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“Then the power went out, and the next thing I know, you two disappeared,” Tag went on. “Now, I’m guessing that’s some sort of guard training, protect the baby kind of thing. Am I right?”
“Exactly right,” Rafe confirmed. “I had no idea why the lights were off, but I couldn’t risk it being an ambush, so I had to get them out of there.”
“If only the judge had been so lucky as to have a guard like you,” Tag quipped. “At any rate, point of this is that there was one other person who moved during the power outage. But I have no idea where he could have gone.”
“Who was it?” Jade asked.
“Remember the older feller with the prosthetic arm who was sitting by me?” Tag asked.
Jade nodded.
“He was there when the lights went out,” Tag said dramatically. “But when they came back up, he was gone.”
Jade looked disappointed, but she nodded to Tag.
It was easy to pin the blame on someone else. But the feeble old man seemed an unlikely suspect.
“We’ll definitely follow up on him,” Jade said. “Is he local?”
“Nah,” Tag said. “Never saw him before. And of course, it’s likely just a coincidence. But I figured I’d better mention it.”
“We’re grateful that you did,” Jade said.
“Just out of curiosity,” Rafe asked, “what was your business on the train?”
“I was just coming back from the airfield,” Tag said with a smile. “Got a brand-new T-38 diffuser for the big barn. It’s working great.”
They looked around at the beautiful herd of lichen-deer, wandering in the fresh straw and drinking from troughs of sparkling water.
“You might consider asking your host for permission to refill your water rations before we leave,” Nanee-12 suggested.
“Good thinking,” Jade told her. “Tag?”
For just a moment, the rancher seemed to have an odd look on his face, but it cleared quickly.
And Rafe understood. On a moon where water was so scarce, filling a ration reservoir for three adults and a baby was a big ask. But having access to that spring eased the burden.
“Of course,” he said. “Sure. Water’s a little colder in the main barn, if you want to head back that way.”
“This is fine,” Jade assured him, nodding to Nanee-12. “We sure are grateful.”
The nanny-bot scooted over to the spigot coming out of the wall and quickly filled the reservoir she’d brought with her from the sleigh.
Even Rafe had to admire her resourcefulness, though he wouldn’t go so far as to say it out loud. He had never seen a bot take initiative like that before.
Maybe Jade was right about it.
They walked back through the big barn slowly, The remainder of their time with Tag was filled with unremarkable pleasantries, and the man himself flirted shamelessly with Jade.
By the time they got back to the sleigh, Rafe was filled with pulsing rage all over again. At least they would soon be heading home to food and rest.
“I still think it was him,” Tally said, as soon as they set off.
“He’s definitely a suspect,” Jade said.
“I’m not so sure,” Rafe said.
“What do you mean?” Jade asked. “He was being super weird, inviting us in, giving me the prettiest deer, letting us have water when he clearly didn’t want to share.”
