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“I don’t need time,” she said, suddenly feeling the electricity between them drawing her closer to him, so that every cell in her body quickened with desire.
A crunching, groaning sound drew her attention.
They all turned to see that the sheriff had risen, his suit somehow still mostly intact.
He took a step toward them and froze with a metallicthunk, a look of confusion on his face.
“Is everyone okay?” the deputy screamed as he came hurrying around the corner of the warehouse. “I cut the power to the machines.”
“Chigum, what in hells bells—” the sheriff began screaming from inside the suit.
“No,” Deputy Chigum said, stopping in front of his boss, standing tall. “You don’t get to talk to me like that anymore. You’re under arrest, for tampering with intergalactic aid, and stealing from the people you were sworn to serve and protect.”
The convoy watched in awe as the deputy pulled the sheriff from the robotic suit.
Cloud-on-the-Mountaintop sprinted onto the scene with a crew of the Terrans the convoy had first thought of as bandits. He must have been going to collect them to help in the battle.
They were all just in time to see the sheriff cringing away from his Bergalian deputy.
Deputy Chigum ripped the shiny badge from the disgraced sheriff’s chest and threw it in the mud as everyone cheered.
As Chigum restrained the now-ex-sheriff, Cloud-on-the-Mountaintop showed the Terrans to the warehouse.
Kinsley found herself tagging along as far as the threshold.
The Terrans were so happy to see all the boxes of rations, that they hugged each other and jumped up and down as one of them read the message on the boxes aloud to the others.
Bill sidled up to her.
“I feel better being on this side of things,” he confided.
“Yeah, me too,” she told him.
“I didn’t know for sure what the sheriff was doing, but we all suspected it was something like this,” he admitted. “I’m not proud that I agreed to work for him. Hank’s family and mine were all desperate. We needed the work.”
“You did what you did to help your families,” she told him. “Same as anyone would, given the chance for a job when times are tight. I don’t judge you, and I doubt those folks will either.”
They watched quietly for a time, enjoying the sight of justice being served.
“Hank and I wanted to ask you a favor, Miss Kinsley,” he said, after a moment. “A big one.”
“What is it?” she asked.
“Now that you know how to care for the dogs, we were hoping you might spare us for two or three days at your new place,” he said. “Unpaid, of course. We were also hoping to borrow the team and sled we’ve been using. We figure we can help to distribute these aid boxes to hungry people faster - make up a little bit for working for the enemy, so to speak. If you can spare us, that is, and you don’t mind your dogs and equipment being used.”
“Of course,” she told him. “I’m proud to have our dogs and sled be part of the solution after we were unknowingly part of the problem. Please go offer your help right away. And you’ll be paid for those days.”
“Thank you,” Bill said, sounding genuinely moved.
“I wish I could take credit,” she said, feeling a little embarrassed. “Your pay, the sled, the dogs, everything is provided by the agency.”
“But it was all given to you,” he pointed out. “You don’t have to share, and you didn’t even have to learn to look out for the dogs yourself. You’re good people, Miss Kinsley. You’ll do great out here.”
She let herself go ahead and smile back at him.
She sure hoped he was right.
“Come on, kid,” Avril yelled to her from just outside. “We need to take off if we want to make it to your homestead by nightfall.”
