One week after our anxious return to Data Haven, Cleve and I head out again, and this time Marina Citali accompanies us. With the harrying of Morgan’s Planetary Security Force left in the capable hands of Chloe’s and Tenoch’s teams, we drive eastward to where the Stepdaughters of Chiron are based. I give Marina the front passenger seat; Cleve’s doing the driving, but she’s the one who knows where we’re going. The rover is far less cramped than last time I was in it, and there’s enough leg room in the back for me.
I sit behind Marina, on the right side of the vehicle. My left arm is doing much better, but I don’t want to risk it getting slammed against the side of the door if we go through any particularly rough terrain. I’ve been good about consistently exercising the hand and arm so that the muscles don’t weaken, but the bones themselves still aren’t quite fully fused. I haven’t tried any full body exercises yet, like pull-ups or push-ups, not even planks. Most of the time, I keep the brace on and the arm protectively in a sling against my chest under my poncho. Thankfully my facial bruises have faded enough that I no longer need the morning makeup routine.
The rover’s trunk is loaded with supplies, the survival gear and rations we’ll need for the next several days, plus scientific materials. Data Haven has contributed a laptop with what I’m told is an impressive GPU, and we have the data drives from our cryopods. Marina has also brought much of her xenobotantical collection. It’s a diverse set of plants and fungus local to the Data Haven area—as well as a few from over the pass in Morgan lands that I found for her. The biome around Marina’s home is different, so many of these can’t be found there. Although she’s seen aquaxenofungus before, the particular one I found in a spring is different enough to include in this shipment.
Most of Cleve’s attention is on negotiating the wilderness, but Marina and I are free to chat. After all, according to Cleve we don’t have to do anything in here other than sit and try not to die. He does occasionally comment on the topics of conversation. He’s not just our driver, after all, he’s also Datajack Prime, along to formalize the alliance between Data Haven and the Stepdaughters of Chiron.
From Marina, we learn a bit more about the structure and society of the Stepdaughters. For example, the actual name of their main settlement: the Garden of Chiron. She’s told me before about how the population has a mix of researchers and environmental activists. Now I get to hear specifics about individual groups. There’s a loose association of seafarers called the mariners. They do fishing but also naval exploration. Marina thinks our new type of aquaxenofungus will be of particular interest to them.
Cleve has questions for Marina about how the Stepdaughters of Chiron chose their settlement location and the amount of exploration they do. “Did they migrate from a crash site to better territory?” he asks.
“The Garden of Chiron is where they made planetfall,” she tells him. They’ve done a lot of exploration out from that location, though. With their much larger population, they’ve used up all the supplies they had from Unity, unlike Data Haven. We’re talking ten thousand or so people, much like the Morgan domes have. “There are a number of people really interested in exploration, but it’s harder to do inland. Certainly, people do it, but with the miasma you have to be very, very careful,” Marina says. “Researchers have been working on different treatments for it.” The miasma blocker shot, for one.
“So is there less miasma over the ocean?” I ask.
“It is still there,” Marina cautions me, “but yes, there is less. A lot of explorers prefer that route. They’ll seal up their boat to make it as safe as possible, and even then, they tend to operate mainly at night to be safer—in terms of miasma. There are plenty of other dangers on the water.”
“Ah, so that’s why Morgan Industries has been able to spread so well,” Cleve observes. “They’re basically uncontested where they’ve set up.”
“Yeah, and they’re willing to plow over any native life,” Marina adds. “The Stepdaughters, we try to work with the local environment.”
“Right, right, right,” Cleve says, nodding along as he guides the rover around another briar patch too thick for us to roll on over.
I ask Marina more about the University of Chiron. She estimates the University is about the same size as Morgan and the Stepdaughters as far as population goes. “If they can field the kind of technological equipment you described, they must have resources. Laser guns? Those weren’t on Unity. They had to research, prototype, and manufacture those.”
“As far as you know, are these the only three major powers in the neighborhood? Morgan, the Stepdaughters, and the University?” I ask.
“The only ones I’m aware of,” she replies.
“Well, with the University already allying with Morgan, that makes Data Haven’s case a little stronger, even though we’re not so big,” Cleve says.
I take exception to that description of the state of affairs. “I don’t think there’s a real alliance there, so much as a mercenary contract.” The University is supplying the leadership for the Planetary Security Force units, but Damian’s heart definitely wasn’t in the fight.
“But the University is providing Morgan with resources,” Marina argues. “In exchange for funds, yes—”
I shake my head. “I don’t think this is just a semantic difference. I feel like there’s a weakness there we might be able to chip away at.” They take my point, and conversation moves on. The first day of travel is relatively uneventful, but there are many more days ahead of us. According to Marina, it takes a week or two to cross the Monsoon Jungle by foot. We might be able to do it faster with the rover, but only if we can continue finding clear paths like Cleve managed today. And only as long as the sky is sunny often enough for the batteries to recharge.