“I see. Well, until we ferret them out, you boys should stick together for safety.” Roger gestured to Dottie. “Miss Dottie here was quite upset that her library was broken into. You can start by apologizing to her.”
There was a round of heartfelt apologies. Then, to my surprise, the older males thanked me for netting the scuttlers. Kaj’k must’ve told them it was me. Then Roger dismissed the younglings and asked Dottie and me to stay behind.
His face turned serious the moment the youngsters left. “We found this next to one of the fences.” He held up a device very similar to the one I’d found in the rubble.
“An air tag?” Dottie asked.
“Modified,” Roger clarified.
I took the one from my pouch out to compare. “I found one too. I believe they used it to bring the scourge down after they left you behind. And perhaps to New Franklin as well.”
“Actually, Pip thinks it sends out a modified luring signal, which is why we, and none of the hunters, could detect it. We got it charged up, and I’m sending Sam and Kan’n out today to test the theory.”
I frowned. “Who knows you have found this? There is still a traitor in the settlement.”
“So far? Jask’l found it; he has a keen eye. He brought it to me, and we showed it to Sam, Kan’n, and Pip. And now you two.”
I relaxed. “That’s good. Whoever used it may still be looking for it. It could be used like our nets. Expended and retrievedlater when it is safer.” Which reminded me that I had a net requiring retrieval.
“We’ll keep our eyes peeled.”
I grimaced at the saying. Peeling eyes did not sound pleasant.
“Dottie, Kiera is covering for you for the next few days, so take some R and R.”
And with that, we were dismissed.
“Look who’s out there wrecking shuttles again!” Jask’l said as we walked out of the meeting room. “I heard you had some fun with those creepy mutant flyers.”
“I did.”
“Well, let me get that shuttle in the repair bay and get it all fixed up for you.”
“I still have to retrieve my net.”
“You can borrow the settlement’s spare shuttle.” He turned to Dottie. “I’m glad you’re safe. We found all your missing books. I transferred them to the library myself. If you want to clean up, there are decontaminators in the mothership building, as well as water-cleansing stalls. And unlike the ones in the survivor building, ours stay warm indefinitely.”
“Thank you. I might just take you up on that.”
“There is one in the hunter building too,” I suggested. “I can take you there.” The mothership building was always full of people, and I wanted some time alone with my Dottie.
There was a whistle from the mothership building, and Jask’l turned to wave. “I must go.”
The life of an overseer was a busy one, I should know. But Jask’l’s experience was very different from my own. For one thing, he had teams of humans working on building and integrating technology, which I didn’t know the first thing about.
Dottie hooked her arms through mine as we ducked under an overhang to avoid the gaze of a pair of flyers. “I’m taking you up on that offer for a nice, hot shower. But why don’t you go retrieve that net first? How long do you think it will take?”
“An hour, maybe two at most.”
“Great. I’ll meet you in the hunters’ compound in two hours, then. It’s a date.”
I grinned. “It’s a date.”
Chapter 27: Dottie
I couldn’t believe I was primping for a date with an alien warrior. Okay, so primping might be a little generous. But I was definitely busting out the lipstick and drawing in my brows. I mean, I know that he liked me the way I was without all the accoutrements, but something about the process of getting ready made everything feel so much more exciting.
They were such simple acts, drawing in my brows, swiping on color, brushing my hair, but they made me feel like I hadn’t felt in ages, a reminder that I was still a person who got to enjoy things, not just survive them.
