spears of Uu'kata (CLEAN(ish) Version)

Chapter 47 - The Answer

"She's gone!" Shodara sobbed, pressing her face against Ahnekk's chest and fisting her hands in his shirt. "You made her leave!"

"We'll find her, Sho. She wouldn't leave us," he said, petting her white hair and looking up as Echnar came into the room. His face was grave as he shook his head.

The castle had been searched, the boys he'd taken in had gone out into the city to look for her and Tlornden had sent out his shuttle. No one had found her. She'd taken nothing from the room she'd claimed though, and that gave him hope that she planned to return.

"She's going to come back," he said. "She probably just needed some time alone. There is a storm inside her. She is pulled in two different directions, her loyalties being strained. It's a lot for a person to deal with. But Jalapéno is still in his kennel and she wouldn't leave him. You know she wouldn't leave him."

Storms, let me be right about that.

The door opened and Tlornden came in, shaking his head. The antenna lights in his hair were dim.

"Our scanners found nothing," he said. "We have to move forward with our plan immediately. You gave her your magic and now she's gone back to her people. They will know everything by now!"

Ahnekk glanced at Echnar and saw the same worries mirrored in the lines of his face and he had to admit he harbored the same concerns. He hadn't been able to stop her from teleporting. Had she teleported back to her own kind? If she did, would she come back? Or had she teleported into an asteroid?

With a sigh, Ahnekk looked at Tlornden and said, "How much longer do you need to get your ordinance upgraded?"

Tlornden straightened and inhaled, nostrils flaring. He was getting what he wanted. "A week, give or take a few days," he said.

Ahnekk gave a nod, then looked at Echnar, then down at Shodara, who was staring up at him, shaking her head slightly, her eyes pleading.

He stroked the side of her face, then looked up and said, "We attack in fourteen days, make sure your ships are ready."

***

"So, you and the doc, huh?" Ben said, spreading oil on his mech's massive arm blade. "You two are thick as thieves lately."

Vasquez shrugged and wiped his hand on his filthy jumpsuit. He'd been replacing one of the servos in his mech's knee after a diagnostic had detected a hydraulic fluid leak that had gotten inside it and caused some corrosion.

Loud music rang out through the PA system in the hangar and Delta all shouted at each other from where they worked on their mechs. Polishing, oiling, and doing general maintenance. The new guys were settling in and Vasquez found that he liked them all, except for Bishop. He was a mouthy little shit who pushed back and tried to question everything. He wasn't Vasquez's main source of contention, though. He and Ben had held up a united front when they were before the new guys, but their relationship was strained.

Vasquez nodded. "Yeah, me and the doc," he said. "She's kind of amazing."

"I just don't get how you bagged her, bro. I mean, she's way smarter than you and personally, I don't like getting it on with women who are smarter than me. Cause they know it and they like to lord it over you."

"I think a person who lords their intelligence over someone else isn't actually as smart as they think they are," Vasquez said. He picked up his water bottle and took a swig.

"So, you're telling me she doesn't go out of her way to let you know that your brain doesn't measure up?" Ben asked in a challenging tone.

"Nope. But maybe because I don't put her in a situation where she feels that I'm challenging her intelligence. You'd be surprised at how well people can get along when they respect each other enough to not go out of their way to put down the other for their own gain."