Jack looked around at everyone as they clapped for Monty's speech and pursed his lips slightly. It seemed a bit much, but Jack did remember having to applaud the big bosses for mingling with the common folk at those super-productive corporate team meetings.

  It was a distance away, but Jack felt a tiny flash of mana from Monty's direction and then the man picked up the large containers next to him as if they were empty suitcases. Jack had seen the three crew members struggle to offload them from the trolley, so he had an idea of how heavy they were.

  After seeing Monty's old equipment and making his own notes, he wondered what the gear he was wearing now did. He realised he still had no real idea what Monty's fighting style was. He had only seen him when he was protecting Jack, and Monty had said it wasn't normal for him.

  A hand on his shoulder pulled him out of his thoughts and he turned to look at the man attached to the hand. Jack was pretty confident he had not met the man yet. He would have remembered a look that distinct.

  His skin was a wrinkled grey and he stood about as tall as Jack originally was at one hundred and sixty nine centimetres. Jack had seen lots of humanoid people onboard Monty's ship with different skin tones. That no longer was a big shock to him. What stood out on this man was his hair or, more importantly, how hairy he was.

  He looked like he was stuck halfway through a werewolf transition. All the hair on his arms, legs and the bits sprouting from his shirt was a thick, rust-like colour. It was twice as long as Jack expected it to be and it contrasted with his skin colour so much Jack would have remembered meeting this person.

  He had a surprisingly well-kept short beard and haircut, considering the mess that was the rest of his body. His eyes had the now-familiar colouration of mana usage. His, however, were a shade he had not seen before. He was getting used to seeing big full block colours. Here, however, the entire eye was a cloudy grey. The man opened his mouth and Jack knew they had never talked before.

  “You. New. Jack. Yes?” The man said, the last word coming across as a question. His voice was quite high, but the way he spoke set Jack back again.

  He was never sure how much of someone's voice or speech was really them and how much was actually the translator in his neck. Even when he talked about things that seemed cultural or had context, it was as if the translator matched it to something relevant for the listener and they understood. That was why the short, abrupt lack of words had him on the back foot.

  “Me Austra.” Austra held his hand out towards Jack in a motion that was familiar and comforting.

  Almost on reflex, Jack reached out and clasped his hand and shook it, latching on to a small thing that gave him a sense of home for a moment.

  “Nice to meet you, Austra. Sorry, yes, I am Jack. How are you?” Jack said, running through his greeting on autopilot.

  “Yes. Good.” Austra answered while looking down at his hand that was still in Jack's grip.

  Jack let go and smiled apologetically at the man, then he felt that familiar upsetting feeling of space mana swirling around, and his head snapped towards the portal where Monty and the other two people stood.

  One second they were there, then a flash of purple light and they were gone. He turned his head to stare out the window again, hoping he might see the three of them appear. From this distance, all he saw was a brief blur of light and then nothing.

  He turned back to Austra, who was staring at him expectantly. He worried if he had missed some social cue and glanced at Turrel, who was not even looking in his direction. So much for his only job being to keep Jack safe.

  “What can I do for you, Austra?” Jack asked.

  The man smiled and motioned for Jack to follow him.

  “Come. You me him. Turtle. Help.” Austra said, pointing to Turrel as him.

  Jack nodded and, tapping Turrel on the shoulder, they followed the man through the gathering and collection of large containers.

  Austra didn’t speak as he weaved in between all the people and things. Jack whispered to Turrel.

  “Who is Austra? And what is Monty doing right now?”

  “Haha, we will be spending a lot of time with Austra in the near future. He is the Turtle's engineer and pilot. A bit of a mana-tech prodigy.” Turrel smiled, but seeing Jack's face light up, he quickly added, “He keeps to himself a lot and might not be willing or the best teacher if that is your thought process. So temper your expectations.” Patting Jack on the shoulder, he continued.

  “Montarg is securing the rift entrance point and establishing a safe zone so we can bring supplies and equipment through the rift safely. He doesn't like to take risks with his crew, so he will do the majority of the … clearing out on his own.” The two of them stopped as they had reached their destination.

  Austra with a surprising show of strength shoved what looked like a very heavy square cube half as tall as he was out of the way. He ruffled around in a bag that was behind it and pulled out a tablet and approached the two of them.

  “Design room?” He flourished at the stacks of crates and metal pieces around them and then pointed to the tablet.

  On the screen in front of him, Jack saw what looked like some sort of three-perspective floor plan. Things were labelled, and he could read a few of them partially. The one that was highlighted had a word he didn't understand and the word mana before it.

  Jack looked at Turrel, who seemed to know more about what Austra was asking; he nodded and thanked Austra. The shorter man nodded and walked away looking through stacks of metal plates behind them.

  “Soooo?” Jack asked.

  “Ahh yes. Well, this is not the typical expedition, so we are taking a slimmed-down version of the Turtle. Austra has designed it to be modular mostly and as we will be responsible for the Mana Source Room, he is asking how we want it set up.” Turrel replied as he stared at the layout and hmmed to himself.

  Jack nodded like he understood. Designing a room on some sort of Turtle truck; he looked around and thought of the design of the vessel. It was likely going to be pretty plain; as long as he had somewhere comfortable to sleep and sit, he didn’t really care that much.

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  Something had been bothering him since Austra had talked to him, so he decided to take the chance to ask Turrel while the shorter man was busy.

  “Turrel, how does this translator work? I mean, does it work on like what I am trying to say or the exact words? Does Austra just like not use sentences? Also, do you guys even have turtles?” Jack asked all at once.

  Turning to stare at him, Jack thought he could see Turrel trying to process his response.

  “It works on intent, but within reason. Austra’s people tend to communicate very directly. The translator is not going to add words or intention that is not there. As for Turtle? It is likely a different word for you than it is for me.” Turrel waved his hands in a large circle.

  “In the entirety of the universe, things often follow patterns or have similarities when you look at things long enough. That is still true about life and creatures, etc. The Turtle is a large-shelled creature. In my world, what I associate the word with, however, is extremely carnivorous, but I believe in yours, it is a herbivore?” Turrel waved his hand as he glanced back down at the tablet.

  “Regardless, we are off topic. If possible, the translator will find the closest related thing to the word and specify that. Otherwise, you will likely hear a word that describes it in a culture closely related to your own. Now the real question. Couch or floor cushion?”

  Jack pondered the response while Turrel pulled up images of the two limited options they had. Their room was going to be a very small two-by-two-metre cube. That space would include storage for mana crystals and any equipment they needed; it didn’t leave a lot of room to move around in. He was told that there was a small one-by-two-metre section that was attached and connected to the rest of the structure to provide power.

  They settled on floor cushions, which in this case was more like a foam mat than a cushion. That would give them more wall space for storage. Turrel advised they would have a separate area to sleep, so he agreed.

  Then they waited.

  It was a long and slightly stressful wait. While everyone was confident that Monty and the team would be fine, there was a tension in the air. That tension grew the longer that they all had to wait. Jack sat silently. The chatter and clang of activity had died down as everyone waited. He wanted to talk to Austra and ask him about all of the strange metal plates he had seen the man tinkering with. It felt inappropriate to talk at the moment.

  He wasn't sure how long it took, but after what felt like an hour, the silence was shattered by a hushed conversation on the far side of the room. A few moments later, there was the now-familiar surge of space mana followed by a flash of purple light.

  In the middle of the smaller inner ring stood Amira, the tall blonde lady that had left with Monty. She wore a coat similar to his, but hers was much slimmer fitting, showing off more curves than the generic square shape of his own. She was decked out in thick armour-like leggings and boots and a solid black chest plate that shimmered slightly.

  Jack could feel the mana emanating from her. She was charged to the brim with water mana. It was much more than he had ever felt Turrel hold, but she seemed fine. She motioned to Thalen, and after a quick conversation, the man approached a console at the rear of the room.

  “OK, we have confirmation that the entrance zone has been secured. Lord Montarg and Axel are currently holding the position. Cleaning crew, you are up first—debris and snow needs to be cleared before we bring through equipment. Line up now; we will be transferring in five minutes.” Thalen’s voice sounded out over an intercom-like system above them.

  People began moving immediately. About ten people Jack hadn't met picked up large sled-like devices and backpacks with attached hoses that looked kind of like an industrial vacuum cleaner. They all gathered up and again the portal pulsed.

  “OK, transport team, you are up next. Report to Austra. We will be moving the Turtle parts through first so assembly can begin and supplies will follow shortly after. First transfer in fifteen minutes.” The Seneschal’s voice rang out again.

  Once again everyone started moving. This time they were heading towards where Jack was standing with Austra and Turrel. Being pulled back by Turrel, he stood to the side as Austra stepped forward and started to point at crates and large metal plates.

  They were loaded onto carts and pulleys and moved towards a section of the room that seemed to be dedicated to heavier cargo. Jack felt he should be helping in some way. He felt like people judged him for not offering, but Turrel kept a hand on his shoulder to stop him moving.

  “Let them do their work, Jack. Your job starts soon. We will transfer through with them and help Austra with the assembly on the other side of the rift,” Turrel whispered in Jack's ear.

  Jack reluctantly nodded, marvelling at how similar the process of moving the heavy crates was to how it would be done on Earth. He assumed that even with all of the enhanced tech in the universe, a set of wheels on a flat surface, pulled by a living creature, might be one of the most effective solutions out there.

  That being said, he did see one particularly heavy crate that Austra attended very carefully, which was charged with a tiny bit of mana from the man. It then seemed to float itself into the air while they slid a much sturdier trolley underneath it.

  Jack lost himself in trying to work out why there wasn't more magical enhancements, but before he could come up with a reason, Turrel shook his shoulder.

  “Come, let's wait with the equipment. They will be starting the transfer soon.”

  Following Turrel as they trailed behind a visibly anxious Austra, the man was triple-counting the boxes and parts as he walked. They arrived at the ramp to the larger platform just as another announcement sounded out above him.

  “Final load up—portal activation in three minutes.”

  Jack stepped onto the platform and deep beneath him, he could feel a slight tug from whatever mana source was powering the portal device. He ignored it and stood in the centre as they waited. Everything was stacked around them like a massive metal Jenga puzzle, cramming every piece possible onto the circular platform while still having room for the people loading it to stand.

  This time Thalen's voice came not from the speakers but from behind them. He gave a ten-second warning and began to count down.

  As he hit five, Jack felt his stomach start to roll. The anticipation for the dropping feeling started to well up in his mind and he started to tense his legs. The purple glow beneath them started moving upwards towards them.

  It flashed around them and, despite his attempts at preparing, his knees still buckled as the falling sensation assaulted his mind. A moment later, he was still.

  Looking around him, he took in the sights. He could barely see in front of him with the stack in the way, but as he craned his head back, he had no such problem. Above him was a thin, rippling, translucent, bubble-like veil; beyond that was space. The open empty expanse, only broken up by the little blue and red orb floating in the distance that was Zerra.

  The only other thing he could make out was their vessel, which was when he realised he had never actually seen the exterior of it before. Last time he had the chance he was so tired he barely even remembered getting back onto the vessel.

  The shape was nothing like he would have imagined. In his mind, he had visions of sleek curves or sharp angles — A-wings, W-wings, and all the other wings imaginable. But instead, what he saw was almost like he was looking at a spade from a deck of cards, if you flattened the tip of it.

  Austra's voice sounded out and Jack looked away from the strange space-faring vessel. His vision of flying through space in a fancy spaceship felt… diminished somehow. It just seemed… less… cool when the ship looked like a malformed strawberry flying through space.

  As his gaze swept the other way, his sense of wonder returned immediately. Above him he could see the top of a large swirling rift. Energy was rotating around in a swirling vortex that was shooting ice and mist into space around it. Even if his coat was keeping him warm, he could sense the temperature had dropped immensely.

  Looking into the rift, he shook his head. Something like this had started all of this for him. It had been less than three months, but everything had changed. Staring into the raging vortex, he had the feeling things would change again once he stepped into that rift.

  He felt a hand collide between his shoulder blades and push him forward as he was having his moment of revelation.

  “Come on, Jack. Through the rift we go.”

  How do you feel about POV Switches if it is too long for a single chapter