S'haar was standing in the recently completed guard tower, looking out over the slowly expanding wall. For once, everything was going according to plan. At this rate, the palisade would be up well before spring. It was a simple design of mid-sized trunks placed firmly together to allow virtually no space between posts. The tops of the logs were sharpened to a point to make climbing them a little extra awkward. Additionally, a walkway was placed near the top of the wall along the inside. This gave potential guards a variety of vantage points in addition to those offered by the towers that would be spaced every few hundred meters.

Em'brel's well was also nearly complete. The hole had been dug then lined with stones, and it maintained more than an adequate water level at all times. It had a raised wall around the outside, and the top was capped off to prevent wildlife from falling inside and contaminating the water. She was working with both Fea'en and Tel'ron to design a system for more easily lifting the water out of the well than the usual, a bucket on a rope that people would haul up by hand.

This well would use some sort of 'pully' system attached to a hand crank that apparently dramatically reduced the water bucket's weight, allowing for more water to be drawn up at a time. It was going to have four such systems lined up around the outside. Each of these was going to have a locking mechanism. When engaged, it would prevent the buckets from falling further than an eighth of the crank and allow the bucket to be locked at the top.

The design was complicated enough that it took a few tries to explain to the Tel'ron and Fea'en what Em'brel was asking for, but now the two crafters were working together to make Em'brel's idea functional.

There was a bit of trial and error, it took 2 days and a few scrapped parts to get one side up and running. However, now that the first draw system was in place, the workers were confident they could put the next three together in far less time than the first had taken.

Meanwhile, Fea'en's little speech to Lon'thul a few days ago had caused the youth to push himself further and faster when it came to bringing Em'brel's ideas to life. For the first time he could remember, hunting was a secondary priority. Well, it would have if Em'brel didn't depend on him bringing home meat so she could cook up one of her popular dishes. When he wasn't on the hunt, Lon'thul was almost always found asking what else he could help with. He threw himself into each task with a vigor that only abated when he was able to spend time talking with Em'brel.

Not to be outdone, Tel'ron's work was beginning to far outshine his years of experience. He crafted each tool or component as though they were his personal gift to Em'brel, and his dedication to his craft shone through in the results. Angela even commented that "Old Mar'kon will have to watch his back, or this young pup might surpass him!"

Now, one of the most significant issues slowing them down was getting enough lumber. Because of that, S'haar was out using the chainsaw almost daily to meet the workers' needs. The more she used the chainsaw, the easier it became, but she marveled at the fact that she still wasn't as productive as Jack had been. It was easy to look down on humans being small and weak, but there was something to human endurance that deserved a certain amount of respect.

The thought of Jack brought a frown of concern to S'haar's face. He was showing signs of progress, but it seemed to be taking an agonizingly long time. The workers had all stopped asking about Jack, and S'haar had a distinct impression that they just assumed he was dead. As far as the workers were concerned, she'd been running the camp longer than he had been. How would they react to the day Jack woke up and took back over?

S'haar shook her head. These were concerns for another time and place. For now, the woodworker whose turn it was to help gather wood had just walked up to the base of the tower and was now waiting on S'haar. She had more trees to cut to help supply the camp's needs, and she'd have plenty of time to worry about Jack tonight as she gave him her report on the day's work.

It was always painful to look at Jack's unmoving face as she spoke to him at night, but there was something oddly comforting about holding his hand and feeling his warmth radiating into her own as she spoke. As long as that warmth flowed, Jack lived, and that was good enough for S'haar...for now.

After that, S'haar would settle down in the bedroll she'd made on the ground beside Jack's bed. If Jack woke up in the middle of the night, his bodyguard was going to be there and ready to help in any way he needed.

Em'brel also took her turns talking to Jack, though her conversations were most often centered around whatever problems she was dealing with. The subjects would range from logistical issues about her designs for the camp to emotional problems weighing her down at the time. She'd told S'haar that imagining what Jack might say in response to her issues often led Em'brel to conclusions she might never have come to on her own.

S'haar could understand that. It had been weeks, but she could still sometimes hear Jack's quips in the silent moments of a conversation. Even now, she could imagine that stupid grin he'd have on his face before saying something to get a reaction out of her. It had taken her a while to realize he enjoyed pushing her to the point she'd give him a light smack in response to some smart remark. He said it meant he'd 'won' that round of verbal sparring, whatever that meant.

Her frown now replaced with a smile of her own, S'haar jerked her head toward the forest just past the wall as she spoke to the woodworker. "Let's get to work!"

-

Em'brel was cooking a large pot of stew in the worker's billet. This batch of smoked meat was a bit on the tough side and needed a little extra attention to make it palatable. She'd mixed in a few roots and tubers that Lon'thul had gathered for her during his hunting forays into the forest. While she worked, Angela played a little tune over her headband, and Em'brel was dancing in place while humming to herself as she chopped up the ingredients.

Em'brel never heard S'haar and the woodworker enter and continued to hum and dance until a sneeze from behind her made her freeze.

Em'brel stayed utterly motionless for a few moments, hoping the sound had just been some weird trick of the wind finding a crack in the doorframe, but she knew she was deluding herself. She turned around extra slowly, hoping not to draw attention to herself as she did so, but found her efforts in vain as two pairs of eyes were now staring at her. The eyes were accompanied by a couple of grinning faces that were obviously enjoying the show at Em'brels expense.

Em'brel glared at the pair that were currently shedding sawdust with every movement. "Look at you two! You're filthy! Go outside and dust yourselves off before you ruin my stew!"

S'haar's grin only grew a little wider in response. "Aw, don't get mad because we caught your cute little show! Besides, aren't I the one in charge of this camp at the moment? Who gave you the authority to order me out of here?"

Em'brel bared her teeth in a half-joking threat display before speaking. "I'm the cook! And if you want this delicious stew for dinner rather than some stale bread and water, you'll do as I say! NOW GO CLEAN YOURSELVES OFF BEFORE COMING BACK IN MY KITCHEN!"

The worker, Jan'kul if Em'brel remembered correctly, looked back and forth between the two women wondering just how much trouble he would get in merely by being present to witness such a spectacle. The usually shy and docile Em'brel was now advancing on the nearly unflappable S'haar with a wooden spoon, and S'haar was backing down! Both hands were held up in as the unstoppable S'haar surrendered to the tiny Em'brel. "Ok, ok, you win! I'll go dust off. Just put away the spoon!"

As S'haar walked out the door, Jan'kul could hear S'haar mutter to herself. "I have this whole camp dropped in my lap, and I run the thing without any complaint, but do I get any respect? No! Instead, I get chased away from dinner by a wooden spoon and the threat of stale bread..." Her tone seemed to be at least half-joking, but he wasn't sure.

Jan'kul was now doing his best to not attract attention by remaining completely motionless. Sadly, it didn't work. Em'brel's gaze slowly shifted to him before she broke out in the cutest grin he'd ever seen. "Sorry about that. I hope we didn't scare you too much. Though I would appreciate it if you'd go dust off also."

He just gawked in wonder at the strange little woman who had gone from terrifying warrior of legend to cute little girl just barely over his daughter's age in the blink of an eye. It took his brain a moment to catch up with the shift, but once he did, he relaxed as he responded to the now impossibly cute eyes innocently looking up at him."Uhh... Yeah, no problem. I'll be right back!"

As soon as he walked out and the door shut, Em'brel could hear the laughter shared between S'haar and Jan'kul. The diminutive chef reluctantly went back to her cooking. As she worked, she spoke in an exasperated voice to Angela. "Why didn't you warn me people were coming in? They caught me DANCING!"

Angela's voice sounded a little too innocent as she responded. "Would you believe I got too caught up in the music and dancing and didn't notice?"

Em'brel was a little over-enthusiastic as she started pasting the root she would add to the stew to thicken the mixture. She splattered the wall and herself liberally as she worked out her embarrassment. "No, I don't believe that! You are far too aware of our surroundings to miss a little thing like that, especially since I know you happen to be riding along with S'haar in her headset as well!"

Angela's voice took on a slightly apologetic tone. "Ok, how about, 'You looked so cute doing your little dance I had to share it with someone?' That much cuteness was not meant for one AI alone!"

Em'brel grumped at the AI while she worked. "Well, next time, give me a warning, or else I'll... I'll..."

Angela's voice was now confident of victory. "Or you'll what? You can't threaten me with a spoon or stale bread the way you did with S'haar!" It was apparent that Angela thought she was untouchable.

Em'brel huffed indignantly before pulling out the most dire threat she could think of. "Or else I'll learn to control my excitement like a proper LADY instead of joining you by hopping up and down in celebration!"

Angela was quiet a moment before her defeated voice responded. "You win... On the provision that you NEVER use such a diabolically evil threat on me again! That just wasn't fair!"

Em'brel's mood was considerably brighter now that she had gotten one up on all the offending parties in the little debacle that shall never be spoken of again. As she started chopping up the root to go in the pot, Em'brel was back to humming and swaying her hips as she worked.

-

S'haar was holding Jack's hand and speaking with laughter in her voice. "and then she threatened me with a spoon! A STUPID WOODEN SPOON! The look on Jan'kul's face was priceless!"

S'haar had to close her eyes and shake her head for a moment at the memory. When she opened her eyes again, it took her a moment to realize that Jack's eyes were open as well, and he was looking right at her.

S'haar lept forward, pulling Jack into a crushing embrace. Tears were flowing freely as she babbled. "You're awake! You've come back to us! ANGELA! EM'BREL! COME QUICK, JACK'S AWAKE!"

S'haar heard the thunder of Em'brel's approaching footsteps and saw the glow of Angela's avatar, but her world was focused entirely on Jack. She studied Jack's face intently and realized very quickly... something was wrong.

Aside from his eyes, Jack's expression was altogether unchanged. Even those looked a bit wrong, as though they were looking toward her, but not at her.

She gripped his hand tightly as she begged, "Please, Jack, say something! Say anything! Speak to me!"

Em'brel had burst into the room, ready to tackle Jack, but she stopped short when she heard the desperation in S'haar's voice. Jack's eyes were unfocused. The entire room held its breath after S'haars plea. S'haar was just giving into tears, born of the kind of devastation brought on by crushed hope when Jack's voice pierced the silence of the house for the first time in weeks.

His voice was cracked, halting, and barely above a whisper, but everyone was so silent and attentive that all three women heard him as clear as day. "This... mountain... is... so... tall,"

Jack paused and took a deep breath before continuing a moment later. "and... ... the... wind... is... so... ... ... cold..."

Following that, Jack's eyes closed again, and what little strain he seemed to be putting into his body seemed to ease out of him as he fell back into his relaxed pose. Jack was asleep once more.

S'haar turned her tear-stained face toward Angela. "What... what was that? What does it mean?"

Angela couldn't keep the emotion from her voice despite nearly overheating a few processors in her attempt to do so. "It means there's real hope now! It means he's starting to wake up!"

-

Jack looked at the mountain currently standing before him. The wind coming off it was so cold it stung his face, and he could already feel his fingers ache in anticipation of what lay ahead.

The road he had been following disappeared into the mountain, and he could hear S'haar's voice coming from above the peak. "This...is going to suck. I've never been particularly interested in rock climbing...or heights..."

Jack cracked his knuckles, stretched his neck, rotated his arms in their sockets, and failing to think of anything else he could do to psych himself up (not that any of those had worked), he grabbed hold of his first handful of rock and pulled himself up, grumbling under his breath the whole time. "Come on, Jack. You fly spaceships, IN SPACE! You're not gonna let a little thing like a fear of heights stop you now, are you?"

He'd made it up about ten feet before looking down. His vision spun for a moment, and he pulled himself tight against the rock he was holding onto with very white knuckles. He usually wasn't this bad until getting at least three or four stories off the ground (Angela had to handle most takeoffs or landings for this reason), but something about a perilous handhold on an untested rock wall made everything worse.

Finally, he forced his muscles to relax, and he reached up to the next handhold he could find. "This...is going to be a long climb."

-

Angela was finishing her explanation. "So as he starts to come out of his coma, he'll 'wake up' like he just did more often. Eventually, he may even seem to fully wake up before slipping back into the coma, but that's all normal."

Em'brel was hugging S'haar. She was bawling her eyes out, but they were happy tears. Even if he hadn't made any sense, Jack had spoken again. The younger girl had almost given up on ever hearing Jack's voice again, but now her hope was renewed and burning brightly! At this moment, she felt like she could fly!

It took a moment for S'haar and Em'brel to realize that Angela was standing very quietly. The small celebration in front of her seemed forgotten as she tilted her head to one side as though listening to something. When she spoke, the worry was evident in her voice. "S'haar, go and warn the workers. We've got a cold front moving in. It's going to be far colder than anything I've seen on this planet before now!"