She sends me another fiery glance. “Don’t tell me what I will and will not do.”
I shrug, feeling cold and empty. “You’ll be safe there. Amongfriends.”
“I thought I was among friends righthere.”
“You are,” I state. “You couldstay. You could realize that Callie will never come back. You could keep trying to repair the ship. I would help you, like I promised. I could even see if I can pick up that track again—the outcast and your friend. It’s been days, and it has rained, but it might not be impossible. Meanwhile, we could be like we are now. Everything would be as it is.”
She puts her munbuts on. “It would not. Because now I know where Dex is. I can’t sit still doing nothing about that.”
Dorie straightens and runs her hands down her sides, as if checking that she’s ready. Then she hoists the pack up on her shoulders and grabs her weapon. “Oh, I made a hat for Aker’iz. It’s right there. It’s called a ‘bonnet’.” She points.
“Thank you.”
For a moment, we stand like that, just looking at each other.
“Let me see your spear.” I hold out my hand.
She hesitates, then gives it to me.
I test the point. “It’s dull.” I get my sharpening stone from my belt pouch and hone the spearhead until it’s as pointy as it can get. I hand the spear back to Dorie, along with the stone. “Can’t be in the jungle with a dull weapon.”
She takes the spear, but not the stone. “I can’t take that. It’s your only one.”
“I can make another,” I lie. “Oh, that’s a thing to bring to the Tratena tribe: good sharpening stones.” I drop it into a pocket on her dress.
Dorie looks up at me, eyes shiny. “I’m sorry, Kenz’ox. I have to do this.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Aker’iz and I will miss you.”
She wipes her eyes and glances over at the crib. “I will be back.”
She looks up at me as if she wants to say something. There’s a little shiver in her lips. Then she turns and walks straight into the jungle, over the barricade and past the traps.
“No, you won’t,” I mutter under my breath as she vanishes among the bushes.
I stand there for a long time, just staring at the jungle, hoping to see that little face and that small, remarkably resilient body come back.
Aker’iz starts whining.
I walk over to her and lift her into my arms. “That’s fine, little chief. We’ll be just fine on our own. But we are grateful for the time we had with her.”
20
- Theodora-
I’m not sure where I’m walking. My mind is dark, and I keep having to wipe my eyes and my nose.
Damn, why couldn’t he be less wonderful? Why couldn’t he get angry or something, instead of just seeming like I made his world collapse?
He must understand that I have to do this. I hate it, too. I’d love to stay with him—make love on the beach every night, guard each other from the monsters, feel like a real warrior, start to understand Xren. It’s the best I’ve ever felt here, and looking back, I didn’t have many times on Earth that good, either. Certainly not for days at a stretch. He’s like a safe harbor: strong, deep, always there to protect me. When I’m with him, I’mme. He sees me, and he lets me know he really likes what he sees. Loves, even.
“I will come back,” I mutter. “Iwill. I might need that saucer, but I need him more.”
For the first time, I understand Cora. She wasn’t interested in the saucer. She knew she wasn’t going back to Earth, no matter what. Her life is here. Her home is here. And, I think, so is mine. That huge, blue-striped caveman, with his gentle ways and the most confident aura I’ve ever seen, is my home. On Earth, what could compare?
It’s like asking what could compare to any normal man after Batman.
I stop a couple of times. I could still go back. Dex is probably too damaged to do any good, even if I see him. Getting him out of that tribe could be impossible. If I can’t, he can’t fly the saucer, or explain how it works.
