“What?”
“We’ll need to put the furs away before we get there.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want anyone to know that your biosuit is not keeping you warm. I also don’t want them to know about the other sabotage we’ve encountered.”
“But shouldn’t we warn them that their food may be poisoned?”
“I want to see their reaction when we arrive.”
“You still think one of the players is behind all this?”
“I do.”
“But my biosuit could have only been tampered with by the GSG technicians. That points to the GSG trying to manipulate the game to make the winners of their choosing.”
She had a point.
“If the GSG is behind it all, why would you be the only player sabotaged?”
Mara considered. “I guess you are right. I just hate to think that someone we had spent time with and gotten to know would try to kill me.”
He stopped to put a hand on her shoulder in comfort. “They may have only wanted to force you to pull out of the games. The intent to kill may not have been there. Each sabotage was an escalation. The shredding of the tent didn’t scare you off, so they had to try something else.”
She sighed and nodded. They began walking again.
“If I ever find out who poisoned me, I’m going to retaliate?”
He couldn’t help the smile. No way would his sweet and gentle female harm another. But he indulged.
“How do you plan to do that?”
“I’m going to serve them a hot cup of tea.”
“Tea? Is that poisonous to the others?”
“No, but tea with Emberleaf isn’t going to be a fun night.”
He burst out with laughter. Emberleaf, found on most planets, can be ingested but if not diluted properly, causes twenty-four hours of extreme stomach issues. His people rarely used it for anything.
“You are a vengeful female indeed.”
His female.
Mara smiled and started whistling a song he found pleasant.
Two hours after the sun had set, they stopped right outside of the campsite. Mara took the coat off and packed it in her pack. Vaelor then led the way into camp.
Laughter halted at their appearance. It was silent—too silent. Then, Blaine jumped up to greet them.
“Hi friends. We were about to give up on either of you showing. What took you so long?”
Mara looked at Vaelor before answering and he gave a small shake of his head.
Mara then smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “We got side tracked. No big deal.”
“Well, come over to the fire and get warm. You must be freezing.”
