Transmission Lost by Stefan Mazzara Page B

entire clearing, giving a shimmery, diamond-like appearance to the surface of the pond. Floating here and there on the water's surface were large, iridescent blue flowers with broad green leaf pads underneath, similar to water lilies. Jack thought he could see small fish swimming here and there in the water, but he wasn't sure.
    “Thank gods...,” Aria sighed. She stretched her arms, gazing at the water with true desire on her face. “Have not had a bath in...since crashing. And I want these bandages off.”
    “Don't get ahead of yourself,” Jack said. “Let's set up camp first, alright?”
    Aria reluctantly agreed, and they got to work pitching their tent near the edge of the water. Jack dug a pit for a fire, though he wasn't sure he'd be able to find much wood. Trees had been few and far between so far at this high altitude, with the vast majority of plant life being vines and leafy shrubs. Then again, the vines up here were very thick and durable, and fallen chunks of them seemed to be plentiful. Perhaps they'd do in a pinch.
    Once the campsite was established, Aria clapped her hands loudly. “Good enough, yes?” She turned her head in the direction of the water, looking at it longingly. Her tail and ears were twitching in anticipation.
    Jack rolled his eyes. “Good enough, I guess. Go ahead and take a bath if you want.” He picked up his rifle, checking it over and jacking a round into the chamber. “In the meantime, I'm going to go have a look around and see if I can gather some fuel for the fire. And what you said earlier got me thinking about dinner. We're getting low on preserved food, so I figured I'd see if I could hunt down some meat. Maybe one of those birds we saw earlier in the day. We should take every chance we have to stretch out our supplies.”
    Aria nodded her head approvingly. “Good. You thinking more like soldier every day.” She stretched her arms again, joints popping. “And good soldiers keep clean. So...” She turned around and headed for the water's edge.
    “Enjoy yourself. I'll be back before long.” Jack turned as well, trekking off into the mountaintop jungle.
     
    ******
     
    Once Jack was out of sight, Aria removed her belt and unzipped her flight suit, peeling it down her body and stepping out of it. She wrinkled her nose at the musty smell that wafted up. “Kas'ne a reil...” Her flight suit was fairly soaked with sweat and caked with dirt on the outside from the climbing. She shivered as she remembered having to scale that rock wall. She really was scared of heights, just as Jack had said.
    Going to the water, she knelt down and dunked her clothes in it. After a few minutes of hard scrubbing, the garment was reasonably clean. Shaking it out, Aria carried it to a large, flat rock that was sitting in sunlight and laid it out flat to dry. Going back to the water's edge, Aria just stood there for a few minutes, breathing deep and letting the breeze blow over her bare fur. Unsheathing a claw from one finger, she starting tearing through her bandages, unwrapping them from the parts of her body where she'd been wounded. All of her wounds seemed to have healed, leaving no scars. She balled them up and pitched them into the fire pit, where they could be burned up later. Looking down at her body, Aria idly traced a finger along the lengthy scar down her front. A faint echo of the pain from that wound echoed through her. Nearly two years had passed since she'd gotten that injury, in her first battle...She'd been younger and less careful then.
    Wasting no more time, Aria stepped down into the water. Instantly she sighed in pleased surprise. The water was heated by some natural trick. The Ailian walked deeper into the hot spring until she got to the deepest point, where the water came about to her waist. She waved her tail around in the water, sending ripples through the pool. With another long, purring sigh, she lowered herself, kneeling in the water so that it came up to her