“Now that I know the two of you and the others are fine, I am going to head out. This heat is really beginning to bother me, and I have been away from home far too long already. MeK, BuK, I will be in touch. Little female, it has been a pleasure and thank you for your assistance with my brother’s unruly vines.”
MeK walks down the ramp with me. “HaL, thank you for coming when you did. You saved several lives in the last rising.”
“I was glad to be of assistance MeK, and that is what family is for. You better get back up there before BuK finds himself cocooned.” MeK grabs me in a warrior’s handshake, “Walk in the Light, brother.”
“Strength and honor.”
MeK nods, then heads back. The cool air hits me when I walk out of KyT’s ship and it is so welcoming as I stand there in my un-insulated form, cooling down before changing into my polar form. Once I shift, my large, furred feet walk hastily across the now-melting snow toward the shuttle area as I try to beat the heatwave I know will leave me weak and then soon unconscious.
“ANDI, can you read me?”
“Yes, and clearly for a welcome change.”
“Notify Father that I am returning to Hallister. The heat has forced my hand, and I am leaving before it weakens me any further. I found KyT and his female companion. MeK and BuK are both with them now, so all are accounted for.”
“Commander DaR and I are both on our way back to Ethra. He is currently in an important meeting, or I would patch you throughto him. The stowaway we spoke of earlier apparently almost died while saving my Destiny and everyone else on board. If I am hearing this correctly, it looks like you may have just gained another brother. I have initiated the start-up procedure for your shuttle, and after preflight checks, you should be on your way safely.”
“Another brother, huh! Well, why not? I mean, we are so few after all.” My laughter echoes through the valley. “I cannot wait to hear this story.”
“I will have the Commander contact you once we get the newest additions for Ethra settled.”
“Were they able to find more of these soft-skinned humans?”
“Yes, I have five females on board as we speak. The Commander will be touching down shortly before my main shuttle arrives to greet them.”
“I wish I could be here as well. I am quite impressed by the human females, and I would not mind getting to know the one called Dawn more thoroughly, but my biology and this heat do not go well together, and their kind seems too thin-skinned to survive in my world.”
“Humans are more resilient than you think, but you are correct, HaL. Without proper coverings, your world would quickly prove deadly to them. Be safe in your travels home.”
“Thank you ANDI, I will notify you when I arrive.”
As I step into my shuttle, the interior’s instant coolness sends a relieving chill across my skin. Thanks to ANDI, the ship is already hovering above the ground, ready for takeoff. I check a few sensors, then accept the home coordinates. My eyes catcha glimpse of ANDI as I leave the atmosphere, and I wonder if Dawn, the little human female, is watching as I leave. Her beautiful face flashes before mine, and my heart jolts. But I know we are too different so I turn away, forcing my thoughts to the things I know will need to be dealt with the moment I return home.
CHAPTER 2
VEDECE
“BuK, I didn’t realize how much I actually missed people until this all happened. The silence in here had become unnerving to say the least.”
“Vedece, you probably felt like the world abandoned you when you couldn’t get anyone to answer you.”
“No, I knew something horrible had happened, but not knowing really got the imagination flowing, especially since my last world banished us. But I won’t lie, the first day I realized I was trapped in here I was nowhere near as calm as I am now. It was probably a good thing KyT was out of it because I was showing my ass and blaming all the wrongs in my life solely on him. Once I stopped feeling sorry for myself, I opened up a small space between the limbs to look outside, and that’s when I noticed the entire landscape was in a deep freeze. KyT saved my life, didn’t he?”
“Yes, he did. If you had been exposed to that intense cold for even a few minutes, you would not have survived. Briar and I were caught inside your unfinished dwelling pod without supplies or heat. I have a few repairs to do to it once things get back to normal, and then we need to talk about getting you somemore furniture. That one chair in your food prep area was just fracking depressing.
MeK sent help as fast as he could, but the bot froze, and we both nearly died trying to retrieve the crates containing the supplies we needed to make it through the coming days. We were both in bad shape when HaL found us. He scared my poor Briar half to death. She called him … what were her words? Oh, yes … an abominable snowman, but your reaction was much calmer.”
“KyT and I spent many hours talking about different species simply because of medication. He used his own brothers as references for many of those conversations as we gathered herbs and other things in the forest, or HaL would have scared me as well.”
MeK squeezing back through the small opening we had made in the vines has us both turning. “Vedece, do you want to stay here, or return with us?”
“Will KyT be alright out here alone?”
“I have no way of knowing that for sure. KyT’s kind are secretive, so there are no real records of how to deal with this. In theory, he should return to normal when the temperatures rise, but we will just have to wait and see. It is getting warmer quickly, so hopefully within a few risings things will return to normal. However, I am not comfortable with you being out here alone beyond the border, unguarded, especially since all the sensors and scanners have been offline. Anyone or anything could have landed while we were all just trying to survive.”
“I hate to leave him.” Torn, I wring my hands together, pacing back and forth. “Wait, was anyone hurt?”
“Ricky has some skin damage, and I believe Owen messed up his arm pretty badly, but I was told that Carla treated them when HaL brought them to her and James’ pod. I have not received any notices of anything serious once the comm units came back online.”
