The sound of something singing in the distance made Amina stop talking. Moving out of his arms, she stepped up on the platform and looked around.
“What was that?”
“I don’t know,” Gis said. “Lorse isn’t that interested in the wildlife here. Nashie would know. She wanted to be a biologist but hasn’t been born into the right family to go into academia yet.”
“That’s such bullshit,” Amina said under her breath. Then she spoke up. “We don’t know how long it’ll be before Lorse gets back, so we should go for a walk. I want to see what’s making the singing sound.”
“You can if you like. I’ll stay here,” Gis agreed and pointed to a path behind the platform. There’s a pretty lagoon not far from here. As long as you stay on the paths Nashie made, you won’t get lost. They all extend out from here in a spoke pattern.”
“Great,” Amina said. First she pulled off a small bag he hadn’t noticed slung across her torso and set it on the platform.Once that was done, she tugged at the closure of her robe and shrugged it off.
Laying it carefully on the stage, she opened it up to reveal the pocket Ruby was in, then pulled the edge of the pocket back until Ruby’s head was visible.
“Do you want to go on a hike or stay here?” she asked the lizard. “We’ll be back. All you have to do is stay with my robe.”
“I know she’s smart, but I don’t think she understands you,” Myrum said with an amused rumble.
Ruby blinked sleepily then burrowed deeper into the pocket.
“She understands,” Amina said with absolute confidence. She let go of the pocket and looked at Gis. “Keep track of her for me?”
Gis gave the pocket an affectionate look. “Yes. And I’ll make sure to catch plenty of food while you two walk to the lagoon. She’s a sweet little creature, isn’t she?”
“Yes,” Amina said. “And I know she has a soul. Got it?”
Gis’s eyes went a little wide. “Of course! There are many of us that think everything that moves through the multiverse has a soul. That’s one of the things the Annexers are fighting for.”
Amina gave him a wide smile. “Sorry, I should’ve known better. You’ve proven yourself to me. Thanks for everything, Gis.”
Gis gave a little bow of acknowledgment. “If you hear the shuttle, please hurry back. I don’t want to deal with Lorse’s displeasure if he gets here to find you gone.”
“I promise,” she said, then took Myrum’s hand in hers. “Let’s see if we can find the singing rodent.”
Chapter 24
Amina
It was easy to ignore her fatigue after the dose of ever-awake she’d consumed on the way down to the planet. Moving through the tall bushes reminded her a little of exploring the grasslands back home when she was a kid. She’d had fun with her cousins during their annual camping trip. They’d pretend they were explorers and record everything they saw like it was an unknown species.
“Amina, stop,” Myrum whispered, tugging at her hand. She let him pull her down into a crouched position.
It took her a moment, but then she saw a small, furred creature with six spindly legs, giant eyes, and tiny, twitching ears rip apart a bundle of leaves to find the seeds inside. Bugs swarmed as soon as the seeds were revealed.
“Oh, they’re so cute!” she whispered.
Instead of ignoring the bugs, the rodent dropped the seeds, caught the bugs and shoved them in its mouth. When it wasdone eating the bugs, it gathered up the seeds and tucked them in a hidden pouch in its chest.
It was then that the adorable creature noticed them and scurried off.
“I can’t believe you noticed that little guy before we spooked it,” Amina said as they both stood back up.
“I’ll find more!” Myrum said. He grabbed hold of her hand again and led them further along the path at a fast pace. His head was on a swivel, looking everywhere.
“Hey, this isn’t a mission,” Amina said, tugging at him to stop.
He sounded a questioning rumble. “What?”
“We aren’t on assignment right now,” she said. “If we find something cute, great. If we don’t, then I don’t care.”
