Algodon and Peterson trekked for some time until they were at the very outskirts of the village. It was interesting, the fact that the village had a port for water faring vessels as well as space faring vessels. Only the water port was open, but with a warning sign flickering on and off. When Algodon brought it up, Peterson just chuckled uncomfortably saying something along the lines of 'can't eat ice all year.' Curious, do humans sustain themselves on ice as a source of hydration? Well he didn't know nor did he care much to ask. What he did ask was why the ports were closed to spacecraft.
"Exospheric Magnetic Storms" said Peterson matter-of-factly. "It's the season for them on Helix-One affecting this region in particular."
"Curios, what do these storms do to spacecraft?" Algodon asked as he loaded the bait onto a nearby skiff Peterson had pointed out.
"Well, y'know what an EMP is?" Peterson asked undoing the knot tying the skiff to the dock. "It's like that, well not scientifically, anyway. It just causes ships to go haywire when in contact with the Exosphere of our planet during this season. I guess you could call it a seasonal storm."
"Is that what happened to my vessel upon approach? It went…'haywire?'" Algodon mused. "It certainly made my pod escape more hazardous than usual."
"You, uh, escape with pods from your ship often?" Peterson asked a little flabbergasted.
"Pods from my ship are a way to transport small teams to the surface of the planet then back, they're very good for scouting small areas to land a larger ship." Algodon explained.
"Oh, I er– just thought pods were meant for emergencies only, y'know like life boats?"
"Well, yes, I suppose they are, but I don't own a very large vessel. Pods are multi-purposed for me, well the one was until it crashed." Algodon said. They settled in the skiff and Peterson started the engine and steered them away from the dock. It was surprisingly silent. After a while, Peterson spoke again.
"So what were you doing, anyway? I mean before you crashed." Peterson continued to guide the skiff further on the water, away from the chunks of sheet ice and into a wider area on the lake. Algodon fiddled with the rod he was holding.
"Research. For an anomaly I found." Algodon said nothing more.
"So, you're a scientist?" Peterson pried.
"Guilty." Algodon said nodding toward Peterson. Peterson did not try his luck further. They sat in silence until Peterson slowed the skiff to a stop. They were about eighty meters away from the dock floating gently on a calm lake. Algodon took a moment to appreciate the sight.
It was a large lake, but not so large that one couldn't see the other side of the shore. It was surrounded by pillars of ice that looked like tree trunks without branches. The sheet ice on top of the water collected near the shores of the lake forming a sort of crown around the middle. Algodon hummed. Peterson leaned forward from his seat to grab the bucket of bait at Algodon's legs careful not to misbalance the boat too much as Algodon took up a good majority of the skiff and its respective weight, but Peterson did not mention whether that would be a problem. Algodon did his best to be seated as still as possible as to not rock the boat.
"You ever fished before, Algodon?" asked Peterson as he baited the hook at the end of his rod.
"No, can't say I have had the pleasure." Algodon watched as chunks of meat were being pierced by the sharp tip.
"Here–" Peterson reached over and grabbed the swinging hook and line from Algodon's rod and stuck a piece of flesh on the hook like before. "--that should do. Now watch what I do."
Peterson stood up carefully pulled the rod back over to his side, hook and line facing away, then swung his arm around in one swift motion casting the line with an odd grace that Algodon did not think him capable of. Algodon waited for a moment, trying to visualize the way the other had cast the line and did his best to copy. His line did not go much further then the boat.
"That's okay, just try again." Peterson said. After several more tries, Algodon successfully cast the line about ten meters from the port side of the skiff while Peterson's line was a good twenty. "Now rotate that part there, slowly! Make it look like you have something swimming in the water. Then when you feel a firm tug, start reeling in fast!"
Peterson's own line looked taut, and, like he instructed, reeled quickly. To both their surprise when the hook surfaced from the water, there was nothing there.
"Well, in theory there's supposed to be a fish there." He said as he baited his hook again, this time making sure the meat wasn't torn too badly. "But I'm a poor fisherman. It seems."
Algodon only hummed in response. His hook came back with the bait and Peterson instructed him simply to recast and so he did. They stayed like that for a good hour, not catching anything. Peterson was close a couple times, but each time he found no fish at the end of his hook. Algodon resorted to simply taking in the sights letting his line go floating without much supervision. Peterson didn't notice as he was carefully putting smaller and smaller chunks of meat on the hook, perhaps to make it so whatever they were feeding would get caught on it. Algodon spied a building just past the lake between the pillars of ice. He called it to Peterson's attention. The young man distractedly spoke over his shoulder as he had just cast the last of the bait over the side of the skiff.
"Oh that? That's an old research depot, been abandoned a long time." He said as he slowly and meticulously reeled the rod.
"What were they researching, if you know?" This was the only interesting thing on the trip so far. Algodon's curiosity was peaked.
"Uh… minerals? Stones? Something sciency with rocks."
"Geology?" Algodon offered, trying not to let out a sigh of frustration.
"Yeah, that! Oh–" Peterson stopped, and this time reeled the fish in with care, ceasing reeling every so often and pulling on the rod a bit. With a final tug, the fish flopped on deck. Peterson smiled and let out a laugh. Algodon clapped politely humming a small tune of victory. But it was short lived as something bumped the skiff. "Uh oh."
"What was that?" Algodon asked a worried Peterson. Peterson did not answer, only tried to turn on the engine. It hummed to life and Peterson steered away from the lake and toward the dock when the skiff rocked again. Algodon peered over the edge of the boat. Something large and scaly was underneath, the tail of which encompassed the skiff.
"Oh no, no, no, no–" Peterson sounds of fright did not aid in calming Algodon down. He pressed a button on the side of the engine and the skiff sped up tremendously. They were twenty meters from the side of the dock when a large tail slapped down on the skiff causing it to skip over the rest of the way.
WHOOSH! CLANK! BAM!
They landed roughly on the dock. The skiff landed sideways launching both Algodon and Peterson onto the dock with a thud. Algodon couldn't see for a moment and after patting his head, realized the bucket once filled with bait was covering his face. He took it off, as the waft of fish bait was not a pleasant experience and looked around to find Peterson lying down with his back to him looking like he was cradling his arm.
Algodon moved to help him up, patting his shoulder, but Peterson wouldn't move. Algodon grew concerned. Then like some kind of crazed lunatic Peterson launched up and yelled out at the lake where they both saw the tail of whatever landed them disappear under the water.
"HA!" Peterson said as he flailed the caught fish over his head. "Dinner's not us today, Nessie!"
"Nessie? You call that abomination of a creature Nessie?" Algodon sputtered.
"It's not its real name, mind. But I forget whatever it is called. Anyway, what matters is that we got what we came for and our lives!" chirped Peterson. Algodon could argue otherwise. His curiosity was peaked. What could that abandoned research station hold? Lost in thought Algodon was brought back to attention by Peterson waving a hand in front of his face. "Let's get cooking Algodon."