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Each day of the expedition felt more real and surreal than the last. It had been a journey of departures--first from Seattle, and then from Earth--each time bringing her closer to stepping foot on Jhoutai, and later into its wilderness. With each leg of their journey, Dana felt like she was shedding assumptions and presuppositions, leaving only raw wonder and the urge to explore.

The pace of it was slowly driving her restless. Only her closest assistants recognized it--years of navigating academic politics had left her with a stony poker face, and she prided herself on being a consummate professional.

Another two weeks passed within the subterranean campus of the University of Yak’koli. Dana and her team, an assortment of natural scientists from all over Earth, were quarantined, vaccinated, and then introduced (through glass partitions and speakers) to the local team responsible for supporting their mission: provisioners, handlers, translators, cavers, comms specialists, and exterminators. They reviewed their plans, tested their equipment, and read reports on the various species they might encounter in the wilderness.

Dana's primary conversations were with an Aempian named Kelma, who was as unfamiliar with Yak’koli as Dana and her team were. Kelma preferred to linger on the other side of the conversational partition for the better part of her days, reading research papers alongside Dana and helping her make sense of any confusing entries or bad translations. When at last the humans were freed from quarantine, Dana and Kelma shook hands at last.

“I’m looking forward to getting started,” she said.