NOVEL NEXT 230: Once In A Lifetime
RORY
I stepped off the landing platform of Brigten 8 and onto springy grass. It was a wide, open savannah of wheat-colored, knee-high grass, bludes grazing nearby. They were a little bigger than cows but had hides more like elephants with droopy snouts and short, swishing tails. Most of them were blue-grey, but some were speckled with black and dark purple.
The air smelled of dust and grain as my skin absorbed the heat from the bright sun above. Brigten 8 was beautiful as we'd made planetfall, covered in rolling grassy hills, sparsely populated, and loaded with ranging grazing animals. It was more nature preserve than colonized world, though the people who lived there would certainly argue otherwise.
Usually, the sphere saw very little of off worlders, but this autumnal eclipse was a once-in-a-lifetime event, so there were more tourists than usual. We'd rented yurts along the Pinet River, so it'd be like upscale camping for four days, which was fine by me.
The weather was warm and comfortable, and the air dry, which was a welcome change after the tropical planet we'd visited called SlumberMoon. It'd been a glorious stopover for snorkeling, and Sly and I saw a twenty-foot octopus in the wild far, far beneath us when we'd been floating on the surface of a 30-foot-deep, crystal-clear turquoise bay. The seafloor below was cluttered with grey stone, but when something started moving, we paused and were rewarded as the octopus peeled itself off the rocks and shifted its way over the ocean floor.
Breathtaking. Amazing. Unforgettable. That trip had been outta this world, but the overwater tiki huts were sultry humid, and we had to sleep beneath mosquito nets, so not exactly romantic. I rated it like Mindy and Juel wanted, giving it 3.5 stars. Honestly, I loved everything about it, but would've like slightly nicer accommodations. In that humidity and with the bugs, a yacht would've been a much better choice, but the rest of the trip was something I hoped to do again before I died. Yep, it was that good.
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The advantage to the overwater tiki huts on SlumberMoon was that we could see down into the bay and watch all the life around us, and whenever we wanted, we could slide into the water. Oh yeah, there were night scenes. When we got sick of the mosquitoes and the heat, we cooled off in the ocean. Or got hot in the ocean, however you like to think of it, so there were definite pluses to that arrangement.
Looking around our Brigten 8 yurt, I was impressed. The floors were polished bamboo, and the bathroom ample. All of the furnishings were soft, and the bed was an inviting floor mattress covered in layers of pillows and blankets. Just perfect. We dropped off our bags and headed for the outdoor dinner.
That first night, the whole tour group was pitching in to help with meal prep. We'd all agreed to it before disembarking from The Chaser because we'd gotten to know the kitchen staff in the two weeks we'd been traveling. Everybody felt like friends, and after two weeks relaxing on vacation, we all were happy to do chores. Didn't really seem like work, did it? Nah, just felt like pitching in helping friends get dinner ready.
So, I peeled potatoes that Susette chopped while Slydar minced onion and Rhianne sliced strawberries. Dinner came together over an open flame, and every bite was delicious. Yeah, I gave it all the stars, no matter that we had to do the washing up. As night set in, we sat around the fire downing pints of ale and swapping stories about kids who did nutty things and in laws who went bananas at all the right times.
Susette got a little too tipsy and with that came weepiness about her old friend Sal, the mirka who'd passed a few years ago. Tissues were passed around, and Juel got to talking about the 'ole dog she grew up with that had only three legs but lived to be eighteen.
The night wore on like that 'til we all collapsed in our yurts, full of good food, the best ale, and even better memories. The next day was one for the history books, so stick around for that story too.
