Chapter 46 - No Ticket Home

"A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for."

—John A. Shedd

Luca leaned against the Peregrine's hull, watching the tall red grass sway beyond their perimeter. Somewhere in there, copper eyes were watching them back. He was sure of it.

The past seventy-two hours had chewed them up. Emily down, Danny poisoned, half their gear fried. This survey had gotten ambitious in a hurry.

"Fucking furballs," he muttered.

The Peregrine's generator hummed beside him. They had powered up the large energy turret since the shield wasn't doing jack shit against the alien critters, but at least the things had learned to keep their distance, which counted as a win by the standards this planet had set so far.

Through the open back ramp, Joey was bent over the medical pod in their storage compartment. The diagnostic panel above the pod glowed with vital signs, all stable, if a bit erratic. Luca had been checking those numbers every twenty minutes. He'd stopped pretending he wasn't.

The survey progress, at least, had been worth the bleeding. Sample containers lined the storage boxes inside the Peregrine, packed tight.

Objectives
Objective Assigned: Water Source Survey (8/40)
Objective Assigned: Collect Core Samples (4/12)
Objective Assigned: Alien Biosignature Detection (7/40)
Objective Assigned: Flora Sample Collection (22/150)
Objective Assigned: Fauna Sample Collection (18/75)

The Peregrine's hatch opened behind him. Emily stepped out, and her face did that thing it did when she saw him running on fumes. Soft around the eyes. Concerned in a way she'd never quite say out loud.

"Hey," she said, coming to stand beside him. "Joey says Danny's stabilized. The toxin's responding to treatment."

Luca nodded. He straightened up without meaning to. "Good. That's good."

"You look like hell," she said, but the corner of her mouth tugged when she said it.

"Thanks." He managed a tired grin. "It's a new look I'm trying. Calling it 'captain under pressure.'"

Emily stepped into his space, close enough that the warmth coming off her skin registered before anything else. Her hand came up, cupping his cheek, her thumb tracing the tense muscle along his jaw. His brain went quiet so fast it was almost embarrassing. Seventy-two hours of running calculations and contingencies, and one touch from her shut the whole thing down.

"You need sleep, Luca," she said quietly.

"Later," he said. He let himself lean into her palm for half a second, then pulled back, his eyes going to the meadow again. "We need to make some decisions first."

She lowered her hand, her fingers squeezing his arm on the way down. He felt that, too.

A howl rose from somewhere beyond the forest edge, starting low and warbling before climbing to a pitch that made the hair on his arms stand straight. Something answered from the opposite direction, the same call but deeper, the kind of sound you felt in your ribs before your ears caught up, because apparently this day still had room to get worse.

"The predators are gathering," Emily said quietly, following his gaze. "Zoe thinks they're coordinating. Forming hunting packs, maybe."

"Smart," Luca said. "Just what we need. Intelligent alien predators."

"Technically, we're the aliens here," Emily reminded him with the ghost of a smile.

Another howl, closer this time. His hand tightened on his rifle.

"We need to move," he said. "Get everyone together. Time for a strategy meeting."

Emily nodded and turned back toward the hatch. Luca stayed a moment longer, watching the grass sway and the shadows pile up at the treeline. They hadn't come this far to get eaten in a field.

He followed her inside. The hatch sealed behind him with a hiss that should have been reassuring.

The Peregrine's dinette was not designed for seven people. With all of them crammed around the small table, the air turned stuffy in about two minutes flat despite the environmental controls. Luca leaned against the kitchenette counter, giving himself room to think and maybe breathe without somebody elbowing him in the ribs.

Danny had insisted on joining them anyway. Joey had protested, Danny had ignored the protest, and now he sat gingerly on the edge of a bench with medical patches peeking out from the neckline of his t-shirt. The stubborn bastard looked half held together by patches and spite, and Luca respected the hell out of it.

Ryan stood by the large workstation, the topographical map projected in front of him. He zoomed in on their current position, then pulled back to show the bigger picture: forest ridge to the north, what looked like desert to the east, and mountains beyond that, barely a smudge on the display. A whole alien continent sitting there waiting for them, assuming they survived this week.

Ryan switched to a timeline graph. Energy consumption, spiking hard over the past two days. "Every time we power up the turret to protect against the local wildlife, we drain more power."

"And it gets worse," he said, tapping another icon. "The two cells we had on the recharger after the furball attack? They're fried. Won't hold a charge. Whatever those things are, they're tough on our gear. That leaves us with thirty-four."

Chris leaned forward, elbows on the table. "So what are you suggesting? We pack up and call it quits? After we just started finding the good stuff?"

Ryan shook his head. "No way. But we need to be smarter about our resources." He pulled up the Percival on the display, sitting idle outside. "The dropship's just sitting up there empty. It's using power for basic maintenance cycles, and it's a big target for curious predators. We've already had to repair hull damage from those climbing things with the suckers."

"So?" Zoe prompted, arms folded, leaning against the wall opposite Luca.

"So we send it back to orbit on autopilot." Ryan said it like he'd been waiting all morning for someone to ask. "It stays safe in a stable orbit, not burning landing thrusters, not attracting wildlife, not requiring shield protection. We recall it when we're done."

Zoe pushed off from the wall. "And if there's a mechanical issue? Or navigation glitches? What if something happens during reentry when we call it back?" Her eyes locked with Ryan's. "We'd be stranded on an alien planet with no extraction plan."

"The Percival's systems checked out fine before we left," Ryan countered. "It's designed for repeated atmospheric entry and exit. The risk is minimal compared to—"

"Minimal isn't zero," Zoe cut in. "And I'm not a fan of gambling with our only ticket home."

Emily had been quiet through the back-and-forth. Now she stepped up. "Ryan's right," she said, and the argument died. She had that effect. "We need to move to different biomes. We've barely scratched the surface of what's out there, and the mission parameters require samples from at least five distinct ecosystems."

She traced a path across the map. "The Peregrine's solar panels can recharge while we drive. If we head toward the forest ridge, we can gather new samples and continue scanning for that energy signature we detected earlier."

She highlighted the ridge on the display. "Denser vegetation, more cover, but still accessible enough for the Peregrine to navigate. And it's a completely different ecosystem. New plants, new animals, new soil composition."

Everyone looked at him. Of course they did, because he was the one who had to pick which bad option they were going with.

"What about that energy signature?" he asked, looking at Zoe. "Any progress on locating it?"

Zoe shook her head. "Still too faint to pinpoint from here. We're barely getting traces, whatever it is."

"Which means moving," Ryan pointed out.

"Or sending drones," Zoe countered.

"With what energy cells?" Ryan shot back. "We're already rationing power."

Luca held up a hand before round three started. "We've heard the options. Now we need to decide."

He stepped forward, joining Emily at the map. A whole alien continent, blank and waiting.

"Emily," he said quietly. "How confident are you in the forest ridge assessment?"

"Very," she replied without hesitation. "The satellite data is clear. It's our best option for both safety and scientific objectives."

---

Luca paced the length of the cabin. Four steps one way, four steps back. The space was too small for it, but standing still made the decision feel heavier.

"You're wearing a groove in the floor," Chris said.

He ignored that.

The Percival was their only way home. Sending it back to orbit made sense on paper, but it killed their emergency extraction option. If something went wrong and they couldn't recall it, they'd be stuck here until someone else made the trip to Alpha Centauri. That could mean years. That could mean never.

"Captain," Danny called out, his voice stronger than Luca expected from a guy who'd been convulsing twelve hours ago. "For what it's worth, this meadow is a major gathering point." He held up his tablet, thermal imaging of the surrounding area glowing across the screen. "The herbivores come here in cycles, and the predators follow. We're sitting in the alien equivalent of a watering hole during migration season."

Luca moved closer and looked at the data. Danny was right. Heat signatures converging from every direction, big ones, getting closer. The peaceful meadow they'd landed in was turning into a funnel, and they were parked at the bottom of it.

"We need to move," Luca said. The decision clicked into place and stayed there. He turned to face the crew. "The meadow's becoming too dangerous, and we've collected what we need from this biome."

He pointed to the map where Emily had indicated the forest ridge. "That's our next stop. Different ecosystem, less predator activity based on our scans."

Ryan was already pulling up the Percival's systems on his tablet. "I'll prep the dropship for autopilot return."

"Wait," Zoe began, but Luca cut her off with a raised hand.

"I don't like it either, Zoe. But we can't afford to lose more energy staying put, and we need the Peregrine mobile if we're going to complete our survey objectives." He stepped closer to her, dropping his voice. "Program the Percival to maintain a stable geosynchronous orbit. Set it to respond to our direct recall codes."

Zoe's jaw tightened, but she gave a short nod. "I'll add redundancy to the navigation systems and emergency protocols for malfunction detection." Her eyes met his, steady and unblinking. "But if it crashes on reentry, I reserve the right to say 'I told you so' for the rest of our lives, however short those might be."

"Don't be so dramatic, Zoe," Luca said. "It'll be fine."

Emily had already climbed into the Peregrine’s passenger seat. “The vehicle’s fully charged,” she called back. “Solar panels are at optimal collection angle. We can head toward the forest ridge immediately.”

“How’s the terrain between here and there?” Luca asked, joining her at the front.

“Mostly flat, some gentle slopes.” She highlighted the route on her display. “The Peregrine can handle it easily. Three hours at standard speed, less if we push it.”

Through the viewport, the massive six-legged herbivores they’d observed earlier were no longer distant. A whole herd of them moved across the meadow now, fast and deliberate, heading straight for their position. Darker shapes trailed behind them in the tall grass, predators following the herd or maybe following them. Either way, Luca didn’t want to be here when all of those things arrived at the same place.

He turned back to the crew. “We’re breaking camp. Zoe, plot a course for the Percival to a stable geosynchronous orbit. Make sure the recall protocols are bulletproof.”

Zoe nodded and moved to the communication station without another word. She’d said her piece. He’d heard it. That was how it worked with Zoe.

“Ryan, prep the Peregrine for a long-haul trek. Full diagnostics, all systems. I want us ready to roll in an hour.”

Ryan gave a mock salute. “On it, Captain.”

“Chris, Joey, secure all our samples and equipment. Nothing breaks or spills when we hit rough terrain.”

The crew scattered. Luca moved back to the main viewport. The creatures were closer now. The herbivores were closing ground faster than anything that size had any right to, and the predators trailing behind them were the real problem.

“We’re going hunting for that signal,” he said, half to himself. That faint energy signature was their best hope for what they’d really come to Alpha Centauri to find, evidence that the System had reached this far. If they could locate the source, they might find the key to breaking past the level cap that had bottlenecked them back home.

Emily appeared beside him. “Drive systems are online and the navigation route is plotted.” She looked up at him. “We’ll find it, Luca.”

He took her hand and brought it up to his mouth, pressing a firm kiss against her knuckles. The gesture felt natural now. A month ago he would have talked himself out of it three times before his hand moved.

“I know we will,” he said, and pulled her in by the waist.

She came without hesitation, her hands flat against his chest. The kiss was soft, unhurried, the kind of quiet moment they’d learned to steal between crises. When they pulled apart, he rested his forehead against hers.

“As soon as the Percival’s away,” he said, “we move.”

Above them, the Percival’s engines lit the sky with a violet burn as it climbed toward orbit.

Their last safety net was gone.