Over the next few minutes the overwhelming roar of shifting rock began to gradually ease, first into a rumble then into a whisper as the last few tiny pebbles skittered into their final resting places. Eventually other sounds were able to creep back into notice, the whistle of the wind in the mountain pass, the distant calls of the many animals stirred up by the disturbance, and the tense muted conversations among the people of the Protectorate expedition as they tried to figure out what had happened. After listening to Lin report on what had happened, Andrea turned to Orna and Lori who had by this point been set back on their feet by the living armors that had carried them to safety. “Lin managed to redirect the rocks that would have come down here but not only is the pass now totally blocked but our camp and most of our gear has been destroyed. The joint Maleprean-League camp is also gone, Lin thinks she can see a small group of survivors who were away from the camp but most of them are gone.” Orna let out a shaky breath before responding. “I’m still not sure what happened, it was all too fast. Did Unla-Ela really attack you and Olan Lunere?” The small drone Lin had been keeping with the expedition chimed in with her voice. “You’re not mistaken Orna, in fact I strongly suspect that in addition to those direct attacks Unla-Ela is the one who triggered those rock slides. My guess is that they wanted to sabotage the chances of a peaceful resolution and when they failed to keep Olan Lunere from reaching a reasonable agreement they fell back on assassination. I’m not sure if they triggered the rock slides as a back up when their assassination attempt failed, or if it was intended to be part of the assassination from the beginning.” Lori had a grim look on their face. “If they’re really the ones responsible for this, then they probably survived and intend to blame this whole mess on us or Andrea, likely both. Olan Lunere could testify to the contrary, but they’ll have to survive their wounds and make it back to Malepre safely to report the truth. If the pass is blocked like Andrea mentioned then it might take us weeks to climb back down to the plains and find an alternate route into the valley. By the time we get to the aperture site it’s all too likely some kind of reprisal force will arrive and attack us in the mistaken belief that we’re a threat.” They all paused for a few moments in thought, grave looks on Orna and Lori’s faces showed some measure of their distress at the prospect of having traveled for tens of thousands of kilometers over the course of nearly a year and having to turn back with their objective practically in sight. Andrea supposed that even if they reached the aperture site without being intercepted it would be impossible to set up there for the next five years, as they’d planned, in order to observe the aperture when it reopened.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Orna sighed deeply but then seemed to gather themselves, clearly they’d made a decision. “We’re leaving, we are in no way prepared to deal with this political mess, nor with violent intrigue. Better we return empty handed then die as scapegoats in some ploy.” Then Orna managed a weak grin. “Besides, assuming you and Lin are amenable to traveling with us, we won’t really be returning empty handed at all. I think returning to the university with a pair of representatives from another species who also have practical knowledge about apertures will more than make up for failing to achieve our original goals. Which is good because I know most of us basically staked our careers on the success of this expedition.” Andrea smiled gently back at Orna as she quickly conferred with Lin in a series of silent messages. Both of them quickly agreed that staying in the area was impossible for the time being, especially if they wanted to be able to explore the super-giant planet they found themselves on and learn more about the ‘magic’ that they’d encountered. Reaching a consensus took them just a few seconds of rapid back and forth. The pause hadn’t quite gotten uncomfortable when Andrea finally broke it with a light chuckle. “Of course we’d both be happy to accompany you back. We are here to learn and explore after all, and traveling with you across oceans and continents to a major university will allow us to do both as much as we could want.” Andrea directed the two Donkeys that remained to come trotting over and hopped aboard, joined a moment later by the small drone Lin was using as a mouthpiece. Andrea gestured to the other Donkey “Go ahead and hop on, we can head on down to the other end of the column so you can get everyone turned around, there’s no sense in delaying and getting stuck spending the night in the pass.” Orna and Lori looked at each other before Lori gestured to Orna to go first, with a sharp bark of laughter at some inside joke Orna hopped up before reaching back down and helping Lori climb on. The Donkeys stood back up a moment later and began smoothly striding along the side of the expedition’s column. From time to time Orna would call out directions, reassuring the members of the expedition and getting them turned around to begin the climb back down the pass.

  Hours later and far above the sleeping expedition camp, the vacuum aerostat finally reached the upper limits of the atmosphere. It sent a ping of confirmation back down to Lin and bathed in the reds and golds of the sun for a few moments at this high altitude only now did it finish sinking out of sight to the east, casting the silent observer into the shadow of night. If it had been capable of feeling surprise, the vacuum aerostat would have been shocked when less than an hour later the sun seemed to rise in the west, presaging the dawn that was still hours away for the slumbering group far below.