Herb stood outside his crannog and squinted into the early morning light. He scanned the copper water, and trailed the flow until it turned a corner. To his ire, much of Abaytor was like home. He had been expecting a radically different planet. After all his hard work and sacrifices, he deserved a radically different planet. And people. He had great affection for Naylor and his tribe, but if he was honest, he was expecting Greys, or the same basic shape but another colour. Even after three decades in the study of the sciences, the 'little grey alien' still infiltrated his brain.
One of his many sacrifices had been his relationship with his son. He'd tried to recover that by bringing Edward to Abaytor, involving him in his work and spending quality time with him. But from day one, Edward had shut him out. Herb admitted to himself that his work on Abaytor kept him so busy he may have ignored Edward more than he should have, but he'd thought the boy would've got stuck in like Herb had done when he was Edward's age. The only thing Edward seemed to enjoy was pissing him off with his sulking and deliberate mishandling of the simplest of tasks.
In spite of that, a week had passed since Edward had left the Fire Glade. Left him. It had been one of the worst weeks of Herb's life. He knew he'd failed his son and was worried the boy wouldn't survive if anything happened to his guide. And Herb wouldn't have blamed Burn for abandoning him: Edward was difficult at the best of times, and Herb dreaded hearing the news that the fearful Canibra tribe had taken his son or, worse still, that he'd drowned. He wished he'd taught him to swim but Abaytor had become his priority, even over his relationship with Edward. And yet, everything he was doing, the reason he was on Abaytor, was to save his son – and indeed all humanity. Of course, Edward had no idea. Herb could count on one hand the number of people who knew the awful secret that drove him. Though, he had thought after weeks of overhearing the conversations with his team, Edward would've started to ask questions. He never did.
A presence made Herb turn. The tribal elder, Naylor, was walking the flimsy walkway with silent footsteps. His brown face was shrivelled like a weathered conker, and his piercing eyes reminded Herb of good single malt. "Burn will keep him safe."
"Are you reading my mind, Naylor?" Herb looked down at the smaller man. Over the years of visiting Abaytor, he'd made a few friendships. Several visits to the Fire Glade had earned Naylor's trust and now they were firm friends. Sometimes in the lonely nights, they were more than that.
"Maybe." Naylor's eyes disappeared into smiling creases.
It had taken Herb many months to learn how to shut mind doors to prevent Naylor's telepathy from taking all his secrets. "You told me that Burn has hungered to see beyond the Fire Glade for many a summer. So why did you choose him to guide my son when he's never even left his village?"
"He is the only one who offered. Every traveller who passed through our village, Burn listened and learned from their tales of adventure and discovery. Do not worry."
That wasn't exactly the reassurance he was seeking. "But I am worried. I want to go after Edward."
"And do what exactly?"
Every paternal instinct in Herb screamed for him to follow. Nevertheless, he answered honestly. "I don't know."
"He will be long gone."
"Our craft is faster and didn't you say that Burn will take the opportunity to sightsee?"
"Yes."
"Okay, then." He'd faced a lot bigger hurdles in his quest for Abaytor. And while he had no idea what he would say to Edward when they caught up, he'd now made up his mind to go after the boy and nothing was going to stop him. His wife used to say he was like a dog with a rabbit when he got an idea in his head. "You will come with me, won't you, Naylor?"
The old man turned to view his friend. "What you hope will happen, will not happen. Yet, I will."
"Speaking in riddles again?" Herb rolled his eyes. He was never one for beating around the bush; he called a spade a spade and found Naylor's inclination towards flowery language grating. He strode off to begin preparations.
They loaded provisions into an inflatable cataraft that Herb had left behind on an earlier visit. He wished he'd left the boat at the Landing Plains; then he could have shoved Edward in and stopped him moaning about his feet. But they'd needed more samples, mostly botanical, that couldn't be carried by boat, and with the stakes so high the last thing he'd had on his mind was creature comforts.
The craft's silver pontoons reflected the water, and its red-and-white striped canopy buzzed against the neutral backcloth. Naylor bounced up and down on his inflatable seat with the water's flow. "What do you hope to achieve if we do catch the boys?"
Herb could see from his expression that he didn't find bouncing a pleasant experience. He shoved away from the bank. "A ceasefire."
The cataraft had a small diesel-powered motor. To keep pollution at a minimum, Herb planned to use it only for an hour a day. As Naylor clung to the shiny plastic sides, Herb push-poled the light boat away from the bank knowing that just this once, he'd side-lined his principles in favour of his son. He wished Edward understood that everything he was doing was really for him, for his survival on a planet that they'd all royally screwed up. And if push came to shove, if his team couldn't solve the greatest challenge to humanity's survival, then maybe, just maybe, Edward could find sanctuary here on Abaytor. All Herb wanted was for his only son to be safe.
The last sunny rays of the day clung to the horizon as they moored the cataraft and stared at the view in front of them. "Fifteen Flow Chasm," Naylor said.
"Looks – fun," Herb replied. "I can't imagine Edward was happy about going through that."
"Burn probably gave him no choice."
"That boy may do my son some good." Maybe Edward would see something he liked about the place.
"Burn is annoying but he has a certain attraction."
"Like someone else I know." Herb pushed off. "Are you ready?"
"I will pray for a good passage."
"You and your bloody gods." He was sure that Naylor must worship up to a hundred different gods. Herb didn't believe in any higher forces himself, but he secretly hoped Naylor's god of safe passage was with them.