Chapter 14

Chapter 14 is the fourteenth chapter of the Astra Lost in Space manga. It is the seventh chapter of the Shummoor arc and, in the compiled volumes, the seventh chapter of the second volume.

Synopsis
It is the second day of the crew's visit to Shummoor. Aries, Charce, and Kanata confront a group of three gloopies, apologizing for having to use them for their own survival. They then mount the gloopies, intending to use them as transportation across the surface of the planet while they continue their search for food and water.

Later, having split into groups again to find food and water, Kanata, Quitterie, Ulgar, Yun-Hua, and Zack search for the former. Almost instantly after beginning their search, Kanata and Quitterie begin to feud again. While they fight about the plants they've found, Zack lectures them about their behavior; they stop, but mutter under their breaths disagreeably. Zack notices that most of the mossy plant life grows around the bases of tall, tree-like plants consisting of tall stalks with round bulbs at their tops, the most prominent plants in the area. Kanata and Quitterie immediately run for the base of the tall plants, aiming to gather more than the other, but notice that the air around the base is soured by methane. Kanata audibly accuses Quitterie of farting, and she kicks him in the face for his insult, knocking him down.

While the two argue about what Kanata has said, Zack turns his attention to why the area smells like methane. When Quitterie helps Kanata up, he finds the imprint left by his fall has exposed the skeleton of a decomposing animal; she panics and throws him down again while Zack, now completely ignoring them, examines the carcass. Noticing that the moss is growing on it, and noticing similar mounds surrounding them, he theorizes that the moss is acting to decompose the animal, and tells the group that they are standing in an area with a large amount of carcasses. While Quitterie begins panicking over the realization, Ulgar finds Yun-Hua picking flowers by herself and berates her, insulting what he perceives as an inability to follow orders. Not contradicting him, she quietly replies that she understands what she was told to do, staring at the handful of flowers she has picked.

As the food group discovers the carcasses, the water group of Aries, Charce, Funicia, and Luca is making the same discovery, and Charce is physically examining a carcass to find out more about it, to the dismay of Luca. When its teeth are revealed to resemble an herbivore's, Aries and Charce become excited, both of them wondering if there may be a carnivore somewhere in the area. When Funicia tells them she doesn't know what the word "carnivore" means, Charce gives her a cliff-notes summary of a planetary life cycle. He goes on to say that he's unsure as to whether or not another animal killed the one he is examining, noting that he sees no damage to its bones; the potential lack of carnivores is a detail he has not accounted for and has no alternate theories to describe. They load their hoversleds with more cactus barrels and attack them to their gloopies, debating different theories as to how the animal died without a carnivore to kill it, and head back to the Astra.

Both of the groups offer what they have found and learned. The amount of non-poisonous food that can be stored is still very small, and the cactus barrels are still few and far between, as the plants do not grow in groups. Realizing that both their food and their water are running out, the group debates how to proceed. Quitterie proposes they leave after gathering a bare minimum of water, as they are using more simply sitting still than they are finding on the planet, but Aries counters that they are nowhere near finding the bare minimum described. Zack proposes rationing both food and water; Luca counters that not bathing risks disease and that they are already rationing food; Charce is adamant that they stay until they have all the food and water necessary, not willing to risk dying halfway between Shummoor and the next planet, an option Quitterie dismisses as the rantings of a xenophilic madman. Kanata decides that they should move the Astra to a different section of Shummoor on the following day and continue their search there, as well as cutting back on food consumption and saving water by temporarily forgoing bathing.

Hearing Kanata mention food rationing, an unhappy Luca casually denounces his decision; glancing at Yun-Hua, he sarcastically asserts that she appears as though she cannot forgo any meals at all, words that hurt Yun-Hua deeply. Luca leaves before Kanata can berate him, and Yun-Hua is left alone with her thoughts. The next morning, the crew awakens to find Yun-Hua has disappeared. Aries finds she has left a message for them, saying that she intends to stay on Shummoor and requesting that they leave her to die.