Chapter 40 #2
How could she explain that there were people who dedicated their lives to destroying groups like the Three Rings?
That there were attempts made every day to stop them?
But that it wasn’t as easy as just walking through the door and telling them to stop?
That compound probably wasn’t even known about before they stumbled upon it.
But everything she thought to defend her people just sounded like a weak excuse, even in her head, and no words slipped past her lips.
Tuvo turned from her, looking back at the phone speaker. “There’s a village. Not far from the Three Ring’s building. That’s where we are, but we can make our way back. The tree cover should be light enough that a shuttle can land there.”
“Actually,” Romival interjected, “the tree cover might be light enough where you are that we can fit a shuttle right into that gap there.”
Hattie lifted her eyes, looking up at the night sky that stretched overhead. The village was in the forest, but there was enough of a clearing that, with some good piloting, someone would be able to fit in through the gap over the center.
They could go back to the Stor.
Back to reality.
She still didn’t have an answer from Tuvo about what they were.
About what he thought about her maybe carrying his pup.
She was regular and she hadn’t had her period since they left Geneva.
It could just be stress delaying it, true.
That wasn’t out of the realm of possibility considering everything she had gone through.
They would know the moment they got back to the Stor.
There was no doubt that the two of them would both be put in a medscanner as soon as they arrived.
The many cuts she had all over her body from the fall through the canopy were healing but not completely closed.
He still had all those bullets to dig out of his skin.
They had to be healed. They would know soon enough if she was pregnant.
At this moment, she honestly didn’t know if she wanted to be or not. If she had been asked a month ago, she would have been ecstatic to be carrying Tuvo’s pup. But knowing he was so completely against it put a severe damper on her excitement.
She was so lost in her thoughts, she almost didn’t hear Tuvo asking-
“How long until we can be on our way back?”
“Wait right there,” Atem said, sounding relieved. “We’ve got your location. We’ve got a shuttle ready for departure. It will be there soon.”
“We’re safe here, vi Dominani,” Tuvo assured him, not wanting him to think that there was any need to rush recklessly.
“Both of you? You’re both safe?”
That was when Hattie realized she hadn’t actually said anything to them. When she had been speaking to Tuvo, her voice had been too soft to pick up. She leaned forward, happy to speak to her alien brother. “Hey guys!”
“Hattie.” She heard him let out a long sigh of relief. “How are you?”
She smiled at Tuvo, but he didn’t smile back. He still looked angry about the human trafficking conversation they had been having.
“Oh, we’re fine.” She hesitated before adding, “Don’t listen to anything Tuvo says.”
He gave her a dull look that she pretended not to notice. On the other end, she heard someone chuckling. That was Survii.
“What did he say?”
She hadn’t heard him before. Had he not heard Tuvo?
Before she could assure him that it was nothing, that he was just being angry and overprotective, Tuvo growled angrily-
“I hate this disgusting planet. Every male here is a worthless ecter and I want to kill them all.”
“It’s not that bad!” She yelled quickly, both to him and to the others on the other end. They had all gone silent and she was worried they agreed with him.
She touched Tuvo’s arm, giving him a sad look. A pleading one. He relented slightly.
“I’ll debrief you when we return,” he said, his voice tense but at least not snapping again.
“We’re fine,” she called out to the others before they could worry. “I promise.”
“Hattie…” Tuvo turned his hand, closing his fingers around hers. That sweet, tender tone was back in his voice. Relenting to her.
He was still mad about what he saw in the compound, and she couldn’t blame him for that. She didn’t want him to be okay with it. She was happy he was so angry. But she didn’t want that to mean he turned against her entire species.
She leaned back towards the phone. “We’ll tell you when we get back. It was crazy. Tuvo is so awesome. He said I can be the one to tell the story.”
“Can’t wait to hear it,” Survii said, sounding amused.
Hattie held onto Tuvo’s hand, keeping him calm, as he discussed some logistics with the others.
Though they wanted to return immediately, the simple fact was that it was going to be hard to land in the canopy in the middle of the night.
They were only a few hours away from dawn.
The shuttle could land first thing in the morning, and they would leave then.
That small delay would also give them plenty of time to get their things together and say goodbye.
Hattie asked Inacio if it was okay. This was his village after all. He agreed.
“I’ll be sad to see you go,” he said, smiling at the two of them. Just the barest upturn of his harshly cut lips. But in his lined, weathered face, it was a big change. “But you’ll always be welcome to return here, whenever you like.”
“Thank you for having us,” she said, beaming. “You’ve been wonderful.”
They ended the comm with the promise to be ready at first light. The search team was offered lodging and accepted it gratefully. They would stay until Hattie and Tuvo left.
And thus, the victory feast became a goodbye party.