Chapter 98: Down to Sliaryt

Lusac clutched his arms close in the cramped shuttle with the other volunteers as they headed down to Sliaryt to spend two weeks helping out with the nefitis victims. Under his seat was his half-empty duffle bag because it turned out that they weren't allowed to take extra food down with them, at least not in the quantities Lus had. The security guards informed he was only allowed a few snacks and had been kind enough to choose some for him out of his supplies. That's how he ended up with three [Famous Chocote Chunk Cookies] and a single [Revelation Cake], neither of which he anticipated would be much help down on the planet.

He'd thought about smuggling down something more like a [Power Burger] or some [Beginner's Luck Soup], but both proved too difficult to stow away safely, so he unfortunately was left to solve this with his current stats and [Skills], unless he happened on a fully stocked kitchen.

Based on orientation, the chances of that were zero.

Which left him without getting boosts from his system food, but he did still have enough [XP] to buy another couple of [Skills]. He hadn't bought any yet since past experience proved it was better to wait and see what he would need during the mission. It turned out that it was difficult to predict given how often missions went awry while searching for these relics.

Lus thought about the current list of [Skills] available to him, still mulling over which might prove the most useful. He'd completely forgotten to ask Nippy about any of them before he left which meant he was left to guess what they did based on their names alone.

[Unfailing Feet]

[Bottomless Pit]

[Unarmed Strike]

He understood [Unarmed Strike] easily enough, and [Unfailing Feet] was probably as obvious as the name, but he had absolutely no idea what [Bottomless Pit] could mean. That gave no hint as to its purpose, so unless he bought the [Skill] or found someone else with a system to ask, he would never know.

The shuttle jolted, pulling him from his thoughts. He glanced around to see most people looked a little nervous as the ship rocked again. Though it could also have been from the fact they were all about to land on a planet full of people infected with a disease that made them extremely aggressive in late stages.

Lusac's gaze turned to the front of the shuttle where three security officers waited. These were military trained personnel, all immune Humans like the rest of the ship, and according to orientation, it would be their job to keep all the volunteers from harm.

Supposedly the base camp where they would land and spend the full two weeks was completely safe thanks to energy fences, a variety of top tier sensors, and other serious tech that Dlt didn't get into that morning during orientation.

As nice as a comfort as it was to know that the base camp was so well protected, that also created problems for Lus given he was supposed to sneak away, retrieve an artifact from a castle a few hundred miles away, and then sneak back in without drawing suspicion.

Or at least come up with a good enough story that the security personnel would believe him and let him back on the shuttle off the planet with the other volunteers.

But he still had plenty of time to think of the story. His bigger problem was sneaking away, especially since he had Varyna to deal with.

Lus attempted to subtly glance over his shoulder to where Officer Rhine sat. He'd done his best to avoid her all morning, and she hadn't made any efforts to follow him too closely so far, but he wasn't optimistic the trend would continue once they got to the planet's surface. Especially since he was planning something so conspicuous as stealing a crawler and escaping from base camp.

"The shuttle pilot is well-trained. There is always turbulence. No need to worry so much," Sanur said from beside him. The older man smiled, completely relaxed.

"Remind me how many times you've done this?" Lusac asked. He couldn't keep getting lost in his worries like this, but it was hard to keep his focus when there was much pressure on him and him alone.

"This is my tenth time." Sanur beamed at the proclamation, clearly proud of how often he gave of his time to the nefitis victims. Volunteers only went down to the planet every few months, so that meant this man had been volunteering for years now.

"You're either very brave or very stupid," Frang said from Sanur's other side. "Why so many times?"

"I just like helping people, especially people who can't help themselves. The nefitis-infected are victims, same as anyone else who catches a disease. It's not their fault this one causes them to go crazy and try to kill other people."

"If you think it's so crazy to do this, why are you here, Frang?" Lusac asked.

"It's a good resume builder. Sliaryt volunteers are always given preferential treatment by government officials for jobs. It's required by law," Amgas answered for her sister.

"Ah, same reason as me then," he replied, grateful there was such an easy answer for his being here too. Of course that wouldn't hold up when he snuck away, but that was a problem for later, and one he couldn't afford to be worrying about yet with everything else on his mind.

"One minute to landing. Doublecheck seatbelts at this time," the pilot announced over the speakers.

Most of the volunteers did as they were instructed, tugging at their safetybelts and ensuring they were buckled, but Lus noticed that the security officers didn't bother with such things.

The engines roared louder as their descent slowed before the ship came to a rough stop suddenly.

A couple people gasped at the rough landing, but Sanur was already unbuckling and reaching down to grab his bag. Lusac followed suit, used to some less than stellar landings thanks to his time with the Runners.

Sanur had the right idea, and Lus was glad he followed the older man's lead since they were among the first one's out of the shuttle, only the security guards beating them out, and the line that formed from the others was a bit chaotic since half the people still had to get their bags out which slowed progress significantly.

Sliaryt was surprisingly… normal. As Lus walked off the landing platform, he was taken back to see so much greener and such a blue sky up above. The air was warm without being too hot, the perfect temperature honestly. There was a slight breeze, but it was soft and warm which only added to his comfort instead of detracting from it.

As he admired the scenery, his enjoyment was interrupted by a bird screech followed by squeals and screams.

Sanur grabbed his shoulder and pushed him along. "Some bird found dinner for the night. Nothing to worry about."

Lus's eyes went wide. "Whatever his dinner is doesn't sound too happy."

The man shrugged. "Circle of life down here."

He scrunched his face. "How come there are still animals? Do animals from other planets which catch nefitis get taken here too?"

Sanur shook his head. "No. Only the sentient species get sent to Sliaryt. Everything else which catches nefitis is immediately killed. But there were animals here when nefitis first came, and due to the lengthy timeline of the disease, the animals and bugs still mate, have babies which grow up and everything. It's just a more… painful version of the life cycle compared to other places."

Lus grimaced. "Yeah. The people here… they don't, uh, do that kind of stuff though, right? I imagine it would be horrible to have a baby in these conditions, and even if the kid lived for a few years, that's a pretty miserable life."

The man patted his shoulder. "Anyone who's brought to Sliaryt for quarantine is sterilized for that reason." He gestured forward. "Come on. Let's meet some of the nefitisians."

Lusac followed Sanur with a little less enthusiasm. Sliaryt had been beautiful upon first seeing it, but remembering what life was like for everything that lived here ruined the picturesque scene instantly.

Just ahead was a set of energy fences, essentially long, rectangular force fields with a small checkpoint leading in. The officers were already there, speaking with a couple of other guards who must be stationed on the planet long term.

"The guards spend a month on the planet at a time," Sanur told him, answering his question before he could even ask. "They sent extra security with the volunteers since we tend to be more of targets."

The pair reached the checkpoint. The two guards who manned it were quick with their scans before ushering them through the gates and into the camp.

The camp was set up just as any medical base camp would be, complete with a variety of large tent structures. He spied on the far side of the fenced area a selection of over a dozen crawlers, all more than big enough to jump the energy fence. Then again, the fences were meant to keep people out, not in.

"Why are they using tents? Wouldn't they want to have permanent facilities?" Lusac asked.

"The base camp moves every year or so. It's just an extra safety measure." Sanur gestured up ahead to where a Nemarian, two Kremel, and a Human stood. "There's our welcoming committee. The Nemarian is Vostal-Wen, the male Kremel is Fwbld, the female is his wife Xrhrp, and that's Doctor Swith with them, the chief researcher on nefitis."

Sanur took Lusac directly up to the group, disregarding Lus's comments about waiting for the official welcome with the others. He then introduced everyone to him, and made sure Lusac shook everyone's hands.

The Nemarian woman, Vostal-Wen, looked remarkably healthy. As in she didn't have any outward signs of nefitis that Lus could see, her deep purple scales and vibrant pink fins unmarred by any kind of rotting.

The two Kremel, however, did have some obvious signs of injury. Fwbld, the male with gray skin and short black hair, wore bandages around both forearms. Xrhrp, the female with green-gray skin and a shaved head, was missing two fingers on her left hand, and she clearly favored one leg even while standing.

Doctor Swith was a tall, wide woman with a pleasant demeanor. Her black hair was done in dozens of braids which she tied off at the nap of her neck, and she wore tasteful glasses.

"Sanur, it's so good to see you again," Swith greeted him. "And it's good to see a new face. I'm hopeful this won't be the last time we meet, Lucas. We can always use more repeat volunteers. But we do need to welcome the rest of the group and get everyone settled." She politely motioned them back to where the other volunteers waited.

Lus and Sanur joined them, Lus feeling a little awkward, but Sanur seemed completely unperturbed by the whole thing.

Swith began by introducing herself and her colleagues and then explained that Vostal-Wen oversaw the food distribution in camp while Xrhrp and Fwbld were representatives from the other two camps on the planet, ones which cared for nefitis victims further along in the disease who required more attention.

"We are so grateful for your willingness to serve here on Sliaryt. I've gone ahead and divided you into three groups. One will stay here and work with Vostal-Wen with the newly infected, one will go with Xrhrp to East Camp to deal with the mid-range infected, and the last group will help Fwbld over at West Camp with the end of life unit," the doctor explained. She then read off the list of each group.

Lus was with Sanur in the last group, which was something he wasn't sure he was too excited about given it also had the most security involved. As [Luck] would have it, so was Varyna unfortunately. But the first good news of the day came when Swith announced they wouldn't be leaving until the next morning to go through some extra orientation at the main camp.

That put Lusac on a quick schedule, but it meant he had a small window to sneak away and steal the crawler before he was taken out in the boonies with his group. There was a chance he would be able to pull this off after all.