The drive had been eerily quiet so far. Apart from the odd frozen animal, the roads had been rocky but barren. No life, nothing, just a cold, silent stillness, interrupted only by the roaring engines of the eight-wheeled truck.
“How long have we been driving for?” Arksi asked from the back seat. “It feels like a really long time. Sun still hasn’t set though.”
“Probably because the planet isn’t rotating,” Verlais muttered. “But I don’t know how long we have been driving for. The clock here says 14:58 and I’m pretty sure it’s not three in the afternoon…”
“Unless we’ve been driving for almost a whole day!” Kindyna added. “I doubt it, but considering that the only things not affected by time are us, we have no idea! Arksi dear, could you pass me one of those chocolate sticks please?”
Arksi tutted, then leaned back to where Ct’Era was. “Ct’Era, can you get yet another chocolate stick please?”
Ct’Era looked up from the Zonta carcass she’d been chewing on for goodness how long now. She had forgotten how much she hated travelling inside wheeled vehicles and the carcass was the only thing distracting her from getting nauseous.
“Of course.”
She passed the stick to Arksi, who passed it forward to Kindyna. Kindyna waved a thank you then ate the stick in one go.
“You know what?” Verlais smiled, abruptly changing the subject. “Considering that this is Zonta territory, I have not seen a single Zonta!”
“They ARE invisible most of the time,” Arksi tutted. “You don’t see them.”
“That and we’ve got half of one in the back that Ct’Era’s eating. Are you done with that yet?” Kindyna exclaimed.
The Banikan ignored Kindyna’s complaint and continued chewing. Really, it wasn’t that nice, all thin and gristly. It was probably half starved when they killed it, so there was no decent meat on it.
“What I find odd is that it only seemed to take interest in eating other beings when I told it not to…” Arksi muttered. “We checked around on the ferry and it hadn’t attacked anyone else or infected anyone or whatever.”
Ct’Era stopped chewing and looked up from her meal. “Zonta like to play with their prey. It was most likely toying with you. The adrenaline makes the flesh sweet-OW!”
The truck hit a large bump, causing Ct’Era’s horns to scrape along the ceiling. Verlais slowed down and glanced back behind him.
“Sorry, friends. That hole was far larger than it looked. I’ll try to be more careful.”
“It is fine…” Ct’Era grunted.
Verlais turned his attention back to the road and started driving again. The road for the last ten kilometres had been mostly tarmac but now it had changed into a sort of gravelly, off-road path, meaning that he’d have to take it slow. At least that would be the case for the next hundred kilometres, after that, it was nothing but rocks and grass.
Everyone fell silent for a while, lost in thought. Arksi idly stared out of the window, Ct’Era contined to chew on the dead Zonta and Kindyna inspected the map she’d been holding.
“I’ve been wondering…” Verlais finally broke the silence. “Ct’Era, may I ask you a question?”
Ct’Era tutted. “Fine. What do you ask?”
“Well… What were you doing on that shuttle to the Portalia space port?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?” Kindyna butted in. “You were clearly going somewhere!”
“Well, where were you going?” Ct’Era growled.
Kindyna paused, then dutifully answered. “I was planning on heading back to my place in the Thanytai Forests on Thanatia 2, for a well-deserved holiday. You lot?”
“I was going to see my family,” Verlais rolled his eyes. “They’d demanded that I drop my duties as a member of the Myst and see my dying great uncle who hates me.”
“I was going home to see my husband…” Arksi sighed.
Ct’Era sneered, then felt bad and started talking. “Fine… I was planning on heading to Zia. Lioiona. The Banikan city. Over the last century, Cassid activity has almost died. Pollution is gone. The seas freeze better.”
“You were planning to invade Cassid territories?” Verlais asked.
“No!” Ct’Era quickly countered. “No! We wanted to negotiate with Cassids. Give ourselves more space. Zia was a Banikan planet until Cassids took it from us. We were to meet in Lioiona to discuss. Words, not actions.”
“So why hide it from us?” Kindyna had several questions. “Or why not take it to the Maza rather than act in secret?”
“Other races fear us!”Ct’Era protested. “You are all scared. Harder to listen! Even fewer are willing to speak with us.”
Arksi reached round towards Ct’Era. “I can see that. You Banikans are a little bit scary… But…”
“We cannot help how we look.”
“I know. No one can. But perhaps, when this is all fixed, we could vouch for you?”
Ct’Era blinked. “What do you mean?”
“What Arksi is saying is that the three of us, perhaps we could pull some strings, get some more attention to your cause!” Kindyna explained. “After all, Arksi’s a Ksa, I’m the Royal Spy of the Thanatians and Verlais is a member of the Myst! All high ranking folk. You two would be willing to speak for Ct’Era, right?”
Arksi nodded. Verlais though wasn’t paying attention.
The truck slowed down, then ground to a halt. Outside the vehicle, everything was dark. Clouds had appeared, making it look like night.
“Where did the sun go?” Kindyna gasped.
“I think we’re getting close…” Verlais muttered as he turned on the headlights and started driving.