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Sully’s forehead ridge furrowed. “Hey, I’m right here.”
“She’s right,” Tino said. I had no idea when he and Sannit had joined us. “You look like a warrior from the days before.”
It had been weeks since I’d spent time with my Rock Dweller roommates, so I could overlook their ridiculous comments. Tino and Sannit patted my back, and their simple acceptance flooded me with warmth. They finally had all the details, not just what the Yagras news had reported, and I swallowed a lump in my throat.
Sannit bought a chick hatched from the chickens Ginger had brought from Earth. Great, the cramped sono would now have a chicken running around, throwing tiny feathers everywhere. Devile would arrive any day with the bloodroot fungus. Then, this battle would end, and I’d return to life as a building crew foreman living in the crowded sono with a bunch of young Rock Dwellers and a chicken.
With me standing beside her, advertising her wares, Ginger’s wait list grew so long that she refused more names. Everyone wanted some version of my armor. Of course, they would pay good credits for theirs. None would receive such a fine gift.
As the market came to a close, I lifted the box Ginger was packing out of her hands and attempted a quiet voice. TeyTey’s ears were too close, and she kept nailing me with knowing glances that unnerved me. “Ginger, I’m not required to return until tomorrow. How about I complete this for you, and we can go to Geo and Makir’s?”
Ginger took a deep breath and released the box to me, her voice stilted. “Yes…uh…uh… That would be fine.”
A moment later, the ground rumbled, and the town’s alarm rang through the air.
“Everyone to the trailer,” I bellowed. “Ginger, TeyTey, grab the younglings.”
TeyTey fumbled with her colorful head wrap. “Is it the hellsna?” She latched onto YimYim’s hands. “No! It can’t be them. Not in Yurstille.”
Sully quieted her as we raced to D’Rasma’s hovee, and I shouted into my wristport, “Ras, I’ve got the hovee. We’re evacuating those in need, and then we’ll return.”
Hoping the audio message would get through, I cranked the starter, and the hovee jumped to life. As if they’d read my mind, Sully, Tino and Sannit hopped on the back of the trailer, the females and younglings protected in the middle. With a steady hand, I kept the hovee low and slow enough that they could reach out and grab those who needed it the most.
“We’re at capacity back here!” Tino yelled.
“Everyone to the temporary shelter,” I shouted to the crowd as we flew by. D’ovey limped ahead of us as fast as his old legs would allow. A shriek rent the air. The foul beasts were gaining ground, but judging their distance by sound alone, they hadn’t breached Yurstille yet. I forced my thumb off the throttle and kept a steady pace. With my bent arm, I captured D’ovey by the elbow and slung him behind me on the saddle.
“Hold on!” I yelled.
As fast as I dared, I flew the trailer loaded with friends and town folk to safety. Hoverbikes fanned out around us, burdened with more passengers than they were built for. Sully jumped down, ran to the door of a half-constructed building, and flung it wide, directing his family and a host of terrified colonizers to the hatch on the floor.
As if sensing I wouldn’t be staying, Ginger helped D’ovey down, then clasped my hand where I sat on the hovee. When I bent forward to speak to her, she placed her icy hands on my cheeks, and her soft lips brushed over mine in a gentle kiss that fired my blood as much as the advancing hellsna.
“Be careful.” She traced a vein on the back of my hand.
My heart thumped, fueled first by adrenaline and now by her touch. She cared if I was okay. She touched me where everyone could see. If she were a Rock Dweller, she would’ve just acknowledged me as her mate.
Tino thumped my shoulder, his eyes darting between Ginger and me before he yelled over the hoverbike’s engines, “Let’s go!”
Torn between keeping Ginger safe and securing the colony. I hesitated, my hand floating down her silky hair. “Stay inside until I return.”
Much faster this time, with only Tino behind me, we did another sweep through Yurstille. D’Rasma hailed us from the greenhouse. There was no escape from the blaring alarm. When the trailer was half-full of evacuees, Hill, Saluda, Efred and D’unter tore around the corner, their faces like ghosts, and immediately formed an arrow around the trailer.
Hill’s arm circle grew broader and faster, urging me on. Blant. I swallowed hard. If Sisip had dispatched them to assist with this attack, that meant the hellsna would be right on their tails.
The trailer fishtailed as I banked the corner by the cantina, and panicked screams reached me over the alarm. Slow down. You have lives in your hands! I shoulder-checked to make sure everyone was still aboard.
My chest heaved as adrenaline coursed through my veins. Five undulating bodies formed a wall in front of us. Splintered booths and colorful swirls of fabric floated in the air.
“Hang on.” I hit the throttle. Passengers screamed, but we weren’t worm fodder yet.
With expert precision, Hill and Saluda split off, drawing the beasts toward them. I sped toward the shelter. The brakes jolted under my feet when I slammed my booted heel down. We lurched to a stop, the trailer screeching where it jack-knifed behind me, dumping a startled Tig to the ground.
“Stay calm,” I shouted.
Tino and D’Rasma prevented mass panic as passengers scrambled free, and Sannit waved newcomers through the door. Fast as a blast charge, I unhitched the trailer and focused on the shrieks, pinpointing their location before heading back into the fray. Hill’s team was out there without me. If anything happened to them, I would never forgive myself.
My jaw clenched as I cranked the throttle to full speed.
