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A wave of relieved agreement swept around the table as everyone gathered their things and stood. The pets swirled around us as we made our way down the hall, excited to be moving, too. Soon, we were all crammed into the elevator, on our way to theDaredevil’s lowest deck.
Captain Wrin waited in the shuttle bay beside the stealth shuttle. It was long and thin, and coated in Tark’s matte-gray stealth material. Baffles covered the engine, cooling and diffusing the exhaust so it wouldn’t give us away.
Wrin gestured toward theDart. “I had everyone on the engineering team but Tark give it a thorough checkup last night. All systems are nominal.”
“Thanks, Captain,” Tark said.
Kirel entered theArrowand came back moments later with a cleaning drone tucked under one arm.
“What’s that?” Zo-Fee asked.
“It’s my other body!” Vree said, bouncing on his front paws. “I’m going to have a disguise like Lila!”
“And I can go invisible!” Glitter called out, flying up over our heads. Her body spread wide, then wider, growing every more transparent until she disappeared from view. “I’m still here!” she called out, then reappeared and condensed into her squirrel shape, like a video running backward.
Zo-Fee smiled, a real smile this time, and said, “You’re all going to be so much help!”
Lila mrred, her tail weaving back and forth in the air, as if ready to sting.
Everyone said their goodbyes, the longest being between Kirel and Hay-Zul. They clung to each other in a Hyoo-mon kizz before pressing foreheads for several long moments.
Captain Wrin pulled me aside, his expression inscrutable. “I’m making you the leader of this mission. Bring everyone back, even if you can’t get to the tech.”
“We need zurilium,” I said. “It’s the only thing that can stop the Grug from attacking our minds.” Mol-Lee had told us all what such an assault felt like—to have everything that made you a thinking individual squashed into nonexistence until you were lost in nothingness. I growled.
“We need all of you more.” His voice went stern as he clamped a hand on my shoulder. “We need all of you and the skills you each offer. With that, we can figure out the zurilium issue another day.”
“You’re right.” I nodded. “I’ll do as you say. Our people are the priority.”
“Good.” He gave my shoulder a squeeze, then pushed me away. He raised his voice so everyone would hear. “Go steal some shit from those frekkers.”
Tark let out a whoop, and we all hurried on board the small stealth shuttle. The narrow inside only allowed for one pilot’s chair at the very nose of the ship. Mol-Lee took that. The rest of us were crammed into the long narrow main cabin. There were only four chairs for the five of us, so I pulled my Zo-Fee onto my lap. I settled her against my chest and kept my arms locked around her. My tail snuck forward and wrapped around her calf, vibrating softly.
I pretended I held her for practical reasons.
But really, I just wanted to touch her for as long as possible.
In case this was the last time.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Sofie
TheDaredevilhad gotten us as close to the mining facility as they could without riskingARK 1being seen. So we were only stuck in the stealth shuttle for a couple of hours. But god, they were long!
The animals grew restless only a half hour out, Vree and Lila chasing each other up and down the cabin, weaving in and out of everyone’s legs in a never-ending game of tag. Glitter would go invisible for long moments at a time, then reappear and “catch” them both. Then their play would begin again.
Raxnor’s muscles locked rock solid beneath me, and I could hear him grinding his teeth.
I had no idea how Mollie concentrated enough to fly.
Finally, he’d had enough. “Quiet! We’re getting close, and we don’t want the Tula to hear us coming.”
The animals fell still.
Then Raxnor really poured it on. “You promised you’d help on this mission, not jeopardize it.”
Glitter swooped over to Sul’s shoulder, Vree hopped up on Kirel’s lap, and Lila came over and pressed up against my calf.“Me sorry!”
