Episode 2
Part Three
"Lady Skye. We thought you were staying at Gaia's Landing. I'm afraid we weren't expecting you." The slim man gave her a courteous half-bow, and she nodded.
"Yes, Nhoj, it's all right. You can prepare for my stay while I visit the gardens." She plucked at her robes, distracted. They stood in the main hall of her second base, Gaia's High Garden; the room felt clean but somewhat bare, still lacking the landscaping and softly colored walls she favored.
"Please follow me then." He motioned forward and then led the way, Deirdre following with several bodyguards, all of them looking lean and tense.
"Do you know anything more about it, Lady Skye?" Nhoj asked, turning unnaturally green eyes on her.
"Only that there is no explaining the Churn. We've seen nothing like it since Planetfall, naturally, but I can find no evidence of anything like it for hundreds of years before. Of course we're still learning about Planet's ecosystem..."
"And what of the Temple? Are the rumors true?"
"Well, we can't really know, since Zakharov..."
She stopped and took in a soft breath as they pushed through green double doors and into the attached gardens.
"Sun."
"Yes, Lady Skye." Nhoj smiled, enjoying the warmth. "We are at the last bright inhabited part of the Gaian territories. But as you can see...the Churn approaches."
Indeed, on the horizon she could see the dark ragged edge of clouds, the boiling darkness that stretched to the horizon. Even as she watched it seemed to approach. "Are the plants protected?"
"We're setting up heat traps, and we've improved on Morgan's sunlamps for the greenery. But...how long will all this last?" He asked it calmly, but his eyes flickered across hers for an answer.
"I don't know." She lifted her hand to point at it, trying to blot the edge of darkness with her fingers. "No one knows. Now let me enjoy the heat, while I still can."
She turned away from him and walked into the gardens as the veil of clouds they called the Churn rolled on towards her.
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