“Not a friend,” I tell him. “A husband. This is Warrior Kenz’ox from the Tratena tribe. Kenz’ox, meet Foundling Sprisk.”
“Greetings, Sprisk,” Kenz’ox rumbles. “I have seen your traps and the result of your fighting skills. Please tell me you are not an enemy.”
Sprisk chuckles and takes his hand off his weapon. “I think we shall both be relieved to be friends. Anything else would be bad for us both.”
There’s rustling from the bushes, and then Cora comes towards me with a grin on her face, visibly more pregnant than last time. “Dorie! Are you serious?! You got itworking?!”
“Wegot it working,” I tell her, going to meet her. “It’s so good to see you!”
We hug as Morgan and Riley approach. “That’s incredible. How did youdoit?”
“I had help,” I tell them, wiping a happy tear. “But first I have really bad news.”
Cora peers into the saucer. “Callie?”
I nod tightly. “She’s been missing for weeks. The day after you guys left I woke up alone. Kenz’ox says he saw tracks of her being abducted by a single caveman. He fears it was an outcast.”
The relieved mood evaporates.
“We’ll find her,” Cora says with determination. “We have a saucer now. Nice flying, by the way.”
“Dex, can you come out?” I call into the ship.
“Dex is here?” Morgan asks, incredulous. “Then… we might…”
“Youmightbe able to go home to Earth,” I finish her sentence. “We don’t know for sure yet. The saucer flies fine while there’s air, but we haven’t tried it in space.”
Dex zooms out and hovers. “Good afternoon, Cora, Morgan, Riley and Sprisk. I have nothing much to say to you. I will retreat and hope that you will all get in, so we can go to the Borok tribe.”He zips back inside.
Cora raises her eyebrows. “Same old Dex. And there’s someone else in there, too.”
Kenz’ox steps into the saucer and brings out his daughter. “Aker’iz Calliope, this is Cora, Morgan, Riley and Sprisk. Everyone, this is my daughter. We usually call her Aker’iz.”
“Yourdaughter?” Riley asks, puzzled. “We haven’t been gone that long, have we? Or did you secretly know him for months, Dorie?”
I quickly explain it to them, as well as I can. “All right. You guys want to get in?”
Riley and Morgan climb inside, while I keep Cora out for a moment. “You’re a midwife, Cora. Can you explain to Kenz’ox how it works?”
Her eyes widen. “Oh, you’re… pregnant?”
“Pretty sure,” I nod tightly. “But maybe you can confirm it, when we get to the village?”
“There will be another baby,” Kenz’ox rumbles. “But the birth… it sounds terrible!”
“It does,” Sprisk agrees. “And yet women in the tribe have done it. And survived! It boggles the mind, Kenz’ox.”
Cora explains some facts of life to the men, we get inside the saucer and then Dex has it take off. Akeri’z is thrilled with the new company and squeals and babbles and reaches out to everyone except Sprisk, who looks too scary for her to trust.
The girls notice the Plood mushroom tucked against one wall.
“I saw how the saucer reacted to Aker’iz,” I tell them. “And I thought, she’s small and compact. Maybe she almost fits what the saucer is looking for, but not quite. Now, to start a car, you need a keyfob in your pocket. The car senses it and agrees to open and start at the press of a button. What if the saucer is expecting the same, except no keyfob. Just a creature. A creature about Aker’iz’s size. The craft might be looking for a driver before it’ll work. A driver it recognizes: a Plood. Sorry, I know it’s not very clear. I just had a hunch, really. After tinkering with those damn consoles for days and getting nowhere.”
“Sounds about right,” Riley says, looking confused. “Great job, Dorie.”
“Anyway, we’ll find Callie,” I state, my optimism renewed with the girls back. “We’ll all be together.”
“Are we all going to join the Borok tribe?” Morgan asks. “If they turn out to be really good?”
