“These are small wounds,” he says and shifts the baby in his arms. “And they were well earned. I shall be proud to display the scars.”
“You went to get Dex,” I marvel, grabbing one big arm and leaning into it. “So that he could fly it. Never,everdo something that dangerous again.”
“I didn’t know what he could do,” Kenz’ox admits. “But I knew that you would make the ship work. And you want to go back to your home planet. I know you need him for that.”
I cling to his arm, completely exhausted but happy. “I don’t want that as much as I used to. Thank you.”
“And thank you for getting Chief Smirt’ax off my back,” Kenz’ox says. “Now I wonder how many of my former tribesmen are left outside. This little warrior needs a bath.”
“Just let me rest a while,” I plead. “My legs are so tired.”
We sit in silence for a while, just enjoying not having to run. Then I slowly get to my feet, using Kenz’ox’s massive shape as support.
I clumsily make my way to the control room, unused to the floor being level and not slanted. “So there are weapons. Did you chase them all away?”
“Yes,”Dex says. “As far as I can tell, all the men of the Tratena tribe ran into the jungle. The weapons of this saucer are scary.”
“So are you,” I tell him. “That noise you made… and that laser show.”
“I have some weapons, too,”he admits. “I’d been saving some energy in case I had to use them. Now I’m drawing energy from this saucer, and I will soon be back to full strength. More or less.”
I touch his broken propellers. “Can this be fixed?”
“Not by me,”he says. “But I can instruct, if someone with actual hands and fingers would give it a try.”
“I will,” I promise. “When I get some rest. Is it safe to open the hatch?”
“Yes.”
I go back and hit the hatch release. It opens with a tight hiss, and then morning daylight streams in. Otis jumps out immediately, tail making circles in the air.
The cavemen are gone, leaving nothing but bloodstains here and there. They even took the dead man with them. But not his sword, which is still on the ground where he fell.
Kenz’ox comes up behind me and puts a strong arm around my shoulders. “The clearing is ours again.” He looks at the dark pool of blood where the dead man fell. “Frant’ex was always a good runner. I had to throw my sword at him. He was getting too close to you. Now I will use his sword, since he took mine.”
“It’s a deadly jungle,” I state. “And they would have done worse to us, had they won.”
“Much worse,” Kenz’ox agrees and jumps down to the ground with the sleeping Aker’iz in his arms. “And they got far too close to that.” He walks over to his store of leather sheets. “Time for our chief to change her wrapping.”
I glance at the saucer. It’s standing straight on the ground now, or even hovering a bit above it. I swear it has a ghostly green glow. It looks eerie. But for now, it’s home. A safer home than ever before.
I grab the last spear leaned up against it. “Dex, we’re going to the beach,” I yell into the opening. “Don’t go anywhere!”
“I wouldn’t know where to go,”Dex replies from inside. “And I don’t know if this craft can even fly properly. We can test later, if you want.”
Kenz’ox and Aker’iz are waiting at the edge of the clearing. “You need a bath, too?”
I run a finger along one of his blue stripes and show him the dirt. “We all need one.”
We walk to the beach, checking carefully for dinosaurs. But I’m sure there aren’t any. It’s not that kind of day. We won.
“We won,” I say as the ocean breeze pushes damp hair out of my face. “But we almost lost everything.”
Kenz’ox stops and embraces me again, pulling me tight while holding the baby. “We got very close to that. Much too close. Several times. My love, I never want to be away from you again.”
“Me, too.” I lean into his massive body, enjoying the safety.
I take a quick bath while Kenz’ox is busy with Aker’iz. Then I take her and watch for tentacle blobs while her father cleans himself in knee-deep water.
