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?? CHAPTER 25 ??
Ryle
Maysee is invited to make a speech the next morning. They’ve decided to take a vote, and she’s making her case against her captain.
I stand behind the gathered humans. They eye me doubtfully, though I’ve explained over and over what happened. I grew so that I could fight the giant monkey. I grew to protect my mate.
They also want a lot of details about the monkey. I try to describe it to them, and apparently my pantomime causes a commotion because the captain, Faith, scolds me from where she stands atop a storage crate.
“Excuse me! Can we all be quiet? Including you in the back.” She gives me a tight-lipped nod when I halt mid-imitation. “I know we’re all busy, so I’ll keep this brief. Macie has come across some concerning weather predictions. She’s transferring her summary to your tablets right now. According to her findings, a tornado and flooding are on their way here in approximately fourteen days. It is of my opinion that her discovery is inconclusive, possibly inaccurate, probably amounting to nothing. We have too much work to do. We can’t go cower in a cave until a rainstorm passes. Macie, the stage is yours.”
“That was a little harsh,” Maysee mutters as she climbs onto the crate.
“I respect your conclusions,” Faith says, “But they’re far-fetched and we don’t have time to be wrong or to be nice.”
“Don’t we?” Maysee asks. “What happens if we delay?”
“We run out of supplies sooner,” Faith says. “Not to mention the crew that’s expecting us. You’d have us leave them hanging?”
“To save our own lives? Yes.” She turns to the rows of listening faces. “You can look at my research. There’s a lot there, but I included my notes. See for yourselves what you think. But look fast. There’s a very dangerous weather event coming. There’s a cave that’s a three-day walk from here. Faster if we push. We have approximately ten days to safely make it there. I think... I think once the flooding starts, you won’t be able to get inside.” Her head drops. “We’ve already lost crew members. This is an avoidable disaster. Please.”
“Deadline for your votes is tonight,” Faith says. “Message them to Arjun.” She claps her hands. “Back to work!”
Maysee jumps down from the crate and comes straight to me. It was brave of her to speak opposite her captain like that.
I kiss the top of her head. “I must travel ahead,” I say. “I am big. I can carry much.”
“Yes,” she says. “Take whatever you can. I’m going to stay here and campaign.”
Another new word for the translator. I say, “Give me human things to take. They will see. They will come.”
She looks back at her ship. “Food and water,” she says. “First aid kits.”
“I will take. Who will stop me?” I flex an arm, and Maysee finally cracks a smile.
“Be careful,” she says, and she squeezes my hand.
Mostly she squeezes a thumb. I’m still so large. I have to duck and turn sideways to squeeze inside of the human’s ship. Maysee leads me to the cargo bay. I’m able to lift a stack of three crates. Her eyes go wide.
“It takes four of us to lift one of those,” she says.
“Is enough?“ I ask.
“It should be,” she says.
“I will return quickly.”
?????
The crates grow heavy. I wonder if I’m slowly shrinking back to my usual size. My trek down the beach is more slow than I’d hoped. I also hunger and tire, and soon, I miss my mate.
Still, I will not fail her. I will not fail her crew. My feet grow sore and my arms grow heavy, but I trod on. First along the shoreline. Then, well into the night, I finally turn along the cliff walls into the jungle. I encounter no more monkeys, though I hear the roar again - far away, only audible as it echoes off the cliff wall.
I stop outside the cavern. The moonlight barely illuminates the crack right now, but I remember where it is. I turn sideways and I... don’t fit.
“Zoxsym!” I bellow. “Shorek!”
They appear within moments.
