Back To Krypton

Chapter 25

To say that the group is surprised when morning comes and there's an empty spot where Kara and Lena's tent used to be is an understatement.

There's a panic set between them that they can't shake, afraid that something terrible has happened to them, the main theory being that the Kryptonians they saw before had stumbled upon them and taken them somewhere, similar to how they got taken by The Rebellion.

That fear goes away when they find the note though, the one Lena wrote out in her very careful swoopy handwriting to tell them that they had gone on a side mission and to stay put because they will be back in a few hours, a day at most if they can help it.

That doesn't mean that Alex isn't trapped in an endless cycle of pacing, something Nia isn't even contemplating, spending her now free time to rest, sleeping in and simply lying on her mattress with a book open, her eyes lazing over the words throughout the day.

If Kara and Lena could see the relaxing day that Nia's now having in their absence, they would be immeasurably jealous because they have been up pretty much the whole night wandering around trying to find the camp of the environmentalists.

It's kind of funny that they thought that they might accidentally run into them a second time because their camp is so far away from where they do actually end up finding them, almost a four-hour walk away at that.

"Look, I can see a campfire." Kara points through the trees to where there is a soft glow peeking out between the trunks.

Lena waits until they make eye contact to nod at Kara to let her know that she sees what Kara is pointing at, too nervous to say anything right now since they haven't yet figured out where the people are, afraid that they will be overheard.

They make a large loop around the outskirts of the camp they find closer to the fire, finding a small group of them, six to be exact. They know that because across a branch is six jackets hung up like they are on a coat rack, each with a crest over their left breast pocket.

The fire is barely more than embers, left to do as it will overnight with nothing more than a single thick log atop of it to keep it going for as long as they can force it to overnight without any attention so they can all sleep in their pods.

Yes, pods. There are six pods lined up, three on one side and three opposite those. They are all facing inward towards the fire and are perfectly aligned.

Even Kara has never seen anything like it, but that's not saying too much since she was so young when she left Krypton and these pods are quite clearly suited to these environmentalists.

Each pod is short, only a meter tall, and about a meter wide too, although they are pretty long, almost seven feet, pretty much just a sleeping pod. In fact, exactly a sleeping pod. The pack of each person is to the left of the entrances of the pods, each one opening upwards, made of some kind of plastic material that seems to be pretty durable and strong, rigid in a way an ordinary tent is not. It's intriguing.

"I think they must all be in their pod, I don't know if they are asleep or not though so we have to be quiet," Kara whispers over to Lena, her hand unconsciously gripping onto the edge of Lena's shirt to keep her close.

"Where are the H'Rakas?" Lena answers back, creeping slightly closer to the pods. "Shouldn't they be here?"

Kara shakes her head. "They are pretty but they can be smelly and they produce a lot of waste, they will be close by but away from the camp because of that, I'm sure of it."

"Ok, let's go find them then," Lena says, turning away from the camp to make a bigger circle around the area.

The H'Rakas aren't in the area they already circled, they would have seen them but they could be a little ways away, it's hard to know the general practice for keeping creatures like these around.