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Good. I didn’t want it to die. It looks like Ryle didn’t, either. That or he’s more worn out than I thought. He watches it until it disappears. Then his shoulders slump and he sighs. “Back to camp.”
“Yes.”
“I walk fast. Carry you.”
I open my mouth to protest. He’s hurt! He should take it easy! But he lifts me and rests me in the crook of one arm like a football despite my shrieks and my tiny flying fists.
He was right. His stride takes us up the beach much more quickly than if I were jogging along at his side. I’m beginning to wonder if we’ll make it back in half the time when I spot some figures coming down the beach. Colorful figures. His crew, carrying armloads of their belongings.
“What is this?” I ask him. “We weren’t supposed to tell anyone where we were.”
“I message them when we test the mushrooms. Good proof for my crew. They return to help carry human belongings.”
The Rurim halt in front of us, eyes wide, exchanging concerned looks. They speak back and forth in their language. Ryle’s voice is an even deeper rumble, one that I can feel through my whole body while I’m clutched in his arms. In nothing but my underwear. Great.
Ryle places me down, and I cover myself with my arms. I doubt I’m doing a good job. The looks the males exchange now are smirks and grins. “This is very rude,” I snap, ducking behind Ryle’s leg. One of his teammates hands me a spare kilt, though. I wrap it around my chest. It covers my boobs and hangs down to cover less than a miniskirt. Better than nothing, though. Much better.
“Thank you,” I say. Now that I’m covered, I’m less reluctant to speak to them. I step out from behind Ryle and try to join the conversation.
“Have any of you seen this happen before?” I ask, gesturing up, way, way up.
“No,” one of them says. Shorek, I think. The one patterned with gray. “Never grows so big. But. None of us meet mates.”
Of course. That’s right. This was in reaction to the threat. He was protecting me. And they never would have seen this before because they were never free before. We might be the first females they’ve spent any real amount of time with.
“So you can’t make him smaller?”
“Do not know.” Shorek shrugs. Then he grins. “He carry much!” They all chuckle, and the ground vibrates with Ryle’s booming laugh. I can always count on them to look at the bright side. I’ll give them that. He can carry much.
Can he move our engine?
One thing at a time. Ryle picks me back up. “We go,” he says. He waves his men off and we continue up the beach.
?????
We reach the camp in the middle of the night, in record time. I feel like Ryle might be returning to his normal size? The football position wasn’t quite as comfortable by the end of our long walk.
I leave him outside. He could duck and squeeze into our ship, but he decides against it, assuming that his sudden change will upset the humans within. Many of them are still distrustful of the aliens. Many of them are afraid. They just need time.
Faith is still awake. I find her and Arjun in the bridge. Do the two of them ever sleep? She’s obviously exhausted, and this time it’s Arjun who greets me when I step inside.
“The animals have been fleeing, Macie,” he says, ushering me further inside the room. He offers me a seat at the cleanest station. I take it gratefully. “There’s something coming.”
Faith mutters from where she stands at the captain’s panel. Her tablet is connected to the podium at the central station, where cables spill everywhere.
“Tell us what you found.”
I try to keep it simple. I show them the photos of the new cavern that we found, ready for us all to move in and comfortably hide from the storm. We scroll through videos of the mushrooms and how they reacted to the water. I show him the melon things that I brought back with me. Not that we’re low on rations, but it will be nice to have a little variety if Viv finds that they’re safe to eat. They smell sweet, at least.
Arjun listens patiently, but Faith huffs and hrmms. She taps her fingers on the side of the command station, twirls a cable around one hand.
It hits me - she doesn’t know what to do.
“Listen,” I say, “I’m too tired. I’m all out of brainpower right now. I’m sure you’re both wiped, too. Maybe we can talk again in the morning? We still have some time.”
“Maybe we should take a vote,” Arjun says softly.
Faith wipes her eyes. “Sleep on it.” Then she turns back to her work.
