“Um... thanks. But that’s not all I can do.” He looked around nervously, then spoke in a whisper. “I’m also a hacker.”
“What?”
He rubbed the back of his head. “It’s been my hobby since I was young, so I brought my tools with me. It wasn’t really, uh, public knowledge. Anyway, it had nothing to do with our mission. But when everything went horribly wrong...” Hepaused. “I knew I had to stop anybody else from coming here. So, I deleted Eukaria from the space-faring map database.”
“You candothat?” I blurted.
For the first time since I’d met Assistant 23, he seemed a little proud of himself. “Not just anyone. ButIcan. Anyway, I didn’t bother deleting all my hard work on the language module, since I figured nobody would find Eukaria in the first place.”
“Wow! You’re amazing, dude!”
“N-not really.”
“Yeah, you are.”
“No, I—”
“Enough of all this nonsense talk,” Kur’tok growled, addressing the meek man. “If you’re also a puny human like Paz, how have you survived all this time?”
Assistant 23 rubbed his suit-covered arm. “Well, um... Years ago, I noticed that the old community vegetable garden had come back to life.”
Kur’tok’s eyes widened. “What?”
“The ashes must’ve protected the baby plants from scavengers. Since then, they’ve grown strong and tall. I’ve been taking one or two veggies a day from the new ones.”
Kur’tok shook his head. “I didn’t even see them.”
“You were too far away,” Assistant 23 pointed out sheepishly. “If you went into the village proper, you would’ve noticed, too.”
Emotions swam across Kur’tok’s face. This was a lot to take in all at once. I could only hope that it swayed his perspective for the better.
“I wish to see them,” Kur’tok said quietly. “Will you come with me, Paz?”
I smiled. “You didn’t even have to ask.”
We returned to his old village. Arr’tow, Haz’rull, and Assistant 23 came with us. The other Maeleons hadn’t been here since the incident, either; I figured this was emotional for everybody involved.
Kur’tok wandered through the village as if in a dream. He seemed hesitant to touch anything, or even exist in the space. While he got his bearings, I quickly found one of the old vegetable gardens. I gasped.
“Kur’tok, look!” I cried.
My voice shook him from his trance. He rushed to my side. “What?” He sucked in a breath. “Oh.”
He saw the same thing I did—fresh green stalks with ripe vegetables dangling from the stems. The plants rose triumphantly into the air, almost as if to say, “We’re alive!”
Kur’tok’s eyes flashed. He slowly sank to his knees. His shaky hands reached out to caress the leaves tenderly, like greeting an old friend.
He didn’t speak for a long while. As I waited, I noticed the breeze tickling my face and the sun warming my skin. It was a beautiful day. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It smelled like spring. Green leaves, unfurled flower petals, ripe vegetables and fruits.
A pleasant shiver ran across my skin. Had the environment always smelled so nice? It almost felt like something within me had changed...
“Paz,” Kur’tok said.
I drifted back to reality. I glanced at my mate.
“Yeah?” I asked.
His red eyes wavered, but his voice was reinforced with finality. “I’m ready to return.”
