There was another way.
They could give her their device and have the clan deliver a new one for them, perhaps even directly to the ship. That would be much more doable.
As soon as Tomek spotted his mother, he ran to her at full speed, flinging himself into her arms as if he hadn't seen her in days.
Hugging him to her body, she laughed. "If I knew you would miss me so much to give me such a big hug, I would have left you with Saphira more often."
He extracted himself from her arms and gave her a hurt look. "Then I will not give you hugs when you return. I don't like it when you leave for so long."
"I'm sorry." She crouched beside him and pulled him into her arms again, even though he didn't want her to hug him and was trying to wiggle out of her hold. "I promise I will not do that again unless you ask me to."
Frowning, he looked at her as if she wasn't making any sense. "Why would I ask you to be gone for a long time?"
"Because when you are older, you will want to spend time with your friends and not your mother."
He shook his head. "Never."
She mussed his hair. "I'll remind you of that in a few years."
He gave a look that communicated he doubted that would ever happen. "Can I go play now?"
"Yes, you can." She leaned in and kissed his cheek.
He wiped his face as if she had slobbered all over it and ran off.
"He is a sweet boy," Burda said.
"Yes, he is."
"For now," Burda said. "Enjoy it while it lasts."
Sullha's smile wilted. "I'm doing my best."
The two walked over to where Saphira and Tomek had spread the mats and sat down on one.
"It's almost six." Sullha turned to look at the playground gate. "I wonder if they will all show up."
That's my mother, Zohara, Number Six shared with the collective as the woman walked through the gate.She looks so much older than I remember.
Yaaf thought the same of Gindah, Number Seven's mother, but then he remembered her only vaguely and his impression of her might have been colored by her son's.
She came, Number Five thought as the next woman arrived.
Karina walked slowly, her hands clasped in front of her, looking like she wasn't sure she wanted to attend the meeting and was still contemplating leaving. She scanned the playground without focusing on anything in particular until she saw Burda and Sullha, who were waving their hands to get her attention, and she walked over to them with a slightly more confident step.
Number Two's mother arrived next, and his reaction to Mirumah was neither surprise nor resentment. He justacknowledged that it was her. It felt almost like he didn't care one way or another.
Number Four, on the other hand, had a very strong reaction to his mother arriving with his sister. It was like a burst of light emanated from him when Baruha and Asira walked through the gate.
He was happy, and the collective basked in his happiness because it wasn't something they got to experience often, if at all.
Rohilah arrived a moment later with the sleeping Bianca in her arms, the little girl's head resting on her shoulder. She saw the gathering and walked over to where the other women were sitting on the mat in the shade of the mango trees.
Number Three was glad to see his mother and sister again, but his reaction was more muted this time around. He wasn't as excited because he hadn't doubted even for a moment that his mother would show up with his sister. He had been sure they would.
Yaaf was waiting for one more, Sullha's mother, and the thought of her not showing up stressed him because it would upset Sullha.
When he saw her coming through the gate, he let out a breath, and the collective seemed to also sigh in relief. They had all grown to care about Sullha, his feelings for her bleeding into the hive mind and making them all fall a little in love with her as well.
