The continuation of my 2026 New Years Resolution.

And it only took another chapter to get to the end I wanted in the previous one. Was able to use the space to add a few extra details as the natives continue to pump Fred for information. He's not special in the regard, but he's our PoV so he's who we get to see asked those questions.

Though, honestly, it is the give and take of those little moments that stretch and compress the chapters. Sometimes the characters can chatter for days, other times I expected them to chill for a bit and they get the story out of there it's a relay race. Such are things in a first draft.