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We explore the oval, peering our heads through each of the cracks and around each corner. They’re all full of the glowing moss, though somewhat dimmer, more orange colored. Many of the patches are large and thick enough to sleep on comfortably. Most of the rooms have shelves carved out of the stone walls, though they’re all empty. Whoever was here is long, long gone.
We find a thin waterfall and a deep pool of cool water in the backmost cavern. It’s darker in here, though there’s some orange moss providing a little light. “It’s kind of romantic,” Maysee says. I make her add that word to the translator before we move along.
We find that there’s more than enough space to house all of us. Enough cracks and nooks for everyone to have a little privacy, enough storage spaces to sustain us through many long storms. I worry about animals creeping in. We can’t see the top, so we can’t see what openings are up there.
And aside from what we’ve learned from the stones, we don’t know exactly how safe this place will be in a flood. What if the rain pours in around the tree and fills the place up like a canteen? We could guarantee our deaths by staying in here.
Maysee takes many pictures and packs away some fruits and some moss samples to return to her crew’s biologist.
“How can we make sure this place won’t flood, though?” she wonders out loud. “We can’t exactly run an experiment. We can’t climb that tree.” I’m still learning some of those words, but I get what she means. And I have an idea.
“Mushroom test.” I hold up my water flask.
“Yes!” she beams, “Mushroom test! I should have thought of that. I’m a little frazzled.”
“Too tired,” I tell her. “You must rest.” I have her add ‘frazzled’ to the translator as we approach the mushroom cavern.
“I’ll rest when we’re all safe,” she says. We squat before the closest batch of mushrooms. We exchange a glance and shrug, and I pour the water over them.
The reaction is so instant that at first I think they’ve bounced from the ground. But no, they expand, growing wider and taller, faster than my eye can catch. Maysee is so startled that she falls backwards.
“Holy crap,” she says. “That answers that!”
I poke the mushrooms. They feel thicker, more rubbery. Maysee pours one of her water pouches over them, and again, they’re instantly even larger.
“What happens,” I ask. “If you eat.”
Her eyes go wide. “Good thing we didn’t! We’d probably explode!”
That’s a horrifying image.
“Okay,” she says, “I think we’re done here. We can go.”
“No.” I cross my arms. “You rest. You sleep.”
“There’s no time, Ryle. You know that.” But she hasn’t risen from where she’s fallen over. She’s obviously exhausted. I don’t want to do anything crazy, but I will block her way if I must. My number one job as her mate is to protect her. If that means protecting her from herself, and making her mad, well, she can get mad. I’m not letting her leave here just to trip and break a bone walking out in the dark.
“Suns are down,” I say. “First sun rises, we go. Now, I take care of you.” Her expression softens. Maybe I won’t have to lock her in after all. “You like the pool,” I say. “Bathe, sleep. We go at first light.”
Some of the tension leaves her shoulders. She slumps and she sighs. “Okay. Fine. Right at first light, though. I am pretty tired. And a dip in that pool would be really nice.”
“Good,” I say, “Good ideas. And I watch.”
“Ryle!”
