swallowing space

The newcomers had taken the far corner of the cave, near the bend where old power conduits still sparked now and then from makeshift wiring.

Their mechas stood like silent statues behind them, powered down yet humming faintly — unfamiliar tech that made Tyren glance over his shoulder too often.

Kael didn't say a word to them for the first hour.

Then the second.

Then half the cycle.

It was Oris who broke the stillness.

---

He brought one of the food rations — a tight-packed nutrient paste sealed inside radiation wrap — and silently handed it to Commander Trask.

The old man accepted it with a nod and shared it with Draan, the other elder. They split it in half without a sound.

Kael watched.

His face unreadable.

But Tyren scoffed. "That all they get?"

"I only had one pack to spare," Oris replied without looking back.

"And we're supposed to feed five of them?" Tyren asked, crossing his arms.

"They're humans," Oris said plainly. "Same as us."

Kael didn't blink. "That doesn't mean they've earned anything."

Freya, Lisette, and Kira sat quietly behind the men — backs against stone, eyes hollow. They hadn't spoken since the initial questioning. Their uniforms were dirt-smudged, armor slightly cracked from their landing. Yet none of them asked for anything.

They just sat.

Quiet.

Watching.

---

Later that cycle, Freya finally approached the firepit — which was just a circle of thermal coils looped through a salvaged reactor shard.

Kael was sitting on one side, Tyren beside him. Oris leaned over a data pad, reviewing Nox-4's partial charge efficiency.

Freya stood a few meters away, hesitant.

"…I'm sorry to disturb," she began. "But I'd like to request half a ration. For Kira. She hasn't eaten since we landed."

Tyren didn't even look up. "Should've packed more."

Kael gave her a glance. "That's not our problem."

She tensed but remained still. "Please. We're not asking for comfort. Just a little strength to keep moving."

Kael stood, his figure casting a tall silhouette against the glowing mechas.

"I don't care if you're cold or weak or bleeding," he said flatly. "I care if you're going to stab us in our sleep or drain our fuel tanks when we're out hunting."

Freya didn't back away.

Kael stepped closer. "Survival comes before manners. Before sympathy. Before guilt. You want something? Prove you're not a threat first."

"We're not," she whispered.

"That's what a threat would say."

---

The moment passed without another word.

Freya returned to the corner where Kira sat curled, her knees hugged to her chest. Lisette said something too low to hear.

Oris broke the silence. "You were a little harsh."

Kael turned to him, voice low and cold. "You think I'm wrong?"

"I think desperation can't always be solved with suspicion."

Kael didn't answer.

Tyren added, "You're doing the right thing, Kael. They show weakness, we keep distance. That's the law out here. That's how we're still alive."

And that was the end of it.

---

But night didn't fall.

It never did on this cursed planet.

Only dimness grew.

And in that dimness, Kael sat awake while the others rested — Ravager behind him, his plasma sidearm disassembled and cleaned on a piece of stone.

He was on his third watch cycle when he heard it.

Soft sobbing.

---

It wasn't loud. Barely audible above the faint hisses of geothermal pressure in the stone cracks. But it was unmistakable.

Kael looked over.

Freya sat quietly near the back, holding Kira's hand. Kira was trembling slightly, her face buried in Freya's shoulder. Lisette knelt nearby, rubbing her own arms as though the cold had finally pierced her composure.

None of them noticed Kael watching.

They weren't talking.

Just crying.

Not loud. Not angry.

Just… tired.

Silent grief.

It lasted no more than two minutes. Then Freya wiped her face, adjusted Kira's blanket, and the three huddled into their corner again.

Kael stared into the half-dead fire.

And finally, with a sigh so deep it ached, he stood.

---

He walked to the ration locker — half-concealed beneath thermal shielding — and pulled out a pack.

He hesitated.

Then pulled another.

Then another.

Three full ration packs.

He walked across the cave.

The girls looked up as his shadow stretched over them.

He said nothing. Just knelt down and placed one packet beside each of them.

Freya opened her mouth to speak, but he held up a hand.

"I still don't trust you," Kael said quietly. "But trust doesn't grow from watching people starve."

He turned and walked back toward the fire.

Behind him, Lisette whispered something inaudible.

Kira just whispered, "Thank you."

Kael didn't stop walking.

---

When he sat down again, Tyren raised a brow.

"You serious?"

Kael stared into the fog outside. "They cry like humans."

"That's your metric now?"

"It's better than a biometric scan."

Oris gave a rare smile.

Tyren muttered something under his breath and went back to adjusting his blade joints.

But deep inside, the cave felt slightly different.

Less like a bunker.

More like a campfire.

---