Page 39 of 80% Beef 20%
Efred laughed. “Are you asking me if you’re his friend?”
I cleared my throat. “No. JayJay’s, uh…for sure, my, er…friend.”
“Even more convincing.” He snickered, and I swore a plume of smoke swirled from his nostrils. “So, what exactly does friendship entail on Earth?” Efred chattered on, intent on rattling me. “Because a Drack only shares a nest with their mate.”
“Well, friendship on Earth can mean many things,” I said weakly, then stiffened. When had I ever let a teenage boy get under my skin? If he wanted to tease, I could play that game. “Will I be meeting your mate?”
He stumbled, scales lifting a fraction of an inch. “I…I don’t have a mate. Yet.”
If I ignored the bone-deep exhaustion rolling through me, bantering with Efred was almost fun.
The tunnel ended, and the mossy turquoise ground rolled like a waterbed under my boots.
“Your nest awaits, Ginger.” He placed the groceries on the ground and dramatically spread his arm toward the door. “Enjoy your night of friendship with Protector JayJay.” He beamed and ducked away, dodging the swat I aimed at him. “When you’re settled, come find me, and I’ll show you the wash house and kitchen,” he shouted as he ran backward.
Goose bumps prickled my arms, even though the humid air dampened my brow. The same little hollow JayJay and I had shared, this time with a sealed door, loomed before me.
13
Straddling my idling hoveeabove the wastelands, I relished the quiet. Even the dorat was content allowing me to stroke her tail. A woodskie flew overhead, wings whispering through the sky. After a solid week of diverting hellsna, the peaceful moment refueled my exhausted state.
A com from Hill disrupted my sunbathing. “Protector JayJay, the mantu diversion’s complete. The hellsna have been successfully rerouted away from town.” If Hill were a trainee on Yagras, I would recommend he be fast-tracked to the elite guard.
“Excellent work—” A swarm of starbugs shot through my engine intake, jerking me to the side, cutting off my response.
I tightened my grip on the hovee’s handlebars as I spiraled out of control. Dizzy from the force of the spin, the ground hurtled toward me.
“Caught in downdraft turbulence,” I called out to my team over the com, jamming my foot through the gears, trying to decelerate. The thrusters made a concerning grinding sound before locking up entirely. “Can’t regain control.”
Hill’s voice wobbled through the com. “You’re breaking up, Protector. Repeat.”
The hovee spun faster, forcing my thighs to loosen where I clung to the saddle. I slid backward, guts churning. Where was a blanting clearing when you needed one? The wastelands were a spiraling blur. “Bailing in three. Will relay coordinates.”
Three, two, one…
On a hope and a prayer, I jumped. With my knees tucked to my chin, I plummeted through the air. Any number of things in the wastelands might skewer me if I landed poorly. My back slammed into the cold, wet ground and air fled from my lungs. Black consumed me.
“Protector JayJay, status update requested.” A distant voice crackled behind my ear. “Repeat. Protector, are you okay?” Hill’s voice faded away.
“JayJay?” Hill’s incessant coms penetrated the black.
When I groaned and tentatively stretched, a sharp pain shot across the back of my head. On instinct, I palmed the spot. Unsurprisingly, my hand came back bloody. I tore a strip off my tunic. Wincing, I tied it around my head.
Blanting bugs! “JayJay here. Jump complete. Meet at the wastelands’ rendezvous point.”
I sat in the puddle I’d crashed into a moment longer, the water seeping into my clothes. At least the cold dimmed the ache. The walk to the rendezvous point would be an exercise in torture. The blanting lunal plant grew like a weed covering everything,and from the moment I stood and limped forward, it tangled around my ankles, snaring me with every step.
The dorat pounced through the wreckage beside me, her four paws like springs. Her tail brushed over my calf in greeting. Thank the goddess Sola, she’d landed unscathed. Sometimes, being tiny paid off. Fiercely independent, I never knew when she’d show herself. The dorat reminded me of Ginger and how she didn’t cower when threatened. Even though my obligation to protect Ginger had ended, I still couldn’t keep her off my mind.
I leaned against the skeletal remains of a high rise to catch my breath. The broken buildings surrounding me were all that remained of the old colony, but I’d seen images where they’d once soared across the skyline. I pulled off a lunal weed where it looped through the toe of my boot. Though the Fires That Cleanse had been deployed to eradicate the entire planet of a plague by incinerating everything organic, the weed thrived. Among the ashes piled around twisted rebar and wire mesh, I smiled at the light blue graneth flower bud swaying in the breeze.
Though my head hammered worse than it did after a night of drinking whiskey with my building crew, the need to protect Tern’s colonizers from this new threat stirred a fire deep in my belly. Each rotation, we lured the beasts away from town with larger bait, but it was becoming more difficult. The mutated worms were anticipating our moves.
Saluda swept in, hovering beside me. “Need a lift, Protector?” The cocky young Drack’s undented hoverbike was a testament to his superior flying skills.
My mind suddenly shifted to the joy on Ginger’s face as she raced around the track under TeyTey’s guidance. Ginger would give Saluda a match he would remember.
“You seem to have lost your hoverbike.” Saluda smirked. His purple scales ruffled when he offered me a hand.
