He woke before the others.
The pool was full. He had slept well, which was not something he had taken for granted since the lateral stage build. Full pool and clean sleep were the two operational prerequisites he had identified for this kind of contact, and he had both.
He sat outside the camp and ate what the older man had left ready the previous evening—he had done this throughout the journey, setting food aside before sleeping as if he understood exactly what the next morning would require. Kai had never asked him to do this. The older man understood things about what the work demanded without needing them explained.
He came from Helios. He's been watching this since before it had a name. He probably understood what this morning was before any of the rest of us did.
He sat and ate and watched the cliff face.
