Waiting Shapeless

Chapter 13. Gnumus

Tyler: Human

The blazing red star above the planet burned the group as they trudged through the ruddy dust. They had to leave the shuttle behind, however functional.

It was an odd thing; it was not that every piece of technology stopped working past a certain point in the dust. They found that their Halos worked fine, and Bryalnus was able to continue communicating with the PPF officers through his suit.

Rather, it was any technology that was specifically being used to find Short refused to work. As an engineer, not only did this fascinate Tyler, but it also eerily disturbed her.

"So Heva," panted Jirabi as he trudged through the brown dust, "Does any complex life originate from Gnumus?"

Heva jumped a little when Jirabi spoke. She wasn't used to hearing his gruff voice speak her tender name.

"Oidians, I think." She said quietly after a short pause.

The group had been walking through the large dunes of dust for almost an hour now. The planet's star had baked the dust to the point where there seemed to be an equal amount of heat coming from the dust.

"Oidians?" Repeated Jirabi, looking off into the distance where a small herd of large hairy beasts were grazing. They seemed to be chewing on the dust itself. "Is that what they are?" He nodded in the direction of the big beasts.

"Does that look like a complex life form to you?" Muttered Bai, glaring at the hairy creatures.

"Be respectful, EkirBai." Snapped Byralnus.

"...We probably won't see any Oidians." Mumbled Heva, "They lived on Gnumus hundreds of years ago, but no one has seen one since."

"Oidians!" Exclaimed Jirabi thoughtfully. "Wait, I recognize that name! If I'm not mistaken, that species plays a big role in the formation of the CSC, right?"

Byralnus nodded. "Our Conservation of Species Committee was formed after the Oidians went extinct. No one is sure how they died off but the formation of the Pentaverse was blamed. And now we have a job."

"And SO glad to be here." Bai muttered under her breath.

Fortunately for her, Byralnus hadn't heard the last comment. Tyler suppressed a smile.

The team had to walk side by side to avoid kicking the dry, filmy dust into each other's faces. It didn't matter much at that point though. They were all caked in it from head to toe. Their planetary suits were going to need a serious cleaning after this trek, even the reflective halos that hug above their heads lost some of their violent shimmer due to the encasing dust.

Tyler felt filthy. The dust stuck to her sweaty body, turning her skin a dirty, tan color. The team had lost a lot of stamina on this little nature walk to find Short. Tyler wondered if they would even be able to capture it once they found the Circuit.

"So let me get this straight." Panted Tyler, breathing heavily as the team reached the top of a small hill of dust. "We're going to walk around until we find Short's wrecked Circuit ship, then we're going to let the PPF know where we are so they can search for Short?"

"Yes." Answered Byralnus. "And we will assist them in the search."

The group stopped to catch their breath. Most of them were fighting to keep the sweat out of their eyes, all of them were panting.

All except Byralnus. He just didn't breath.

They had stopped at the peak of a smaller mound of dust. The trail of dust behind them hovered in the air for several seconds before sinking slowly back to the ground, an effect that suddenly reminded Tyler of walking through a silty lake.

The ruddy dunes surrounded them like a boundless ocean. It was almost frightening for Tyler to look out and see a vast expanse of nothing. There were no landmarks, no points of reference. Just small mounds of endless dust. They could be walking in circles for all she could tell, and would continue doing so until they died of heat exhaustion.

Tyler looked up at the crystal Feronus. "Why didn't we just have the PPF look for Short instead of us having to wander around in the sun for hours on end?"

"Jacobs," Byralnus said, trying not to lose his patience.

"...It's Tyler , Byralnus" interrupted Tyler. She regretted her sharp remark immediately after saying it, but the heat and dust was staring to wear on her.

"Captain Byralnus to you then, Miss Tyler." Frowned the crystal. "The PPF is not here to do our job for us. They are simply here to aid us if things start to go sour. Besides, I did not expect it to be this difficult to find Short's location."

The group stood in silence for a moment as they caught their breath.

"What happened to the Oidians, Heva?" Said Jirabi, awkwardly bringing back the topic. It wasn't often one could get much out of Heva, but this seemed to be a topic she was actually willing to participate in. She was after all the team's species expert.

The group resumed their trudging in silence, occasionally glancing at Heva as they waited for her response.

"No one really knows." She finally said quietly.

"Well, I can't imagine anything living very long on this forsaken dust-bowl." growled Bai. She yelped as a large cloud of dust hit her strait in the face. "Probably died of suffocation." She coughed dryly, trying to wipe the soot out of her eyes.

"Did this use to be a more habitable planet, Heva? Maybe a change in climate killed off the Oidians?" Jirabi suggested.

"No..." Mumbled Heva, glancing around at the barren scene. "No, it was something else that killed them. Though nobody really knows. They blame it on the organization of the Pentaverse though, just like you said."

"Team seven!" Exclaimed Byralnus. They had reached the top of another small dust hill. There was a hint of excitement mixed with relief in his voice. "What do you make of this dark object in the distance?"

Tyler stopped and squinted in the direction Byralnus was gesturing to, but she saw nothing but more dust and sand.

She wasn't too surprised that she couldn't see anything. Human eyesight could hardly compare to eyesight of the other beings in the Pentaverse.

"Yes I see it," said Jirabi, "It looks like... well... it doesn't look natural. It might be a ship."

"We are looking for a wrecked ship of some kind. If I'm not mistaken, this one resembles Circuit design! We may have finally arrived!" Byralnus said excitedly.

Tyler tried once again to see the wreck.

"Its okay, dear." Whispered EquirBai to Tyler. "I can't see it either. To be honest I think they're just making it up."

Tyler smirked and took another look. Yes, there was something there. With some focus she could see a thin, curved dark shape far in the distance.

"You think Short might be in there, Captain?" Asked Tyler hopefully.

"That's what we're going to find out."

"...More likely for him to be in there then hiding in one of these dust piles I suppose." Said Jirabi, kicking the dust up.

The dust cloud flowed directly into Bai's face.

"Jirabi!" She screamed, wildly trying to fan it away from her face.