Mr. Drest has sent us a letter to his wife.

My dearest,

I can't believe I've been separated from you for this long already. Days seem to drag on without your voice to keep me company.

We got the message that land has been sighted on the horizon today. I'm excited, yet apprehensive. This is a great opportunity, but I'd rather be waking up next to you in the mornings. I won't be able to see you for so long, and it's unsure if I will even be able to receive word from you back. My hand yearns for yours.

I've made good on my promise to you and have made friends on the ship. Atuwe and I will need to work together closely so she's been schooling me on important concept in linguistics to try to make communication easier when we arrive. I'll still need to mostly trust on her, because I've discovered I'm fairly bad at it. I've tried to tell her that languages really aren't my strongest suit, but she won't hear it. She says that linguistics has nothing to do with how well you can learn languages, it's about the underlying structures. I just nodded and said I understood but I sure as hell didn't, and still don't. Talorcan has been teaching us about how to interact with foreign cultures, and how to observe what may be taboo, and I think that'll be more useful than trying to move your mouth in the right ways. Talorcan is older than me and he's able to pick things up so much faster than me. Makes me kind of jealous to be honest, but I suppose we all have our strengths. Plus, he has been in academia for his whole life, while I've moved over to my cushy office job. I never thought I'd miss Tiya's complaining her files never check out.

Things on the ship have been peaceful enough. The captain and crew have been incredibly willing to communicate, much better than some other journeys I've been on. I've had basically nothing to worry about while on the ship, but now that I know there's land in sight, my unease is making its return. We'll have enough provisions for a week or two while on the ground, but after that we'll be entirely dependent on what we're offered and what we find on this new continent. We won't even know if our bodies can process the food they have there until we try it. It's a precarious position to be in, especially with Talorcan and me on the expedition. Obviously they wouldn't have sent us if they thought we wouldn't survive it, but one lasting bout of diarrhea and I'm afraid we will be recovering for quite a while. No use in obsessing over it now, but an expedition leader needs to be aware of the dangers.

I hope everything is okay at home. My pay will take care of you for as long as this will take, and don't be afraid to pester our children to visit you a little more often. Go visit your friends as often as they can stomach you. I would hate for you to become lonely. I would say "eat well", but I know you will. Maybe organize a little weekly meal with the kids, that'll be nice and it'll give all of you a chance to catch up. Tell them I miss them when you see them, and do tell them to eat well. I know how they get.



I miss you more every day. My heart is forever yours and longs to return to you.

Your loving husband, yours even in the longest absences.