By T M Romanelli

A Story From the Helionox Chronicles

After landing in the main hangar and making sure the teams from the other sites were accounted

for and safe, Petra went straight to the flight deck. She hadn’t bothered doffing her suit, but she

removed the helmet and carried it at her side. The civilian crew, all of whom were mission

specialists in various departments, heard the heavy sound of her boots in the passageways, and

quickly cleared a path when they saw the tight expression on the Senior Flight Officer’s face.

The command crew had gathered around the central holographic console trying to formulate

some kind of rescue plan, and Petra took a place next to Rojaan as they all listened to the XO’s

situation report. The supercell remained in place over Site Four and showed no signs of

dissipating, with internal windspeed exceeding 300 KPH and unpredictable shearing effects at

various altitudes. The ice shards and ground debris prevented flight operations, and remained a

lethal threat to any surface team if they deployed. Galen tried to address the odds of survival if

Haru had been unable to find adequate shelter, but his voice trailed off.

“Right. We’ve initiated an active surveillance posture since the storm started, but can anyone

recommend other alternatives?” Vahn asked her staff, looking at each of them in turn.

“Specifically, something that would allow us to approach Site Four without risking another

dropship or the crew?”

“You should’ve let me fly to Site Four before conditions made it non-permissible,” Petra stated

in the silence that followed, perhaps with more defiance than she intended.

“We had the best vantage point from orbit, Petra,” Vahn responded firmly. “The conditions were

an unacceptable hazard, so I made the decision to recall the surface teams. If I had given you the

go-signal, we’d still be here at this console but planning a larger rescue mission.”

The flight deck had become very quiet, save for the background murmur of various stations and

internal comms, as the other members of the command crew observed the verbal exchange

between the Captain and the SFO. Vahn remained the stoic professional, and she had chosen to

tolerate Petra’s insubordination because the younger officer was fatigued and stressed. There was

also little to be gained by arguing about circumstances beyond anyone’s control.

Petra slowly pinched the bridge of her nose with her gloved hand. “I never should have allowed

Haru to proceed into the crevasse. This is my fault.”

“You made the best decision with the information you had at the time,” Vahn reminded her. “No

one’s second-guessing your judgement on the surface. You were also responsible for the team at

Site Three, and you brought them back safely.”

“I could have considered the ‘unknown unknowns’,” Petra admonished herself, and saw the

curious looks from her crewmates. “It’s something Haru told me before we left. She said that-”

“What the fuck is that?” one of the other officers asked, pointing to the satellite console. They

shifted to that station as the Junior Flight Officer narrowed the scan to focus on a specific area. “I

have a strong IR source at Site Four. Lit up like a solar flare. And… it’s moving.”

“Can you identify it?” Vahn asked the JFO, who continued to adjust the sensor sweep.

“It’s Cosmo,” Petra said quietly, and briefly explained the properties and power of its radiators.

“Do we have comms?” Vahn inquired, but Petra shook her head. Only Haru could talk to the

rover on a secure channel established with her visor or helmet interface. The satellite live-feed

showed the rover moving methodically in an alternating left to right pattern, zig-zagging the

glacial plateau. The EM detectors indicated Cosmo was pinging a transponder signal to the

beacon embedded in each environmental suit.

“What’s it doing?” asked Galen, as the assembled officers watched the rover advance through the

heart of the storm, completing another segment before shifting direction yet again.

“Bozhe moy,” Petra said softly, awestruck at what she was seeing. “It’s looking for Haru.”

______________________________________________________________________________

Haru’s delirium at the bottom of the crevasse waxed and waned. She had deactivated the suit

illuminators to preserve what little battery power remained, but then remembered she still had

some chemlights. Drawing one out of the exterior pocket, she pushed the tab down and weakly

shook the device to mix the binary compound. Nothing. The liquid interior had frozen solid.

Guess I’ll just stay in dark.

She labored to keep her mind organized, but the hypothermia made her thoughts increasingly

fuzzy. Haru sifted through the timeline of events that had brought her to this dire situation, and

retracing her steps back & forth provided some structure and focus as she tried to stay awake. In

reverse order, there was her fall, the storm, a search for the local wildlife, the descent into the

crevasse, and… and…

What came before that?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

“Break it, and you’ll be buying it.”

That was the first thing Haru said to the woman who had walked over to the kiosk she was

managing at the industry exposition and where her employer hoped to get a new mining contract.

On exhibit were several of the drone modifications she created to improve the efficiency of the

reaction control system, and small monitors around the kiosk loop-played short sequences of the

custom-fabricated conformational nozzles. She did not want to interact with anyone and

absolutely objected to some random stranger poking at her specialized equipment.

The woman, who had not introduced herself and seemed to lack an identity badge, was young-

appearing and plainly dressed. The unwanted visitor was clearly not a management type or even

another vendor scouting the floor to keep a competitive edge, and she ran her finger along the

shape of the engine outlet, peeking inside and examining the multi-unit configuration attached to

the drone frame. Haru’s current employer knew her background and expertise, and wanted her to

secure a new contract with a subsidiary of Tomatsu Heavy Industries, a task that was completed

during the morning session on the first day. Her obligation fulfilled, Haru had intended to spend

the rest of her time safely isolated behind the display, reading an interactive manga on her

dataslate.

“Do you work here?”

“Yeah. This kiosk is my kingdom,” Haru admitted with a heavy sigh. She put down her dataslate

and stood up so she could get this over with as soon as possible. “I’m a ComPro who mostly

contracts with independent clients. I also have a lot of experience with S and M.”

The woman blinked a couple of times as she digested this information, and opened her mouth as

if to respond but thought better of it. She looked uncomfortable, and it took a moment for Haru

to realize that the visitor was blushing. Her misunderstanding was absolutely radiant.

“Fuzakeru na!” Haru cursed out loud, irritated at the stranger but also at herself for making

assumptions about the woman’s technical competence and familiarity with industry jargon. “I’m

a commercial prospector, not a prostitute! And those are the spectral type of asteroids where I

usually work a claim. I drill and do onsite refining of nickel and cobalt, but my boss also has a

sweet tooth for platinum where I can find it.”

“Oh. Sorry. I just thought that…,” the woman attempted to awkwardly explain her confusion, but

gave up. Haru made an effort not to roll her eyes, and said nothing more in the hopes that the

woman would simply leave. “Did you make these modifications yourself?”

Haru nodded with gritted teeth but offered no further details.

“It’s a clever design,” the visitor observed. “Especially because the unique shape of the nozzle

outlet can deliver an increase in specific impulse without changes in chamber pressure. Restarts

with hydrazine derivatives would be more reliable, and it looks like you could generate

additional burn times with the same propellant mass.”

“Wait… what?” Haru stuttered, not expecting a concise summary of the design parameters that

guided her fabrication process. “Are you with one of the mining conglomerates?”

“No, no,” the woman answered with a little smile. “I got my certificate in applied spatial

engineering from Polytechnica. I like engine design, that’s all. These units are pretty slick.”

“Thanks. I’m a Polytech grad, too,” Haru said, realizing she had also made some wrong

assumptions. “We must’ve been there near the same time. When did you advance?”

“Oh, it was… awhile ago,” she responded cryptically. Haru and the woman were a similar age

and had probably shared some of the basic required courses. “The ‘Introduction to Hydraulics in

Microgravity’ series was a struggle for me at first, but at least the seats in Meacham Hall were

comfortable.”

“Say again?” Haru asked, furrowing her brow. “Wasn’t that one of the buildings damaged in the

big riot that started in the Mercantile District? It’s been sitting on campus unused for 25 years.”

“Oh. I must have misremembered,” the woman admitted, before changing the subject. “What

about yourself? What’s your technical certification?”

“My primary is in geological engineering,” Haru answered after a moment, thinking it odd that a

fellow grad would have forgotten a simple detail. “I’ve also got secondaries in metallurgy and

bacteriochemistry. Most of the time I’m rock-hopping the Inner Belt for small companies, but

I’ve done some limited-term assignments for the Big Three at the end of the Phobos Elevator and

one on Cypress Station.”

This last detail seemed to be of special interest to the woman, who looked at Haru as if seeing

her for the first time. Haru wasn’t sure what to make of this encounter, as she had already

resigned herself to dealing with customers that didn’t know what they talking about. The current

visitor was technically knowledgable, but also seemed weirdly out of place.

“Interesting…,” the woman said after a few moments, looking directly at Haru in a manner that

was vaguely unsettling. “The person I actually came here to meet didn’t show. I was going to

offer them a job, but I’d like to offer it to you instead.”

“That’s nice, but I already have a job,” Haru said. “Look, I don’t even know your name.”

“How rude of me,” she said, acknowledging her lack of etiquette and giving Haru a genuine

smile. “My name is Lysirah.”

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Cosmo completed another section of the search grid, reversing course and continuing the pattern

as it neared the edge of the crevasse field. The rover kept pinging for the transponder beacon in

Haru’s environmental suit, but was unable to locate its companion. Thermal imaging had

detected nothing on the plateau, and it was uncertain if Haru had even made it back to the

surface. The ground penetrating scanner had not detected any abnormal surface features,

specifically the outline of a temperature-neutral environmental suit that contained a body.

When the surface search pattern was completed, Cosmo was positioned on the ledge above the

crevasse. Its multispectral optics array scanned the terrain below, indicating that the storm had

advanced into deeper areas of the fissure and would eventually occupy its entire volume. If Haru

had taken shelter at the bottom, there was limited time before she would be killed.

The emergency protocols ran continuously in the background, issuing directives to abort the

mission, retreat to safe conditions and return to the staging area. The new algorithm did not

silence them, but it remained the priority command regulating the rover’s activity. It assessed the

difficult terrain below, identifying several hazards that would be complicated by its mass and

dimensions. If it got stuck down there, self-recovery was unlikely to be effective.

<Self-preservation measures conditionally functional>

<Protocol 00 remains in effect…>

<Find and protect Haru>

Cosmo went over the precipice and began its descent into the stormy crevasse below.

______________________________________________________________________________

Haru was entering the terminal phase as she succumbed to hypothermia, and started to

hallucinate where she laid at the bottom of the crevasse. There was a stream of small, furry

creatures emerging from the holes and who playfully crawled all over her suit. Perhaps they were

carnivorous, attracted by the blood residue on the suit’s exterior, and she wondered if they would

eat her alive or courteously wait for her demise. At one point she thought they had gotten into the

suit itself, but she was so numb anyway that it didn’t really matter.

There are a million ways to die in space, especially when minor errors can escalate into lethal

outcomes with surprising speed, but being consumed by the native wildlife was not high on her

list. After she had accepted Lysirah’s offer, and before she joined the Pathfinder’s crew, Captain

Vahn required them to watch that stupid training film. If her intent was to be transparent about

the dangers they would encounter on a deep space expedition, then her mission was a glorious

success. By the way, did you know this is an experimental spacecraft with an engine that creates

its own subspace tunnel to the great beyond? Please complete your liability waiver. When Haru

considered the endless variety of mechanisms that would get her vacced, the one that freaked her

out was the concept of zero-G drowning. She imagined becoming trapped in an amorphous blob

of liquid that could be water, fuel or perhaps raw sewage. Absolutely charming. Sign me up!

A red glow appeared in her peripheral vision, and she thought she felt a warmth that couldn’t

possibly exist where she was at the bottom. Perhaps she was hallucinating about Cosmo, which

seemed fitting in what little time was left. Who would look after Cosmo when I’m gone? Haru

figured these weird sensations were the final hurrah of her nervous system, one last attempt to

keep her alive as her vasculature dilated to divert the warmed blood that remained in her core to

the periphery so she didn’t auto-amputate her fingers and toes. She had planned carefully for this

mission and tried everything to extricate herself from an endless string of misfortune, but the

unknown unknowns disregarded her preparations. I hope Petra and the others got off in time.

Sproing!

The familiar sound was close enough to penetrate the howling winds careening down the sides of

the fissure, and then the turret’s blinking lights filled her fogged and iced-over faceplate. The

multi-spectral array scanned the prostrate astrogeologist, and Cosmo used its manipulators to

insert a cable into the suit’s auxiliary port to supply power. The rover deployed its mounted drill

to carve out a rectangular depression on the ice floor that was sufficiently deep and wide enough

to carefully deposit Haru. The rover squatted over the area, like a mother hen incubating her

eggs, and was able to significantly slow Haru’s hypothermia and protect her from the high-speed

ice fragments driven by the storm that had finally reached the bottom.

Haru couldn’t explain how any of this had happened- how her companion had survived the

vortex above or how it had sought her out despite the obvious dangers that would have violated

its emergency protocols. She thought about the trench it had dug for her, and wondered where

such creativity had originated in the primary AI core. It’s not a grave, you fool! It’s a bunker. As

Haru laid there, she swore she could hear Cosmo through the auxiliary channel it had

established, her companion singing a soothing lullaby as they waited out the long, cold dark.

Just another hallucination, Haru concluded. Probably.

______________________________________________________________________________

“That’s where it stopped several minutes ago,” the JFO pointed out to the command crew, as they

examined the satellite feed that showed the IR source had planted itself along the floor of the ice

trench and remained immobile. It was unclear why Cosmo had ceased moving, and there was

speculation about a mechanical fault or the possibility that it had located Haru, or her body. No

one knew if this was still a rescue attempt waiting to start, or would become a recovery

procedure. Whatever it was going to be, there was nothing they could do until the storm passed.

“Okay. This remains a rescue mission, until we have definitive evidence otherwise,” Vahn

announced to her crew. “Set a watch with rotating shifts until the storm clears Site Four. Petra, go

get some chow and a few hours in your rack.”

“I’ll take the first watch,” Petra declared. “I owe that to Haru.”

“No, you’ll get yourself fed and rested,” Vahn corrected her subordinate. “Refresh that suit, too.

Then you’ll be fit to lead the rescue mission when conditions allow it.”

“Yes, Sir. Thank you, Captain,” Petra answered, and nodded to her commanding officer before

leaving the flight deck.

As the JFO settled at his station to continue surveillance on Site Four, the other command crew

dispersed to perform various duties. Vahn walked over to the main viewer that extended from the

flight deck floor to the ceiling, its high-resolution display arranged as a split-screen showing the

multicolor, swirling storm masses on one half and a live orbital image of the planet’s more serene

landscapes on the other. Vahn slowly closed her eyes, and considered the pattern of her own

decisions and how they had culminated into the morbid uncertainty they now faced. A combat

veteran who had witnessed the many horrors of war, she discovered that her practiced

detachment was faltering when she thought of Haru. Vahn blamed herself, as a matter of course,

because she had approved the mission.

She sensed another presence and saw that Rojaan had silently moved next to her and was

watching the same feeds on the screen. While technically not part of her command crew, Vahn

did not object to his attendance during the briefing, and found his demeanor brought a measure

of calm and determination to the grim proceedings. There was also no doubt in her mind that he

had an opinion about her leadership during this crisis. Experience had taught her to confront any

dissent head-on, but as she turned to engage him, he spoke first.

“Lysirah is very fond of you,” Rojaan said softly, delivering this subtle disarmament with a warm

smile. Vahn was taken aback by the emotional weight of the non-sequitur, and forgot what she

was going to say. He looked directly at the Captain. “Did you know that? I thought you should

know that, and also that we explicitly trust your judgment in this emergency.”

“I’ve asked myself if I would feel differently about what has happened if Haru was simply the

victim of abject carelessness. Perhaps I would find some comfort in the rationalization that her

plight was the inevitable outcome of the poor choices she made without sufficient preparation or

accountability,” Rojaan pondered aloud, and Vahn found herself listening with rapt attention

because his thoughts reflected her own.

“Haru is frankly incapable of such negligence. She is intelligent, predictive and focused, armed

with a menu of back-up plans while the rest of the mission specialists are still figuring out how to

get their boots on. Nature possesses an undeniable power to make us feel impotent, even when

every reasonable, preventative measure has been taken. It does not subscribe to any sense of

fairness and all too often renders meticulous planning irrelevant. I’m certain that Haru, with her

appreciation for the ‘unknown unknowns’ would agree with this sentiment, if she were here.”

“In that context, what you said to Petra was insightful- about how our decisions can only be as

good as the information we have at the time,” Rojaan continued, examining Vahn’s expression as

he deftly read the moment. “And if you’ve considered apportioning blame to yourself, Captain, I

would ask that you take heed of your own advice.”

Vahn gauged his words and accepted the essence of Rojaan’s reasoning. She was also seeing a

different side of him, and had anyone else tried to speak with her in this manner, she would have

angrily dismissed them for their presumptive arrogance. He had told her what she needed to hear,

and conveyed his wisdom with the respectful familiarity of a trusted friend or mentor.

“You’re an old soul, Rojaan,” Vahn said, and placed her hand on his shoulder. “I’m glad that

you’re part of this crew, and that I have your counsel.”

“An old soul…,” Rojaan repeated, pausing to consider the idiom’s paradoxical nature before he

grinned mischievously. “I’m only 122.”

Vahn smiled, too, thankful for the dignified levity he brought during this difficult time. She

checked the ship’s chronometer. “It’ll be dawn in a few hours. The storm may have cleared by

then, and we’ll send Petra with Ashto and some of the others who have medical training down to

the surface. Whatever they find… well, we’ll bring Haru home.”

______________________________________________________________________________

Shortly after dawn, the storm ended as suddenly as it began. Pathfinder’s high-resolution optics

module and synthetic aperture array had located debris scattered near the edge of the crevasse

field. Petra launched from the main hangar with the medical team and their equipment, piloting

the dropship through partly cloudy skies directly to Site Four, where she conducted a low-

altitude pass over the area. The entire crew was vested in the rescue effort, and Vahn had

permitted the comms traffic to be relayed to the galley and common area since the fight deck was

not large enough to accommodate everyone. As the crew closely followed Petra’s cockpit

transmissions, the atmosphere around the ship remained tense, but hopeful.

Ultimately, the mission would prove to be brief, and modestly anti-climatic.

Four large cairns, each composed of recovered parts from the site’s ill-fated dropship and which

included an unused biocontainer, were arranged at the corners of a large square. At its center was

the rover, scuffed, dented and missing part of a radiator, signaling with its optical array in the

dorsal turret. Next to Cosmo was another piece of dropship salvage- a curved portion of the

exoatmospheric thruster cowling that had been used as a make-shift litter for Haru, who slowly

raised her arm and delivered a weak wave to her rescuers. As soon as Petra relayed her

observations, the sense of relief and elation was immediate, and Vahn could hear the cheers of

the mission specialists further down the corridor from the flight deck. The command crew was

just as ecstatic, although they expressed themselves with more professional restraint.

Petra landed a short distance from Cosmo and Haru, and Ashto directed the other crew members

with medical training as they quickly assessed the patient, disconnected Cosmo’s umbilical and

gently moved Haru to a smaller stretcher. They transferred her to the cargo hold where they had

installed a trauma pod and could begin aggressively treating shock and hypothermia. Petra had

no comms with the rover, but positioned herself in clear view of its optical array and used hand

signals to lead Cosmo up the ramp where it settled in the rear compartment. One of the crew

complained about the lack of space and Petra tersely responded that no one was getting left

behind. With a wicked smile visible through her faceplate, she told him to watch his feet.

The burn back to Pathfinder’s synchronous orbit and docking was uneventful, and Vahn met the

rescue team in the main hangar. Parts of Haru’s environmental suit and inner garment had been

removed to access the serious injuries, and the Captain noted the astrogeologist’s mottled

complexion marred by uneven, partial thickness burns across numerous areas that had swollen

and started to blister with rewarming. Ashto reported that Haru remained in critical condition and

would need surgical care, but she shifted her oxygen mask with difficulty and said something to

Vahn before the crew transported her to the medbay. The Captain watched Petra perform a series

of hand signals in front of Cosmo, after which the rover turned and trundled across the hangar

floor to enter the passageway that led to the drone depot and Haru’s workshop.

“You speak Robota?” Vahn asked of her Senior Flight Officer, who shrugged and explained that

she presumed the rover was programmed to follow basic spacecraft marshalling signals like ‘face

me’, ‘proceed to station’ and ‘connect to power’. The Captain agreed with this logic, then relayed

Haru’s brief message. “All she said was ‘too wobbly’. It was hard for her to speak, and she

seemed disoriented, but it sounds like she believe’s the planet’s a no-go. Any ideas?”

“Too wobbly?” Petra repeated, trying the decode the obscure reference, and then realized what

Haru had meant. “Captain, I think there’s something we should look at on the flight deck.”

______________________________________________________________________________

A short time later, Petra was seated at Haru’s station in the command center, searching through

the console’s directories that the astrogeologist used to store data and manage the planetary

surveys. Vahn and Galen stood behind her while she scanned the screen, and flinched slightly

after Petra let out a loud ‘ah-ha!’ when she found the file labelled COSMIC PACHINKO. She sorted

through the contents, which included numerous animated simulations depicting the motion of

planetary bodies based on the ecliptic coordinate system and data streams describing Cartesian

vectors, axial precession and variable heliocentric longitudes.

As a command-grade Telemetric Engineer, Lieutenant Petra Korolev was qualified to navigate

the System Fleet’s capital warships, but it still took an effort to comprehend the specific

properties that were the impetus for Haru’s proposed drilling mission. She shared her analysis

with Vahn and Galen, using the simulations and supporting data to guide the briefing.

“This segment, the arc in green, is the Goldilocks zone that suggests the planet would make a

suitable colony site,” Petra pointed to the display, orienting them to the simulation. “But Haru

also considered the possibility of orbital path fluctuations due to the proximity influence of other

planetary bodies. In this case, the system’s two gas giants that have a periodicity significant

enough to alter the orbit. This pattern repeats over the course of succeeding epochs, and creates

aphelionic resonance which produce extremes in the geoclimatic conditions. Follow me?”

“You sound just like Haru,” Galen observed, and Vahn placed her hand across her mouth to cover

the smile that was forming there. “Blah-blah-blah because science. What does it mean?”

“Let me increase the simulation’s speed so you can see for yourself,” Petra said, adjusting the

parameters to show the expected changes. The planet’s trajectory weaved irregularly when the

gas giants passed by it, creating a dramatic “wobbling” that eventually ejected the planet from

the green zone entirely. Galen and Vahn were stunned by the implications of this model, and

Petra told them that the global climate would undergo cyclical freezing and thawing until the

planet settled into a persistent ice age as it was displaced further from the sun.

“God’s Blood. When does the next orbital shift happen?” Vahn asked, concerned about the safety

of Pathfinder and her crew. Perhaps they would need to break orbit now to avoid the danger.

“Let me check…” Petra responded, reviewing the data on the screen. “About 2500 years.”

“So… we’ve got some time,” Galen said, noting that his Captain looked relieved. “Tell me, if

Haru had this data, then why did she need to risk our lives for some ice cores?”

“This is a just a model,” Petra reminded the Executive Officer. “Haru probably wanted more

tangible evidence of past climate change that would prove the recurring pattern of orbital

instability. I think the cores will show the frequent freeze-thaw cycles and confirm her theory.”

“Well, it sounds like we won’t be calling this place home after all,” Vahn announced, sounding

disappointed. “Good work, Petra. Thanks for explaining Haru’s data.”

“I don’t think either of you really appreciate what she’s accomplished,” Petra stated, looking at

the Captain and XO in turn. “It would have taken the Astrometrics Department of Elysium

Polytechnica several weeks to math out the orbital mechanics and extended projections of system

instability. Haru did it on her own over a few days during her spare time. I used to believe she

was just an egotistical snob, acting like she was smarter than everyone else, but I was wrong.”

“Damn,” Petra said, looking at the body of Haru’s work on the screen. “She really is… brilliant.”

______________________________________________________________________________

The light was too bright when Haru finally opened her eyes, so she waited for her vision to

adjust before scanning her surroundings. The presence of nearby monitors, intravenous tubing

and infusion pumps indicated she occupied one of the trauma pods in Pathfinder’s central

medical section, and she could see the double row of cryotubes on the other side. Petra sat next

to the pod, wearing a small headset and moving a stylus across the dataslate on her lap. When

she noticed that the patient was awake, the Senior Flight Officer said ‘hey there’ before notifying

Ashto on the intercom, and the replicant responded they would be there shortly. Haru was still a

little disoriented, but aware enough to know that she had survived her ordeal.

“Did everyone else get off?” she asked Petra, hoping that the other surface teams had escaped.

“Yes,” Petra answered firmly. “The crew’s been having a continuous orgy while you slept.”

“What? No, I meant… Really?” asked a baffled Haru as she wondered just how many training

films the Captain had, but then noticed Petra had arched an eyebrow to mark her playful teasing.

“I walked right into that, didn’t I? How long have I been out? I don’t remember many details…”

Haru lifted her hands and examined the dressings she found there, encasing most of her fingers

and forearms. Some of her exposed skin was covered with a clear gel, while other areas had been

replaced with square patches of colored NuDerm that imperfectly matched her natural

complexion. She raised her head and looked down at the protrusion under the thermal blanket,

clumsily pushing it aside to reveal the temporary external fixator that pierced her flesh and held

her fractured lower leg together while the osseous foam set completely. Haru’s eyes started to

well up and her breathing quickened, as the extent of her recent trauma threatened to break her

composure. Attention all crew- standby for Haru’s emotional containment failure in 3, 2…

Petra placed a hand on Haru’s shoulder and started talking.

“You were in a coma for about 48 hours but you’re awake now,” Petra reported, getting straight

to the point because she knew the astrogeologist despised bullshit. “You actually woke up

yesterday but weren’t making much sense. All your fingers and toes are still there, and the other

injuries have been treated. I can tell you everything, but it’s going to be an info-supernova, and I

don’t want to be interrupted. Promise? Ok. This is what happened…”

The other surface teams were able to evacuate in time because of Haru’s warning, but couldn’t

stage a rescue while the storm raged. Cosmo had been temporarily disabled, performed a self-

recovery and then ignored its emergency protocols to risk itself searching for Haru. The rover

provided essential life support while waiting out the storm, extracted Haru from the crevasse and

then marked a landing zone for the rescue dropship. Ashto and some of the other crew stabilized

Haru in a trauma pod during the burn back to Pathfinder. Before they could celebrate, Haru

experienced severe complications from the rewarming procedure. Petra couldn’t remember the

term Ashto used to describe the critical event, but-

“Hyperkalemic cardiac arrest secondary to reperfusion injury,” Haru stated, and Petra gave her a

stern look for disrupting the highly-organized narrative. Haru sheepishly added, “Sorry.”

Ashto used the ship’s ECMO unit to resolve the medical emergency, but it was enough to

overwhelm Haru’s weakened condition. There was no other neurological injury on the diagnostic

imaging, so they just needed to wait for her to wake up while Ashto treated the orthopedic and

dermal trauma. Haru was expected to make a full recovery.

Applying the doctrine of ‘ask for forgiveness, not permission’, Petra used Haru’s visor to

communicate with Cosmo so she could keep the rover informed about her condition. Cosmo had

become something of a folk hero among the crew, even though no one could explain how Haru

had programmed it to do things semi-autonomous platforms are incapable of doing. It was

Petra’s non-expert opinion that Cosmo had triggered its own sentience somewhere between the

glacial plateau and the depths of the crevasse, and advised the astrogeologist that she may want

to carefully consider the implications of that development. Nevertheless, it had rescued Haru’s

skinny ass at a time when the storm prevented Petra from doing so, which was a heroic act

worthy of praise and the Captain was planning an informal celebration of the crew’s exploits.

Petra also presented Haru’s doctoral thesis to the command crew, explaining why the orbital

wobbling of PCS57-31 made it an unsuitable colony site, and the ice cores remained in storage

for Haru to examine when she was ready. Although technically a bust, Captain Vahn said the

planet could be developed as a logistical hub for future expeditions, allowing ships to perform

maintenance and replace stores from forward-staged caches. Concerned about the loss of the

dropship, drilling equipment and cryofluid used for the mission, the Captain had ordered

Pathfinder to return to base in a few days. Vahn had also granted the crew some much-needed

R&R near the equator, and suggested it would be a good place for Haru to start recuperating after

Ashto discharged her from medical. Petra concluded her detailed synopsis with ‘the end’.

“Are you hungry?” Petra asked, reaching behind her and opening a refrigerated storage unit in

the medbay. Haru realized she was starving, but didn’t want any liquefied nutritional

replacements. Petra laughed as she removed the lid from a container and passed it to Haru.

“That’s good! Because you can’t use a straw for this.”

Haru looked inside and her mouth watered when she saw the large piece of chocolate cake. Petra

passed her a fork and wished her bon appétit. Haru closed her eyes with the first bite. It was the

best chocolate cake she ever had. She looked at Petra and asked if she had another fork.

They were still eating and talking when Ashto arrived to assess Haru’s recovery.

______________________________________________________________________________

“Now shift left about 2 meters,” Haru instructed, watching the dataslate display as the rover

performed the maneuver. After its exposure to the arctic storm, Haru had conducted a global

diagnostic on Cosmo’s mobility system, tuning various elements and replacing others. Then they

tested the system to confirm there were no residual faults with the articulated legs. She had

already installed a new radiator vane with a spare from the workshop.

Sproing!

“Sorry, Cosmo,” she said to her companion with some disappointment. Using the titanium cane

Ashto had given her, she moved to the nearby bench and sorted through the components that

were spread across her workspace. “I wanted to get you fixed up before we re-enter cryosleep the

day after tomorrow and head home. We’ll purge your gremlins eventually.”

The rover pivoted towards Haru, rotating its turret and flashing a sequence of lights in response.

Haru had also worked on the main chassis, smoothing the larger dents with a hydraulic hammer

and applying an adhesive plunger to the minor deformities. At Cosmo’s request, Haru left the

divots and dings on a section of its forward glacis plate, to be a reminder of its experience with

the arctic storm. For Haru, the color and textural variations between her natural skin and the

NuDerm on her hands and forearms served the same purpose. Each carried a survivor’s mark.

“Yes, I suppose the minor glitch gives you some character,” Haru agreed with her companion’s

acceptance of its own imperfections. “We could just leave it alone if it doesn’t bother you.”

More flashes emitted from the optical array, and Haru followed the scrolling dialogue in the new

visor she wore. The model was thinner, lighter and transparent, similar in style to the sleek

wraparounds used instead of biomembrane corneal inserts. She sketched the preliminary design

in the medbay, and produced the first prototype on a small printer in the fabricator compartment

after Ashto had cleared her for limited duty. There were two small cases stacked on the

workbench, each containing six frames nested in protective foam. The top case was open and had

an empty space from where Haru had taken the visor she was using now.

“I really should have done it sooner. The old version was bulky and a bit too slow. I made several

spares in case I broke one or two,” Haru answered. More flashes.

“No, you’re right. I’m not careless in that way. I had a different reason for making more. Let’s

talk about that,” Haru said, sitting down on a nearby chair and leaning on the cane while she

spoke. “After our recent misadventure, I thought about what your future might look like if I

wasn’t around. Before I signed on to the Pathfinder, my work was quite solitary and it made me

very self-reliant. I did fine on my own. Or I thought I did. But, … I don’t want that for you.”

“The extra sets are for other crew members,” Haru continued, trying to gauge Cosmo’s response

with its limited capacity for expression. “And since you’ve shown some remarkable self-growth,

maybe it’s time to come out of your shell- Sorry! Poor choice of words. Don’t take it literally

like I’m removing you from the chassis. I just meant that you seem ready to explore new

relationships with people other than myself. Who? Oh, well I thought…”

Cosmo shifted its turret and flashed a rapid sequence of lights, informing her of a visitor. Petra

had poked her head around the bulkhead door, and knocked to get Haru’s attention. Haru waved

her on, and Petra told her they needed a minute to get organized. A small procession of officers

and a few other off-duty personnel was led by Vahn as they entered the workshop, turned in

unison and came to parade rest in front of Haru and Cosmo. Petra pointed to Haru’s visor and

asked her if Cosmo was able to hear the proceedings, so Haru activated the frame’s external mic.

Vahn held a minislate in her hand and began to read from it as she addressed the assembly.

“Haru Chiaki, for your meritorious service in support of the Pathfinder’s mission, and

recognizing your actions that provided for the safety and welfare of its crew at considerable risk

to yourself, you are hereby awarded the Legion of the Human Corpsicle, with Snowflake Cluster.

Lieutenant Korolev, you may present the commendation.”

Petra stepped forward and placed the award around Haru’s neck. A central white stripe split the

baby blue ribbon that dangled a Vitruvian Man encased in a 3D ice cube. Haru did her best to

keep a straight face at this good-natured ribbing, and Petra shook her hand and said ‘well done’.

“Cosmo, for your meritorious service in support of the Pathfinder’s mission, and recognizing

your actions that provided for the safety and welfare of the ship’s hapless astrogeologist,

performed at considerable risk to yourself, you are hereby awarded the Order of the Arctic

Guardian, with Sunburst Device. Lieutenant Korolev, you may present the commendation.”

The magnetic medallion was 10 cm across, etched with the rover’s turret and six radiators that

spread out like wings, positioned atop an ice field with a trench at the bottom. Petra reached over

to Cosmo’s chassis, and attached it to the section of the front glacis that was marred with divots,

before she carefully shook one of the manipulator arms and said ‘outstanding job, sir’.

The front right radiator rose, pivoted and gradually descended so that it nearly touched the top of

the rover’s turret. No one knew what this action meant, until the rover strobed its lights and Haru

read the scrolling dialog on her visor. Surprised but pleased, she informed the Captain that this

was Cosmo’s approximation of a salute. Vahn nodded, came to attention and returned the gesture.

Following the ceremony, the crew mingled and drank in the drone depot among Haru’s special

facilities that she had installed on the Pathfinder when it was fitted out. She coordinated the

Lightning Runs from the flight deck, but the primary control of the drone swarms was performed

by the helium-cooled server farm which occupied the far corner of her workshop. While Galen

and one of the junior officers examined some drones in partial states of assembly, Petra had

donned one of the new visors with Haru’s encouragement, and listened closely as the

astrogeologist summarized the frame controls and user interface options. Before long, Petra,

Haru and Cosmo were deep in discussion about some technical detail of the device.

“Never thought I would see those two become friends,” Vahn observed, taking a moment to

reflect on how recent events had shaped her crew in unexpected ways.

“Shared adversity is the path to common ground,” Rojaan quoted in response to the Captain’s

comment. When asked about the proverb’s attribution, he smiled coyly. “They didn’t sign the

fortune cookie. When you’ve been around as long as I have, you get to read quite a few.”

Haru and Petra got Rojaan’s attention and invited him over to show off the new visor sets. Vahn

shook her head and smiled at how the centenarian remained wrapped around Haru’s finger, and

would probably be co-opted to join Team Cosmo, enshrining the rover’s inclusion in future

missions. She really couldn’t blame them. And since Vahn was responsible for all of the crew

aboard Pathfinder, perhaps as Captain she’d get a fancy visor of her own.

“I have a great ship and fine crew,” Vahn reminded herself.

Sproing!

“And Cosmo!”

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