,” I say, standing up. “We’ve gotta do what needs to be done.”

Luca grimaces. “That’s the kind of thing I hear from people who are at their wit’s end.”

“Yeah, well, comment on it again, and we’ll have words about it,” I grumble.

“Message received.” He turns to hide a slight smile on his face, but I see it.

Sigh. I wasn’t trying to be cute. I’m just exhausted.

At the front of the shuttle, the guys crowd around an open duffle bag of clothes. Takemo already has a camouflage shirt and pants on. Saif and Kalvin are looking through and trying to find their sizes.

“How you feeling?” Saif asks, holding out a shirt and sizing me up. He frowns and puts that one in the bag. “You look tired.” He finds a better shirt for me and hands it over.

I slip into the shirt, layering it over my t-shirt.

“Um, I’m okay. But yeah, tired. I spent several hours staring at the ceiling, going over everything. I should have slept more.” After buttoning the shirt, I tuck it into my pants. “But it’s a proud Kawabata trait to forgo sleep in favor of worrying.” I tap my fist to my chest twice and raise it. “Power to the eternal gods of worry.”

Saif chuckles. “It sounds like we had similar nights.”

“Same,” Kalvin says, pulling on the camouflage pants. “Though I was thinking about the Amagi and how to safeguard it against Dominic.”

“I was thinking about my sister and this business proposal she has for us, how we could make it all work.” Saif hands me pants.

I hold the pants for a moment and swallow, my throat dry. “You all were worried about me?”

“Yeah,” Kalvin says, running his hand through his hair. “Of course.”

“You, the network…” Saif nods as he watches me get into my pants. “Our future.”

I turn to Takemo. He raises his hands. “I slept like a baby last night.”

I roll my eyes. Of course, he did.

“Let’s get going, everyone!” Luca calls from the shuttle’s door. “I want to get to the camp before dark.”

Me too. There’s no way I want to spend an evening camping in the jungles of Rio.

We line up behind Luca and his men at the door, and I psych myself up for this jaunt back into the jungle.

The doors will open, and it’s going to be hot. Just warning you, Skylar.

Of course, I’m already sweating. But I would rather be hot any day than cold. I’d sooner be here than on frosty Neve. I’ve been there before, and it was not fun. Not by any definition of the word. I take a last sip of water from my bottle before storing it away.

The doors will open, and Rio will be out there. Just warning you again, Skylar.

There could be squid in the bushes, monkeys in the trees, green snakes in the grass. There could be so many things out there ready to eat me, ready to chase me. Remember, this is why Luca and his team are with us. They’ll know what to do.

I breathe in and out, one, two, three times, while the shuttle door opens and the gangway descends to the ground. The shuttle immediately becomes hot and sticky, and my face sweats.

Here we go.

Three of Luca’s men sweep out ahead of us. They kick at the long grass and keep their eyes trained either straight forward or on the ground in front of them. Takemo is next, and Luca and I walk out behind him. Kalvin and Saif bring up the rear with more of Luca’s men.

“This area is rich in flora and fauna.” Luca’s eyes scan the tree line. “It’s the main reason why we’re here, why the military is here. Did you know that other continents on Rio don’t have as much biodiversity as this one?” He points at the ground as we get closer to the tree line. “This is the holy grail of Rio plants and animals and why Renata and India won’t give up this camp.”

“Yeah, I did know. Have you been to all the Rio continents?”

Rio has eleven continents, and most of the ten floating cities of Rio are over the shoreline of each of them. The continent at the south pole is the only one lacking a city. Instead, there’s a space elevator there for hauling heavy cargo to orbit and down.

“No, but I have been to five. None of them are like this one.”

We call this continent Primeiro, just like the city above and to the south of here. Primeiro was the first continent ever explored and built upon. From space, inside the rings of Rio, the diversity of flora is plainly evident. I can imagine the first explorers pulling up in orbit, waiting and watching, and then the looks of awe as the continent came into view. Lush green jungles, clear pools of lake water, several river systems, mountains and grassland, and a long sandy shore. They probably said, “Ooooh! What’s that?,” pointed, and landed lickety-split.

Who could blame them?

I think those people set one foot out of their ship and died when sea snakes snuck up on them. The colonization of Rio took a long time to figure out.

The hair on the back of my neck stands up as we reach the tree line.

“Something’s not right,” I say, keeping my voice low. “I can’t put my finger on it.”

“Yeah.” Luca lays his hand on my arm and looks up at the trees. “It’s… quiet.”

“Too quiet?” My heart races, and my mouth dries.

“No birds,” he says, his eyes scanning the surrounding trees.

I follow his eyes and trace ahead and behind his sweep.

Fuck.

I spot movement in the forest back and to our right rear. What kind of animal is hunting us now?

Wait. The long barrel of a gun and camouflage gear reveal themselves between the leaves.

It’s not an animal.

“Shit. It’s the military,” I whisper at Luca. “Behind us to the right.”

“Yeah. I don’t think we’re surrounded. We got lucky and chose the correct direction. Unless they have a spot to ambush us farther in. You know, push us into a trap.”

“What should we do?” My voice shakes as adrenaline flows through me.

“Split up. Scatter. You have the GPS beacon, right?”

I nod. We all have them in our bags. There’s no way I’d be on Rio without one.

“Okay. We evade our tail and get to safety. Then turn on the beacon and be sure to key it to Athens channels only. No general broadcasts, or it will lead them right to us.”

“Got it.” I tighten my bag on my shoulders.

“Ready?”

I nod. “Let’s do it,” I say, raising my voice.

“Do what?” Saif asks.

Luca raises his voice over the sound of the grass. “Military behind us and to the right. Possible contacts ahead. Scatter and meet at the alternate location in two hours. Go.”

My legs take off before the rest of my body knows what’s going on.

I aim left and hope for the best as the report of gunfire echoes through the trees.

“Go, go, go!” Kalvin calls out from behind me.

I keep going and don’t look back.