24

"Reports are coming in of a large scale fire in the capital city of Dendendintukar." The transmission of the news crackled as Zapasnoy entered the atmosphere of Abutuncostlo, the fog already beginning to affect systems. "Eyewitnesses state the fire originated at Johoh's Original Original pizza shop, where they also reported seeing graffiti stating 'Bad girl, Demi'. It is not yet known whether the Galactic terrorist is to blame for this latest atrocity, or whether it's all just a weird coincidence."

No matter how much Demi tried, she couldn't switch off the speakers within Zapasnoy's cargo bay with her implant. As stupid as Friss was, or pretended to be, he had remembered to tear out all the networked systems on Zapasnoy that the repair systems had fixed. It didn't really matter, but Demi had started to get more than a little annoyed at the apparent glee he showed every time another act of terrorism was attributed to her.

It was just another to add to an ever-growing list of despicable events that the news cycles felt certain she had performed. It didn't matter that, for some of them, at least, the incidents occurred far too close in time for anyone to have travelled from one to the other. Even with Lodka's odd, but effective, super-fast trans-luminal drive. It simply wasn't possible.

When one report had blamed her for the eruption of a super-volcano on one, little-known uninhabited planet, Demi had started to think the news agencies had started gambling on who could come up with the most farcical accusation without the general news-listening public scoffing at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. The red giant star going supernova due to her supposed actions had cemented that idea.

"Tell me, again, why we're using Zapasnoy for this? The systems are already fritzing and we haven't got within three miles of the fog yet." She had secured herself in the EVA suit, ready for the cargo bay doors opening. She wasn't taking any chances with what she had heard about this planet. "Wouldn't Lodka, being organic and everything, be a better option? And she's bigger, too. We could land and ..."

"No. No. Oh, no. Lodka isn't 'bigger'. She's ... well-rounded. Cuddly. She is perfect exactly the way she is." Almost in a panic, Friss did his best to comfort Lodka, knowing the ship was probably listening to everything they said. "Besides, yes, she's organic, which means everything down there will just see her as one big, average sized, I mean, meal. She's a little afraid, if I'm honest."

The volume of Friss' voice rose and fell according to which words he needed to say to appease Lodka's delicate ego and when he mentioned things he'd rather she not hear. Which was utterly pointless as she could, as previously pointed out, hear everything everyone said anyway. Lodka sat above the atmosphere, Bognrd still aboard. Demi would have preferred the ... well-rounded ship for this part of the job, if only because her sheer size comforted Demi.

"Ah, she's a beaut and no mistake?" Briyun, fastening a belt with a blaster holster attached, shambled up to Demi. Once the belt was fastened, Bri held out her arms, wide, pudgy fingers squeezing at something imaginary. "I love a ship with a big ..."

"Don't say it!" Friss almost spluttered over the communications and Demi reflexively began to wipe her face, though the forcefield helmet stopped her.

"... engine?" Little, stoat-like eyes squinting, whiskers twitching, Bri gave a little grimace. "Why? What did you think I was going to say? Of course, she also looks like a fantastic arse and legs? If I was human, I'd be envious?"

The communications with Friss crackled and faded out as Friss began to shout at Bri. Things had broken down between the two. Demi felt certain it was because Friss felt Bri had stolen his position as 'Clearly the most stupid person on the ship'. It could be other reasons, of course, but since Briyun had arrived it seemed Friss had put a little extra effort in saying the most insane things. Thankfully, he had paused that particular conflict for the duration of the mission.

The mission. Fly Zapasnoy as close to the technology breaking fog as possible without crashing. Once in a stable holding pattern, Briyun would abseil to the surface, whereupon she would fight her way to the exact location of the entrance of the underground facility, set off a flare telling Friss where to park and then everyone, except Bognrd, would rush into the facility before anything really nasty took notice of the succulent flesh things and tried to eat them.

The only problem with the plan involved Demi. According to the plan, she had to abseil to the surface as soon as Briyun found the facility and try to open it. Only she had the necessary implant and only she could open the doors. This, she felt, was an unnecessarily vague detail. Friss had called in a lot of favours for that information, but that was as far as it went. To open the facility doors, they needed someone with an implant. Friss' contact said nothing about encryption protocols, locks, layers of security or anything even the least bit useful.

"We'll be reaching the drop-zone in d minus one minute, twenty seconds." The communications miraculously cleared up after Friss had finished his tirade against Briyun's stupidity. The crackling remained, a little more crackly than before, but Demi could still hear the captain. "Now, don't forget Bri. Everything down there wants you dead. Everything. Don't waste time. Don't hang around and don't, whatever you do, smell the roses. They want you dead."

"No worries, Frissa? I'm as ready as a sausage that's all golden brown and sizzling on a bed of red hot glowing charcoal?" Bri gave a thumbs-up to the cargo bay cameras. "Hey? Let's have a beer and barbie party later? It'll be great?"

A crackling sound came from behind Demi. Not the crackling of the interference on the communications, but the crackling of conversation. Followed by crinkling, rustling, the sound fresh fallen snow stood upon by booted feet and a short, sharp, tearing sound. Demi hadn't even noticed Lap sitting on the cargo bay seats. They sat there, two-dimensional hands resting on two-dimensional knees. Demi still hadn't found a translation matrix and, without Friss here, she doubted she'd find out what Lap said.

"Too right, Lapo? If you want burgers, mate, you can have burgers?" Bri didn't notice Demi gaping at her. "Well, up and at 'em, I reckon?"

Even as Bri said that, the cargo bay drop door began to lower and a sudden wind rushed into the bay. Fastenings rattled as the cargo began to rumble and shift from the swift moving wind as Zapasnoy neared their destination. Demi's EVA suit automatically switched on her magnetic boots and she made her way, slowly, to the edge of the door. Bri didn't seem to mind anything. Not the gusting winds, not the struggle to stand upright. Nothing. In fact, she seemed to enjoy all of it all the more, leaning her head far out of the bay to watch the fog passing below.

Demi was not nearly as confident, but she joined Briyun to look out at the new planet below. She couldn't see anything. Nothing except a thick fog that looked far thicker than any fog she had ever seen. It almost looked like the old candy floss her parents had bought her, her brother and her sister on holidays. Or cotton candy, as some people called it. Wispy, but sticky, where fingers could only reach in so far before they became caught by the thin strands of sugary excess.

Lightning strikes flashed within the fog and, every time the lightning struck, Zapasnoy would shake and rattle, the crackling from the speakers becoming more insistent and pronounced. Friss didn't fly Zapasnoy any closer to the fog and Demi couldn't blame him. If it was this bad from here, she couldn't imagine what it was like at the surface.

"Are you sure you can abseil through it?" Despite the circumstances of how they met, Demi quite liked Briyun. She was fun and nothing seemed to get her down. Demi would hate for something to happen to her. "It looks thick."

"Yeah? It'll be fine? No worries?" Holding on with only one hand, Bri leaned out even further, relishing the experience as though it were her last. "Hey? Look? Hoppos?"

"Hippos?" Demi stretched out her neck to see. "They have hippos? I mean, I know they were dangerous, back on the Earth-That-Was, but ..."

"Nah, mate? Hoppos?" Swinging in the wind, Bri used her other hand to point downwards. "Rabbits? Ripper? Uluru?"

Before Demi could even try to work out what Briyun had said, the stoat-like woman, who Demi had never even asked what her species was called, released her grip on the edge of the cargo bay door frame. She fell, down, down towards the fog below, where Demi saw that Bri was not mistaken after all. She had said rabbits and that's exactly what she meant.

A great, towering rabbit. Its ears erupting from the fog first, lightning crackling up and down the long, fluffy things attached to a very definite rabbit head. A huge, very definite rabbit head that followed the fluffy ears, lifting out of the fog and roaring like some monster from old, old movies. A quick calculation and Demi estimated the rabbits to be almost thirty feet in height, rearing up on their hind legs. And Briyun fell past that enormous rabbit head, through the fog and out of sight.

Seconds later, Demi saw a ripple in the air as Lap jumped from the cargo bay, following Briyun down to the surface of a planet that DWAIt Corp had populated with the most vicious, deadly creatures and plants they could find. Neither Bri or Lap had even bothered with the abseil rope and Demi couldn't help but think they had both already died.