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Cadewould know,she told herself.Ijust have to find him.
Maybehe had gone outside to assess the ship’s damage?
Thenshe heard it—a shuffling, snuffling sound followed by a muted clatter coming from the small kitchen located in the rear of the ship—the food prep area as theKindredcalled it.
Andifroze.Wassomeone in the shuttle with her?Orwas it something?Itmade her think of the time a black bear had gotten into their cabin inMain.Thathad been another vacation—her father had been a big believer in being well traveled.Plus, he got a lot of frequent flier miles through his work so he was always taking her and her mom to new places…
Stopit,Andi—concentrate!she told herself fiercely.Findsome kind of a weapon—you might not be alone in the ship!
Shelooked around but didn’t see anything she could use.Cadeusually had a blaster strapped to his hip, but herProtectorwas nowhere in sight.Wherehad he gone,Andiwondered again?Andwhy would he leave her wounded and alone, in such a vulnerable state?
Atlast she found something in the living area she thought she could use.ItwasCade’sweight bar, which he used to keep fit during long term assignments.Itwas simply a long metal bar, a little longer than a baseball bat, which could be configured for different weights.
Andireached for it and found she couldn’t even lift it off the floor.Whywas it so heavy?Thenshe realized it must still be configured forCade’slast exercise session.
Crouchingdown while still trying to keep an eye on the back of the ship,Andifiddled with the gravity meter dial at the end of the bar.Sureenough, it was set to the heaviest setting—the same kind of gravity you might find on a planet as big asJupiter.Nowonder she couldn’t lift it!
Shedialed the gravity setting back until the bar was light enough for her to lift, but still heavy enough to pack a punch.Thenshe picked it up and held it like a baseball bat.
Thesnuffling, shuffling, crackling sound came from the kitchen again andAndibraced herself.Shecouldn’t lose her nerve now—she needed to find out what was going on!
Stealthily, she sneaked towards the door at the end of the living area.Whateverwas in there had left it ajar a few inches, but not enough forAndito make out who or what was in the kitchen and what they were doing.Shehoped it wasn’t a wild alien animal that had somehow crawled in through the hole in the ship’s floor.Butit might be worse if it was a person.
She’dhad theTranslationBacteriathat theKindredgave to everyone who came to work aboard theMotherShip, but she didn’t know what she would say to someone she found rummaging in her ship—“Hithere, it’s nice to meet you but could you please leave?”Andidoubted that would work.
Shewas at the door now.Keepingthe makeshift “bat” in one hand, she slowly pushed it open with the other, wondering what she was going to find…
6
ANDI
Thefirst thing she noticed was that the floor was a mess.Somehowone of the food storage cabinets had come open and spilled its contents all over the place.Therewere many tiny food cubes—which were full meals that had been dehydrated and miniaturized.Eachone was the size and shape of a sugar cube, which meant that hundreds of meals could be stored with no problem.Butnow they were all over the floor, along with several other boxes and bags of snacks thatAndihad stored in the cupboard for longer trips.
Thesnuffling, crunching, crackling sound was coming from behind the long counter which ran the length of the kitchen area.Therewas a little corner alcove at the far end andAndicould hear what sounded like crunching coming from behind it.
Mustbe some kind of alien animal that got in and now it’s enjoying the snacks,Andithought.Shefelt a slight measure of relief—on the whole, she thought she’d rather confront the alien version of a raccoon or a rat than a sentient being who might mean her harm.
Takinga firmer grip on the “bat,” she crept closer to where the sounds were coming from.Shecould smell a familiar cheesy scent now and she thought she knew what the animal had gotten into.
Herguilty pleasure wasCheetosand she’d bought a big bag and only eaten a few before storing them in the cupboard.Theymust have fallen out and now whatever it was that had gotten into the ship was having a delicious, cheesy feast.
“Allright, you…whatever you are,”Andimuttered under her breath. “Getready for a surprise!”
Raisingthe metal bar high above her head, she lunged around the counter and found…
HerProtectoron his hands and knees with his face buried in her bag ofCheetos.
7
CADE
“Cade?Cade?Whatare you doing down there?Whyare you eating like that?”
Thevoice was soft and familiar soCadewasn’t frightened.Heturned his head and sawHER—his female.Theone who belonged to him.
Thesalt-and-crunch sticks were delicious, but he was more interested in her.
“Cade?” she said again and then added some other words that he didn’t understand.Butthat didn’t matter.Hervoice was soft and sweet and he loved it when she said his name.Heturned and came towards her, snuffling at her knees.
