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ADONE
Summer and I hurried down the tiny hall. Small, the ship had two small rooms with bedding, a tiny, stocked galley, and a bridge spanning the front with control panels and two seats. As Burmoot said, the ship had been programmed to take us to Tetryx, though I wasn’t sure how long that would take.
“Where’s Burmoot?” she asked softly, squeezing my arm.
I paused in the hall and opened one of the bedroom doors. He lay on the bunk where I’d placed him. Could a person live through that many shocks? Despite my uncertainty about him, how could I leave him in the desert?
My father . . . I still hadn’t processed his words. I tried to see something in his face that proved his words, but my memories of my father were nothing more than vague impressions.
Summer dropped to her knees beside him and carefully placed her hand on his chest. “He’s breathing, and he appears comfortable.” She shot me a look filled with sorrow. “Should we strap him down for takeoff?”
Already, the engines hummed. Soon, the ship would leave the desert and soar through the opening in the dome.
“We were not strapped in when the original ship arrived. I believe he’ll be all right.” The bunk sunk in, creating a depression he rested within.
“I’ll stay here with him,” she said. “I’ll keep him safe.”
I nodded. “The ship’s computers will handle the flight, but I might need to be present on the bridge if the system has questions.”
“You do that. I’ll stay here.” Summer rose and rushed over to me, giving me a hug. “It’s going to be okay. Somehow, it’s going to be okay.”
I felt like I was losing my family all over again, but I still had her. Tumbles too.
She was right, however. Somehow, it would be okay.
“Thank you.”
She gave me the sweetest smile. Tumbles leaned against her leg, looking up at Burmoot—my father. Seeing his interest, she lifted him up onto the bed, and Tumbles curled against Burmoot’s side.
As I walked down the hall and into the tiny bridge, the ache in my hearts grew. I slumped in one of the chairs and stared around. There wasn’t anything I needed to do here. The computer took care of everything. If there were problems, what did I, a male who’d been locked up and experimented on for most of his life, know about flying a ship?
I leaned back and extended my legs. A long sigh bled from my lungs. The rhythmic pounding in my head would not go away.
It was stupid, but I wanted to cry. Was that something a grown male could do? I’d done more than my share of crying through the seasons, and my brothers always comforted me. They’d been the only solid thing in my shaky life. The only beings I could cling to. I missed them, and I was grateful they’d survived their games.
Tipping my head back, I stared at the plated ceiling. It shimmered. No, that was my vision. All right, so I could cry. There was nothing wrong with that, even if I didn’t have my brothers here to comfort me.
Summer entered the bridge and paused beside me. Through the viewscreen—which was also blurry—I watched as the craft soared through the hatch in the dome, heading for the stars. Taking us home.
“He’s resting and seems comfortable,” she said. Spying my face, her lower lip trembled. She cupped my shoulder. “Adone.”
Crawling onto my lap, she held me like my brothers had done so many times.
* * *
“You, mate,” I said, my voice gruff with emotion. “I am a complete male, but you make every bit of me better.”
She continued to hug me, and though her arms could not completely encircle me, her touch made my hearts feel better.
“Your father is doing okay,” she said.
Would he live? I wasn’t sure how I felt about this. To think he’d been alive all this time but hadn’t come for me. As a member of the Universal Council, he must have power. Why not use it to free me and my brothers?
Although, Lord Vunne had been sanctioned by the Council. They’d allowed him to do what he pleased with our planet. Spoils of his invasion, they’d called it. Vunne had been a warlord no one wished to tangle with. Yet Tetryx had made him pay for the horror he’d delivered to us and too many others for many seasons.
“Thank you for remaining with him,” I said, my voice croaking. “I don’t know what to think of this.”
“All you can do is wait for him to wake up.” She stroked my face. “And then, all your questions will be answered.”
