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Yes, I thought, smiling. I wanted to live with these guys on this planet that I loved. I’d heal there. I’d find myself there, I was sure of it.
* * *
Lydia’s new place sat on the edge of town. When I arrived, one of the Super Soldiers painted the symbol for doctor next to the door. I didn’t know him, but he smiled at us when we approached.
“Raven, this is Bomber. He’s part of Wolf’s crew.”
I remembered Wolf, somehow connected to Druid.
“Glad you’re back. It felt good to get rid of Clarke, like we finally did something worthwhile. Hasn’t felt that way in a bit. Anyway, these guys were a nightmare without you. Don’t leave them again.”
I liked him. He was funny, and he made Gunnar groan, which made me smile. “Nice to meet you, Bomber.”
“You, too.”
We went inside, where Lydia checked the readings on a machine. She turned when we entered. “Raven, thank you for having guys who love you so much that they did this.”
I opened and closed my mouth. “I think I’m as lucky as any person could ever be. And I’m also so glad you’re here, too. How many came with us?”
“Ten.” She smiled. “Others may follow. It’s nice to be here. The air feels better. The sun… It feels like freedom, but I need to check with you fellows. I hear you’re basically in charge.”
All of them looked at Crew and he winced. “Listen, there were a few of us who are here who were in charge. Once we got here, somehow that became me. I’m not looking to do it, it just keeps happening, but I suppose, yes, I’m in charge.”
“Then I have to tell you.” She steeled her back. What was she about to say? “My father was Dr. Bourd.”
The guys tensed around me. They might not have moved so others could tell, but I could. They didn’t like that name. “He was the doctor who experimented on a lot of us,” Mace explained in a low voice. Outside, it sounded like something fell over. I hoped it wasn’t Bomber.
Lydia nodded. “He was a very bad man. I wasn’t alive when he did what he did—by then he was just practicing medicine—but I’ve spent my life horrified by the tales. My brother was a baby when our father died. I don’t know if he even knows what our father did. If you don’t want me here, I understand, but I am determined to help people. I’m not a doctor, not technically. I need a certificate for that, and maybe I can get one now, but I know all the things he knew. I’ve studied and studied. I can help. Or I can go. Regardless of your decision, please let my brother wake up first.”
Crew stepped toward her. “No one here will hold your father against you. You kept Raven’s brother alive. Amias is alive. I don’t know how many others you saved with your quick thinking and ingenuity. You’re clearly a good person, but your father is a memory I’m happy to forget.” He put out his hand. “That was hard and probably a little scary, since your experience with people like us was basically Clarke and those asshats. Welcome home, Lydia, for as long as you want to stay.”
She teared up but then sucked it back with firmed lips. “Thank you. My brother needs a place to grow up. They stalled him at fifteen.” That was something Clarke liked to do, I realized. Cambree’s brother had been fifteen, too. “I think here is where we need to be right now.” She cleared her throat. “Speaking of Amias and Stone, we need to wake them, but first they have to go from cryo to the med machines. Afterward, I just don’t know how long it will be until I get them in there. I’ll do it today. No matter what, I promise to have you here when they’re waking up.”
That was the best I could ask for.
On our way out, I took Gunnar’s hand. “Do you think the others here will agree with what Crew said? About Lydia’s father?”
“They’d better, or we’ll remind them why he’s in charge.”
I hoped that was good enough.
* * *
I was washing a glass, humming to myself, when Crew called me into the bar area. I set down the glass and headed out to see what they wanted. Abruptly, I stopped moving. All four of them were on their knees.
“Are you guys okay?” Were they hurt? “Do you need help? I can get Lydia…”
Crew put out his hand. “No. We’re fine. This is just what we read that men do. They get on their knees when they propose.”
My mind stuttered. “What?”
He cleared his throat. “We are here, on our knees, asking if you would be our wife.”
I stared at them. “Really?”
“Yes.” Ransom caught my attention. “We remembered what you said before you were taken, and about how your life would have been if Clarke didn’t come to your planet. It never occurred to us that marriage was possible, but we love you. We need to be with you forever, and we hope that you feel that way, too. Would you please be our wife? Would you please be our forever?”
Mace groaned. “Always comes out with the better words. We all feel that way. Raven, will you?”
