Rashi showed Blip the intercepted message.

"Skullcrack Ravine. I know where that is," she began.

"It's a bit close to other settlements, don't you think?" countered Blip. "What if we're spotted? Granted, I'm not super pleased with DPIP right now but that doesn't mean I'm ready to flagrantly spit in their eye, either."

"Well, that's just it," responded Rashi. "We don't have enough information to know for sure where our loyalties should lie. This is a way to get more of that information. If we're going to survive on this planet, then information isn't a bonus, it's a necessity."

Put that way, it was difficult to argue. The pair geared up, Blip with cautious reluctance and Rashi with determined zeal.

The trip to the ravine was unusually quiet, with each lost in thought. As they neared the final cliff face, they stopped at the area they had predetermined should be their campsite. With the destination being a bit remote and the fact that they'd have to be rock climbing unknown terrain, they knew they'd need at least a day for the operation, so they'd be spending the night in a cave, being sparing with light and eating cold rations so as not to broadcast their position.

Sleeping hammocks, cloaking beams, and a camping sphere set up, the two sat gazing out into the expanse of night as they chewed a pre-packed meal kit in the kind of companionable silence that comes from working closely with someone. Staring up at the stars, Blip couldn't help heaving a sigh.

"Homesick?" asked Rashi. "Sometimes I admit I wonder why you applied to do this. It doesn't always seem like your heart is in it."

Blip was a little surprised. She'd known Rashi was incredibly intelligent but had never thought of her as particularly emotionally perceptive.

"I admit I've been kind of frustrated, sometimes," she replied, choosing her words carefully. She didn't want Rashi to be disheartened. In a moment of clarity, she realized that it would bother her if the unsinkable Rashi were to lose her optimism. "I..."

"You're worried the DPIP is going to ditch us, aren't you," Rashi finished.

The gig seemed to be up. Blip looked at Rashi, her already large eyes huge with indecision, and finally, decided to let go and let in. Rashi was her friend, wasn't she? They depended on each other and went through a lot out here together.

"I... yeah," she admitted. "I mean, I mostly believe in their goals as stated, but over time I've noticed that doesn't extend to everybody employed there. Some of them care about knowledge, and even ethics, more than others. And I've really wanted to do meaningful research, but how useful is that if the entity you're researching under doesn't care about your findings? I think that we got sent here because they weren't sure how to utilize our skills, and decided instead of wasting resources figuring it out, they could dump us in a low priority area and worry about it later, or if we found something more interesting worth a closer look. It makes me worry a bit, that we're this expendable to them."

Rashi nodded. "I suspected something similar. I've never exactly been well liked myself." Blip started a bit, looking up at her. "What, you didn't think I noticed? I'm not cheerful because I don't notice people snubbing me, I'm cheerful because I don't give a toss!" The tsabhua threw her head back, laughing heartily. Blip looked pensive.

"For real though, Miss Blip," and for the first time, Blip recognized that the title was affectionate as much as it was a mark of respect, "you need to stop caring so much about what they think, or what they might do, or what impact your research might have on the universe. Just... be here, now, and enjoy-" she gestured out to the wide, starry expanse- "this. Look what we get to do! How many Vichams have even SEEN this planet? And you love crystal structures, and there's so many stinkin' crystals just everywhere! And I love exploring and building things. We got it pretty good, you know? If we waste time worrying it's gonna get taken from us in some way or it doesn't mean as much to someone else, we don't get to enjoy that."

As Rashi, satisfied, leaned back in her hammock, Blip looked out at the night sky. Maybe there was some truth to that. Maybe it didn't matter if she was going to be recognized for her work, or if Vicha or the universe was going to benefit from what she learned here. Maybe... maybe it was okay to just be happy with what she was doing.

It took her a while to sleep, but she eventually nodded off, feeling lighter than she had in a while.

They found the suspicious hole without much issue, mostly because the climbing equipment was a T class cable clamp, a 3-wide. Hard to miss. At least those are sturdy, Blip thought, staring with trepidation into the seemingly endless black abyss below.

"I don't know about this, Rashi," Blip said.

"I do," was the cheerful response. "Remember what I told you last night? Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

"Listen, being happy in my own work doesn't extend to being happy when you take unnecessary risks with your life and limb!" Blip countered, a bit harsher in tone than she'd intended.

"What are you afraid of?" Rashi asked, not laughing, though her own eyes twinkled as she looked into Blip's.

"Listen just... don't leave me alone on this rock!" she wailed.

Rashi reached out and gripped Blip's hand. "I won't." she said very firmly. Lowering her headgear into place, she slid down the cables with practiced ease- she'd been climbing before. A lot. Blip watched her disappear and sat down for a long and anxious wait, clinging to her radio.

Rashi descended into the cave, her head lamp illuminating the rock and crystal formations she was already used to from caving by their settlement. Making sure to keep in radio contact frequently with Blip so she didn't fret TOO much, she made her way through what was, so far, looking like a very ordinary cave for this area of this planet. As she got deeper in, she started to see some signs that others had been in there (aside from the cable clamp that led them here) but nothing that seemed worth sending secret messages about.

She was about to go deeper in when she heard a very small sound behind her. The scraping of claws on stone. Someone else was here.

Trying to appear as though she had heard nothing and suspected nothing, she tapped one of her pouches, then spoke into the radio again. "Oh you know, I think I dropped that darned chipper tool, and I wanted a sample. I'm just going to retrace my steps until I find it." Turning around and scouring the path behind her would now make sense to her pursuer- but would also, she knew, put their back up. Whether this was going to be a fight was hard to tell, but--

"Oh gee whiz!" squealed a voice, much smaller and higher than anticipated, as Rashi came upon a very, very young tsabhua wedged behind a rock.

"You're telling me, you scared the life outta me!" answered Rashi. "What on earth are you doing down here?"

Blip's voice hissed over the radio. "Rashi, what happened? What's going on down there?"

Rashi picked up the receiver. "It's fine, Blip, just a fellow explorer."

"WHAT-" and with that, Rashi turned off the radio with a snap. She didn't like leaving Blip to stew, but it was more important not to scare the child that was currently gazing up at her with a mix of curiosity, fear, and defiance.

"I'm not no explorer," the child said. "I'm, uh, a ninja."

"Clearly," Rashi said, doing her best to sound impressed. "is there a secret ninja base down here, then?"

"NO!" the little one bristled. "I'm just resting. Then I'm going to kick your tail."

Rashi raised her front arms in a surrendering way. "Spare me, spare me! I just wanted to know what was down this hole, I don't mean you any harm. Do you live around here?"

The youngster stared for a long moment, trying to judge the extent to which she should trust this strange adult. Finally she seemed to give up her tough act, wailing "NO! I don't even know where here is!" Suddenly, she burst into tears.

Alarmed, Rashi lowered herself a bit closer and patted the child awkwardly on the shoulder. "Hey, hey, it's okay, I'll help you, okay?"

"D'you know how to get outta the hole?" she sobbed. "I wanted out of the rain but now I'm l-l-lost!"

"Hey, easy there, it's okay," Rashi soothed. "Come with me, and I'll get you out of the hole. When did you eat last? Look, I have a protein bar in my pack."

It was lucky she tore the wrapper before handing it over because Rashi wasn't sure if the kid would have taken it off otherwise. She folded the entire bar into her mouth, her cheeks working as she chewed it, tears still streaming down them.

With some coaxing, Rashi settled the tearful kid onto her shoulders- "a piggyback ride, c'mon it'll be fun-" and carried her toward the entrance hole.

"Listen, you're gonna have to hold on real tight because the only way out is to climb" she cautioned.

The child, whose name was Taiah, nodded enthusiastically. "Okay, I am very strong so I can do it" she said.

"I believe it," Rashi answered as Taiah clung to her mane. She put the radio back on long enough to say "Blip, I'm coming up," then turned it off again.

She could hear the Vicham before they were close enough to see her. "WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE YOU THINKING, WHAT HAPPENED DOWN TH-OH" she stopped as she saw Taiah's head emerging just behind Rashi's.

"Change of plans," said Rashi cheerfully. "I've made a new friend."

"What are you?" asked Taiah with frank curiosity. "I never seen a what you are before."

"I'm a Vicham," answered Blip good naturedly as she hovered her scanner over the little tsabhua. "Let's make sure all your systems are working like they should."

Blip fussed over the youngster, in full mother hen mode, scanning her, brushing her mane, and handing her a peppermint from the depths of her bag. As she sucked on this treasure and looked through Blip's reader, Blip pulled Rashi aside.

"Is she okay?" the older tsabhua asked.

"Mostly," Blip nodded, both of them relieved by the news. "She's clearly a bit dehydrated and obviously hungry, but overall I'd say she's better than I'd expect from a day or two in a cave alone. But listen, the trip back to base would be pretty hard on her, and I don't know how long you can carry her on your back like that either. I think it's better if we hole up at the campsite for a couple days and do some foraging, get her fed and rested, then we can go back and she can walk part of the way herself. From there I guess we try to find out where she came from."

Rashi nodded. "Sounds good."

"Sounds good to me too" came a small voice from behind them, making them both jump. Taiah had followed along behind them and clearly heard if not everything, then nearly everything.

Rashi burst into laughter. "Well it's settled then," she said. "Let's get you back to the campsite."

Taiah was pretty intelligent, and surprisingly knowing for her age. She was pretty cagey about where she came from and what she was doing in the area, dodging the question every time it came up. The adults didn't want to scare her off so they didn't press. Blip figured they could make inquiries of some of the other colonies, and someone might know where she ought to be. Surely, she was currently being worried about.

Except that as the days went by, it became clearer that nobody seemed to know who she was or where she came from.

She followed Rashi around and was a tireless helper, absorbing knowledge and handing her things. At the end of the day she soaked up attention from Blip. A time or two, she slipped, and called Blip "mama." Without really meaning to, they had all sort of adopted one another.

After a time, it became less important to find out Taiah's origins. She was fitting in fine where she was.

Rashi still wanted to find out what was down that hole, but she really didn't want to leave Taiah behind alone at the base, and it was too dangerous as a solo mission or to bring her along when they really didn't know what was in there that DPIP found so fascinating. Especially with Taiah herself reluctant to go near that area again. So for now, some mysteries, the team were letting sit.

There were other things to worry about. Other things to enjoy.