Stranded On Santa Astarta -v1.1.0 Beta- -doc Ba... -

But the jungle is kind today. The bell-flowers are singing back. The six-legged things are curled at the edge of the clearing, chittering the melody softly.

Food is scarce. The local fauna—squat, six-legged things with too many eyes and a chittering that mimics human speech—are edible after a fashion. They taste of burnt copper and regret. Water I get from the bell-shaped flowers that only open when you sing to them. I’ve been humming the chorus of an old Milet song. It works. I don’t ask why. Stranded on Santa Astarta -v1.1.0 Beta- -Doc Ba...

In the center of the circle stands Captain Valerio. His mouth is moving, but the voice coming out is not his. It is a chorus of forty-seven voices, layered on top of each other, whispering a single phrase over and over: But the jungle is kind today