The whoops was her running a red light. Jace snickered.
“It’s okay, Gehenna. No one else is driving out here so you can pretty much ignore everything other than don’t hit people, other vehicles or anything really,” Jace told her.
Can I speed?
Jace sighed then chuckled. “Yes, but remember–WHOA!”
Both he and Jace rocketed back in their seats as the car shot forward at a much greater speed. They raced down the empty roads, out into the desert, towards Base 67, which was where the only lights were.
They soon came to the gate that was armed by a dozen soldiers. Gehenna screeched to a halt. The moment the one soldier caught sight of Gehenna, he wheeled back. She waved a tentacle at him.
“It’s okay,” Jace told him.
“We are expected,” Khoth leaned out.
The other soldiers staggered back. Khoth lifted an eyebrow.
“Yes, of course. Open the gate!” One of the soldiers cried and gestured to another in the booth to open up the swing arm.
As soon as it lifted up, the three of them drove through. Jace shook with laughter.
“Oh, those poor guys! Oh, man, I’ll bet they’ll talk about this for years to come and no one will believe them,” Jace said as he wiped tears of laughter from his eyes. “Gehenna, don’t take us to the hanger. Everyone is out by the ships. Man, now I understand the no fly zone!”
Gehenna drove briskly over a dirt road that led out into the desert. The Saber-class vessels had all landed in the same V-shaped pattern that they had flown in. Khoth already could recognize his mother simply by her stance outside of the foremost craft. He recognized Jace’s parents the way they jerked as they caught sight of their car being driven by Gehenna. He was surprised to not see Thammah.
Both Parkers immediately raced over to the car. Seeing Gehenna up close in the driver’s seat caused the Parkers to only hesitate half a moment before they were opening the back door to get to their son.
“Jace, you okay?” Jack asked.
Jack reached in and grasped his son’s shoulder and squeezed it.
“I’m okay, Dad, I just needed to eat.” Jace lifted the bags of snacks.
“Is there anything that would actually be considered food in what you have there?” Diane asked, doing her best to put a sternness into her tone, but her eyes showed her relief at seeing Jace was all right.
“Don’t you criticize me, too, Mom. Khoth’s already being the food police,” Jace told her teasingly, but there was a little shame there, too. “I hope I didn’t worry you.”
“We just didn’t know where you were, Jace,” Jack said quietly. “You can’t just disappear on us like that, champ, okay?”
Jace nodded. “I should have told you, but I needed a minute.”
“That’s fine. That’s understandable,” Diane said. “And it did give us plausible deniability by not knowing exactly where you were. But it would have been nice to know you were okay.”
Khoth nearly laughed, which was rare for him, but it was exactly what he had been thinking earlier. Diane tipped her head towards General Intoshkin who was still standing in front of his mother. Khoth straightened as much as he could in the seat and hit the top of his head on the roof of the vehicle.
Over his HUD, Gehenna sent, She looks mad. Is she mad at you, Khoth?
“She does not get angry. She is only disappointed,” Khoth replied softly as he got out of the car, leaving Jace and his parents some time to talk alone. He was surprised when Gehenna joined him. “You do not need to be a part of this, Gehenna.”
I do. I need to explain that you made the right decision, Gehenna replied.
Khoth wasn’t sure that was possible, but he was glad for the show of solidarity. His mother’s only reaction to Gehenna was a slight widening of her eyes. General Intoshkin looked unimpressed as he had, of course, seen Gehenna. He imagined that this made the general feel superior. Khoth crossed his arms over his chest and dropped his head to greet her.
“High Councillor Voor… Mother,” he stated in Thaf’ell
“Commander… son,” she stated.
“General Intoshkin,” Khoth greeted the human commander as well.
