That Which Devours

My father’s eyes landed on me, and my brother, as I stepped forward. “I heard you learned a new skill category out in the jungle. Good job!” This was directed at me, and I blushed. “It should help you unlock a better class and skills, when the time comes.” Skill categories were like the bucket that skills and classes touched. For example, Mary the hunter probably had a Hunting skill category along with Stealth skills. It made it possible for her to learn Invisible Passage, which seemed to be a combination of the two.

“I did, and thanks. I couldn’t have done it without the others,” I added, stepping up to join the group of them.

Len smiled and then excused himself. Sasha quickly followed, becoming lost in the crowd.

“That was nicely done,” said my dad. “You understand the politics. Unlike some people…” He glared at John.

“I get them, I just don’t care,” said John. He shrugged.

“Well, you’ll like this one then. Take Alex with you tonight.” He stared at John like he had something to say, but couldn’t. “I can’t leave right now, too much is happening. A week away will do Alex some good.”

“That could work,” said John slowly, as he turned to me. “It will give me time to teach you how to fly…” His words came out slowly, like he was testing the waters.

Dad nodded, a smile forming. “That’s perfect. Absolutely perfect. The more skills and abilities the better.” He paused. “Make sure Greg isn’t an ass. He can be harsh.”

“All the miners are like that.” John laughed. “He’s excited to flee back into the mines, and get back to talking to Sang.”

“Introduce Alex to Sang, too. Maybe see if their personalities click. The colony would love to have a crystal singer here, especially with the expansion into the cliffs.” He glanced between the two of us with a grin.

“I better start prepping things then, if you aren’t going,” said John. “I’ll also remind Greg to be kind.” John hurried off into the crowd.

“Alex, walk with me,” said my dad. He moved toward the community house, but kept going past it instead of going inside.

I quickly caught up with him. “Do you think I could be a singer?” A crystal singer could sense crystals in the mountains and unlock various skills around working with them. They could shape crystals into points like my spear tip, make inventory crystals, and the other things that those with attunement could do, but the rumors were they could do other things, too. I knew John had some skills with crystals he’d unlocked using his engineering class as well

“Maybe, maybe not. Either way, taking some time away from the colony is a good thing right now.” His answer didn’t make sense, and he paused until we were away from people heading toward the lake. “Some changes are coming that not all of us agree with.”

“Isn’t that why the Council is three people, instead of one?” I asked. That was the whole point as far as I was aware.

“It is, but some classes can give specific individuals certain advantages.”

“Is that why you won’t teach me yours?”

He hesitated for only a moment, then continued. “My class isn’t something I would wish for you, but if you aren’t a singer, I will teach you about it.”

My eyes widened. He had sworn a month ago that he wouldn’t teach his class to anyone, that this new world didn’t need someone with those skills. Now, here he was changing his mind. The hair on the back of my neck rose. Something big had to be up.

“Okay, that’s a plan then…” I said to fill the silence, before adding. “Len thinks classes will change with time. Is that even possible?”

My dad let out a sigh. “It’s already happening, Alex. Everything evolves – classes, skills, even abilities and titles.” He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced around. “It’s why getting away for a week will be good.”

My father kept walking down the trail in the field next to the lake. There was a log at the end, which he sat on. “The colony is stable for now, and hopefully it will continue that way for a time.”

“I mean, things have to be going well if new kids are going to be born.”

He froze. My dad, who never spooked, froze. Then his shoulders relaxed. “Just focus on getting a class,” his voice was barely a whisper. “Hopefully on this trip, or at the mines, but if not, when you arrive back we’ll go on a camping trip to see if you can learn mine.”

I didn’t understand, but he held up a hand, stopping my questions. Back at the gathering he hadn’t seemed to mind that I didn’t have a class. Now, here he was, pressing me for the first time since we’d made planetfall. “Everything might be better by the time you and your brother arrive back. Who knows, you might find one of the missing dropships.”

Shade started hitting the valley, bringing a cool breeze to the air by the lake. The last of the sunlight reflected off the water in a multitude of colors. It caught on the tower of rocks stacked on top of each other on the far side. Our monument to the dead, and all those that hadn’t made it through the crash and the early days. Burying bodies didn’t work, since we needed the land, so we burned them and mixed the ash into the soil. The soil made bricks, of a sort, and we stacked them. Each was a monument, a memory, a lost soul, and one more reminder of how hard it was simply to survive here.

“John didn’t seem too confident of finding one,” I finally said.

My father frowned. “It's a needle in a haystack, and we don’t even know if they fell before the spine blew. Which means, of course, the needle might not even be in the haystack to find.”

I shuddered, thinking of being stuck in the cold-sleep tube. After our ship had dropped from the spine, I’d hit my head and everything went dark. That was because the spine of the ship blew up. All the batteries exploded at once. Even having the three dropships out of five manage to bring down survivors was lucky. Very lucky.

“Well, we made it,” I finally said. “Even me, and no one thought I would make it.”

My father reached out, placing his arm across my shoulders. His voice came out choked. “Don’t remind me. It was the scariest moment of my life, getting to your tube. We weren’t sure if you were still breathing.” He shuddered. “It took so long to get to you.” His hands clenched into fists, then he released them.

“Just some head trauma,” I said with a smirk. “It couldn’t keep me down.”

He pulled away and stood up. “I need to chat with John about some details, since I won’t be able to join you. Keep an eye on the time. You don’t want him or Greg waiting on you. Greg is intense about being on time.”

I nodded as he walked quickly away, heading back toward the gathering. I took a moment before standing up from the log. My focus over the last couple of weeks had been on learning skills, and potentially a class. In turn, I’d missed something that was going on, something my dad knew about but didn’t want to say. Something related to the tension Len’s words had stirred up on the way back from the hunt.

Finally, I got up and made my way through the field, studying the crops. This was Benny’s work. His biologist background, and the seeds that had made it through the crash. The lush plants that filled the area were the crops we needed to survive and stay healthy. John flew the shuttle that connected the colony to the other settlements… and dad. Dad had a military background no one would talk about. I didn’t even know anything about it from before we’d left; it was just a big black mystery that he wouldn’t ever say a word about.

Yet, he was sending John and me away for a week. What did he think was going to happen?

I could guess that some people might put up a stink about welcoming kids when we all were struggling for food and dry housing. But honestly, I wasn’t sure, and just kept moving as the sound of music filled the air again. Felix must be excited to play again. Harsh voices rolled out of the shuttle, sounding like John and dad getting into an argument. I wanted to detour that way and find out what was up, but for once I kept going. They could keep their secrets. I already had too much going on in my head. Before I got around the corner, I heard my name being called.

“Alex!” John stood in the distance. “Come on, we need to prep the shuttle.”

I spun around and headed toward the shuttle after all. Dad wasn’t anywhere to be seen. “What do you need help with?”

“Not much, just stick close. Greg is on his way with a cart. We’ll need to strap a few things into the cargo hold, then as soon as it's dark enough we’ll be off.” He stomped back toward the ramp with a frown.

Greg appeared from the back of the community hall. His dark shaggy hair looked clean while his overalls looked worn. He had to be around my dad’s age, but his eyes were younger, brighter. He easily pulled a cart filled with two crates, both made from the thick plastic from the dropship.

“Looks like you’re joining us.” Greg’s eyes studied me before he continued. “Should be an interesting trip. You can keep him company once I leave.” Greg yanked the cart up the back ramp near one side. “It’ll be good to get back to work in the mountain.”

“Couldn’t you work on the tunnel project here?” I asked, moving to help with the crates.

“Eh, my skills are better used for finding metals and crystals, rather than carving out tunnels and rooms.” He shook his head, easily lifting one of the crates. That’s what levels and stats did for a person, made them stronger and faster than normal.

John grabbed a strap on one side. “Alex, grab the other strap and we can lock this in place.” I handed over the strap to John and he quickly tightened it down, while Greg moved the other crate to the other side.

“What are we trading to the mines anyway?” I asked.

“Just stuff,” said Greg, his eyes shifty. “Things they need that we have extra of.” He moved quickly once the cart was empty, disappearing down the ramp.

I turned to look at John, but he was already rushing to lock the other crate into place. His eyes caught mine, and he shook his head, telling me to leave it without saying a word.

“You can take one of the back seats,” he said, moving toward the front of the shuttle. A seat sat behind the middle of the dashboard, then two seats to the right facing the center, plus one seat on the left. There was an empty space where a seat had been, but it was gone. I guessed it was the only seat in the other shuttle.

I sat down, wondering what to do as John sat down in the pilot's seat. “Buckle up, I’m going to get the shuttle up and running. Greg should be back in a moment.”

I quickly clicked the harness in place and tried to watch what John was doing, but it was hard from this angle since my seat was behind his.

Greg dashed up the ramp, looking out the back. “Let’s get this shuttle moving.”