“And I guess Alienn, Arkansas, is alsowhere it all began.” She was quoting Winslow again.
Jack smiled. “Truth.”
He hadn’t been wrong in any of his woo-woo predictions thus far. He’d been right about Warden Draven. He’d been right about the escaped prisoner, the wolf of wherever, giving them part of their package on their way and the warden who laughed at danger being helpful before they left Galactic Gulag XkR-9.
Now they were headed towhere it all began. Madelaine’s journey had truly begun in Alienn at a bachelor auction, of all things, seeking the help of the man who was now her husband. She wanted so much to keep him.
However, heading to Alienn, while offering a coming-full-circle feeling in this crazy adventure with Jack, put him right back in his hometown.
But not hers. Not anymore.
Perhaps Alpha-Primewasthe final location where she’d have to assemble and deploythe solutionfor her Paladin Courier errand.
The thought of having to leave Jack behind on Earth before she made her journey back to her life on Alpha-Prime made her eyes water. She sniffed, turned away so he wouldn’t see her emotional musings and put her thoughts elsewhere.
Jack was still hers, for now.
The only woo-woo message left from Winslow was the silver nugget information Madelaine didn’t understand, but was convinced would eventually be absolutely accurate.
Thetrust your instinctsmessage along withthe two of you togethercanresolve the problemfrom Varner Kessik was the other prediction she’d have to mull over. He’d seemed so earnest.
The part of the phrase about trusting her instincts had resurrected a strong memory from her childhood. Madelaine’s mother said the same thing when she was little. Especially when young Madelaine got frustrated with the world around her and how it worked—or rather,didn’twork—in her favor as often as she expected.
“Trust your instincts, my little ladybug,” she’d said. “And you’ll never go wrong.”
Gwen Archer had died when Madeline was ten and Natalie, her sister, was not quite three. Their heartbroken father had found love again two years later, bringing Faith into their little family. While, Madelaine still grieved her mother being gone, Faith had been a wonderful addition to their lives.
It had been difficult for Madeleine to leave her close-knit family behind when she went to Alpha-Prime for Paladin training, even though her father had initially pressed her to take advantage of the opportunity.
As with Jack, the Paladin Cabal had forced her to break off communication with her family until her primary task was complete. Quell-don had assured her that they were kept apprised of her progress, so she had to be satisfied with that.
She couldn’t even risk running into them in Alienn, which was why she’d gone to such lengths to conceal her identity. She planned to do a slow drive by of their house before she returned to Alpha-Prime in the hopes of getting a glimpse of her family.
Jack startled her out of her sad reverie when he said, “I don’t know what I’m worried about most. Having to face Diesel or Cam once we return to Alienn, Arkansas. I have no idea what Axel told them.”
Madelaine said, “Well, why don’t we try to avoid everyone except Diesel. We can get to his office by way of the convenience store main entrance where all the humans come in, instead of traversing the basement, where there is no doubt we’d see all manner of people we know who’d line up with a plethora of questions.”
“Good idea,” Jack said. “Because you’re right. That’s exactly what would happen. The less fuss the better, since I’ll be late getting back from the two-week vacation Axel generously granted me. And I know we can’t get back to Earth today.”
“No. From here, even using the express wormhole—which I plan to—it will take at least two and a half days to get to Earth.”
Jack nodded as if resigned to the fact their timeline made him late getting back home. Madelaine felt like this last bit of time to pick up the last package was all she truly had left with Jack.
Maybe he wouldn’t be able to accompany her to where she needed to assemble the pieces and find the final location. She shook off that melancholy thought and changed the subject.
“On the bright side, once I set the autopilot for Earth, we could spend the time continuing our honeymoon,” Madelaine said with a grin.
Jack smiled. “Great idea.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Jack and Madelaine had returned to Earth only an hour ago, hiding the ship in the same place Madelaine used before. He was thinking about a way to monitor this particular space, in case Madelaine ever came back for more Paladin Courier adventures. He’d been writing computer code in his head all the way from the prison planet.
Seraphina greeted them when they entered the rental house to shower, get a bite to eat of something that wasn’t ship rations and prepare to face the Fearless Leader of the Big Bang Truck Stop, a.k.a. his brother, Diesel.
Jack was giving himself continual pep talks to prepare for that discussion.
They drove to the Big Bang Truck Stop and parked Madelaine’s rental car in the section reserved for humans coming into the convenience store to shop. He hoped to avoid seeing anyone he knew by going this route instead of through the official alien basement entrance.
