Starforged Solo: Session 5
Into the night, toward Balefire.
From the Journal of Zaramirra Wolfe
Ria agrees to continue our exploration, she’s even chipper about it, or this is what I tell myself this in order to condone my decision to head straight out into the cold night like a fool. I keep her scanners on a low, vigilant setting, and take the extra precautions to check for any Keeper probes that might have been dropped in the wake of the outward expedition. They no doubt crossed this expanse only hours before me.
The cold stings through my jumpsuit, but I thank the stars that I went the extra distance to get the magnetic bonding threads in my cloak. William laughed about it on Chiron when I had the thing made years ago. Nobody would appreciate such an item in the deserts of Chiron, that I knew. The planet is a sweat box where people run to hide and forget the galaxy, or work the mines in the hopes of becoming rich. Neither worked for me. I could do little to explain my interests in exobiology to the people there, despite its utter importance to the future of us all. Though at times I am uncertain about the future myself, and my endeavors seem wasted. Sometimes I doubt myself and often ask: why am I still searching for an answer to a question that even I can’t pose? I only have fragments to lead me. I suppose I’m better off living like this, always moving, always looking for the next best discovery. I really would be useless matter in one of those pre-ordained Covenant cubes. I’ll take the biting cold over that kind stasis in any hypothetical or lived scenario.
Suddenly, Ria’s scanners light up. I’m close enough that only I can see the bot’s halo indicators in the darkness. The Balefire on the horizon is much closer now. It pulsates in waves between jagged rocks that jut upward out of the tundra. I remind myself that this is a cracked place, unpredictable, and prone to breaking unexpectedly. Ria’s seismic reports, downloaded by Murad’s team before we set out, show the rising intensity of the quakes. It’s a beautiful, vital, world, this Demeter. But something is lurking deep below the surface. Perhaps that is why I am here, why I have traveled so far.