Tychon nodded, though by now Rene knew the man well enough to understand that it was a place holder rather and an agreement. He was in unfamiliar territory and was doubtless afraid of making the wrong decision. Of course at sea, as in life, the worst decision was a failure to make one.

“Yes, um, I mean, if you think it is safe La… Solae,” he replied. They glided over the submerged reefs with ease and Rene began to see the versatility of the hydrofoils on a world like Panopontus. The barge that had ferried the three of them too shore had been too deep a draught for this kind of work. Behind them a trail of slightly phosphorescent algae marked their trail across the dark water. Doubtless they were of a type with the algae that had set the Caldera aglow when then energy of the landing had woke them.  

Solae took a communicator out and spoke into it before nodding her head. Rene was slightly disappointed that no light was immediately visible, but if Tychon was he showed no sign, instead he curved his course northward circling the caldera.  It was only a minute before they caught sight of a dull glow a cleft in the side of the caldera. Massive waves must have battered it over the millenia and eventually would shatter it completely turning the caldera into a lagoon, but that was the work of centuries or millennia. 

The trim little craft arrowed in towards the beach at a broad angle, Tychon was taking any chances of wrecking them though that was caution rather than need. The caldera had once been the crown of an volcano and hence the water, following the slope of the mountain, deepend quickly here on the leeward side. The waves drove them towards the edge of the caldera but here again the deep water was a boon, converting what would have been white caps on a shallower stretch of coast into an insistent slapping. 

The hum of electricity cut and the hull sloshed into the water as Tychon turned the hydrofoil off and picked up a large anchor of sharply angled metal, he tossed it over the side with a splash. The sudden silence was disconcerting after the constant high frequency hum of the hydrofoils  and Rene found himself feeling jumpy. After a moment Tychon touched another control and an electric winch began to retrieve anchor cable around a small spool after a moment the line went slack and the boat jerked violently. Rene nearly lost his feet by Tychon merely looked embarrassed.

“Sorry,” the fisherman said, though the smile on his face was that of an expert watching amatuers in his domain. With careful manipulation he paid out cable from the winch allowing the boat to drift closer and closer to the wall of the caldera until the steep rocky shore stood only a few meters away. 

“Someone will need to secure a line to the rocks,” Tychon called, easiy audible now that the wind and the engine noise were gone. Rene stepped to the rear, the section of the boat, closest to the land and took a length of coiled rope from Tychon.

“Should I tie it to a landing skid or…” but Tychon was already shaking his head.

“The rocking of the boat will chafe it against the rock if you do that,” he explained and drew a small device from a compartment. The thing resembled a large stapler.

“This will put a tie int the rock, it will hold us long enough,” Tychon explained. The fisherman clearly would have prefered to be handling this part, but as Rene had only the barest notion of how to operate the boat, he was the obvious choice. Taking the stapler he clipped it to his belt and leaped the two meters to the caldera, catching at the tough viney growth which covered the steep rise to stop himself sliding back into the water. Carefully, he pressed the stapper to the bare rock and pulled the small trigger in the butt of the thing. There was a sharp pop of compressed gas and the stapler kicked against Rene’s hand. When he withdrew it, a two inch eye bolt had been driven into the stone, similar to those climbers used to ascend rock faces. Rene fed the rope through the eye and looked back at Tychon, uncertain how to tie it off. The fisherman shook his head and made a ‘throw it here’ motion. Rene put his food on the bolt and tossed the coil of remaining line to Tychon who secured it to the boat, which steaded now that it had two points of contact. Evidently the winch had enough play in it that the rocking of the waves wasn't a problem. Rene turned back to the rock and placed two more studs as hand holes and then climbed into the lowest point of the tumbledown. 

In the caldera beyond, the Bonaventure stood much as they had left it, save that the water from the hurricane had drained away. As Solae had surmised the landing skids were sunk several inches deep into the volcanic ash that formed the lumpy grey floor. Emergency lighting by the main hatches and at the nose and stern of the vessel burned a cheerful green. The nose light blinked off for a moment and then lit again, leaving Rene with strange notion that Mia had just winked at him. A grin spread across his face. He turned to see Tychon speaking with Solae, he had an inflatable raft in his hands but she shook her head, put one foot on the line and jumped over the remaining distance to catch onto the vegetation as Rene had. He grinned wider at his fiance and reached down to help her up into the cleft.

“Welcome home,” he said with a smile as she looked over the edge of the caldera to where the bonaventure stood cheerfully illuminated.

“If the mistress cares to inspect the house,” he said with a courtly bow made slightly ridiculous by the fact that he was reaching down with his free hand to catch another length of rope Tychon was tossing him. The other end of it was secured to a length of flexible hosing, though it would take both men to muscle that up over the caldera wall.

“I’ll make sure that the gardens are in order.”