Page 27 of Alien Haven

“Sure. I’ve been called worse.” She yawned and offered heartfelt thanks to Utber, who brought her a swala omelet and crispy baked ronka strips. She felt as pampered as a queen.

A little more conversation followed, which thankfully wasn’t centered on her night on the town. She happily tucked into the insanely incredible food while talk rose and fell in the background. Utber deserved to be worshiped as the kitchen god he was she decided.

A few minutes later, Wilkes bid them goodbye, ready to start his shift. “Easy day,” he chuckled as he headed for the door. “All those celebrating the weekend last night are tucked in bed. They’ll be too hung over to be a bother until sunset. By then, I’ll be home in front of the vid. Are you watching the game tonight, Groteg?”

The Nobek accompanied his law enforcement counterpart to the back porch as they discussed the start of kurble season. Utber offered Charity extra ronka strips, crisped to perfection.

She scowled. “No, you devil. You and your delicious food can keep your distance. What I mean is yes, and my expanding waistline is all your fault. They’ll have to roll me to my shuttle when it’s time for me to leave Haven.”

Utber laughed as he set the slices on her plate. He shooed the kids toward the stairs. “All right, gang, get ready for softball practice. We leave in twenty minutes.”

* * * *

Wilkes headed for town, his shuttle hovering low along the travel lane. He smiled to himself, pleased by his work.

He’d walked in Clan Amgar’s home, his private handheld device already recording audio. He was certain he’d gotten plenty of Jennifer Seng’s voice to have it analyzed and compared to the few samples of Charity Nath’s his contacts possessed.

None of it would be one hundred percent confirmed to be the traitor’s daughter. What had been recorded before had come from when she was quite young. Still, certain vocal patterns and idiosyncratic details would offer him some clue as to the probability of whether Jennifer and Charity were the same woman.

The audio recording had been only a backup if he’d been unable to claim better evidence. Since he had, her voice imprint wasn’t terribly important, just added support for any verification.

What mattered were the fingerprints and DNA he’d gotten from her coffee cup as he’d refilled it. If she were Charity Nath, he’d soon find out.

“You can run, and you can hide, but the truth will be revealed,” he chuckled, damned near giddy at his success under Groteg’s very nose. He was still laughing when he reached the office.

Chapter Seven

Charity waited to pester Sara until Utber and the kids had left for their softball league practices and Groteg had departedfor the fields to inspect their progress. It was the weekend, but farmwork apparently never took a break. Sara was humming as she set the kitchen to rights following breakfast, directing Charity where things should go as the younger woman tried to help. Charity had the feeling she was slowing her hostess down, but she certainly wasn’t going to sit at the table and sip coffee while Sara did all the work.

“Detodev,” Charity said as she put cups in a cabinet. “What’s the gloomy guy’s story? He has all the warmth of a brick, but there were moments he acted as if he’d like a better connection to his fellow man.”

“Hmm.” Sara considered, darting an evaluating glance at her ward as she did so. “Well, his is an interesting story, but it isn’t my place to tell it to you. You’ll have to get it from him, if you can convince him to tell it to you. Heisthe silent type…but once you know him, he isn’t a cold fish at all.”

Charity was certain she didn’t imagine a shadow of sadness on Sara’s face as she talked of the Nobek. “I probably won’t hear it if I have to pry it from his lips. You can’t give me a hint?”

Sara smiled and shook her head. “He trusts me to keep his secrets, as you do.”

“Then you shouldn’t tell me. I do hate a mystery, though. What weakness I can exploit to gain his confidence? Food? Money? Lots of pretty knives? Nobeks love those.”

Sara chuckled and sidestepped the question. “The plates go up there, next to the cooling unit.” Following a few seconds of silence, she added, “Be his friend. I know he doesn’t exactly invite it—”

“He probably has a moat surrounding his house. Filled with alligators. And sharks.”

“He’s standoffish, but there’s a kind man under his shell. I’d be thrilled if you were able to draw him out of it. He needs friends.” Sara suddenly swung to face her. “You’ve given me anidea. Invite the gang to dinner tonight. Ilid, Detodev, and Mitag. Utber’s too busy shuttling the kids to their activities to cook, but Detodev adores my pork tenderloin. We’ll roast some potatoes…I think Utber froze some wedi sauce. It’ll go nicely on the spuds.”

“Can I help? I can bake a pie. Wait, we’re talking Kalquorians. I’ve seen how much they eat. Two pies. Oops, you have a teenage boy and James the Food Tornado.Threepies. What fruit do you have I can use? Do Kalquorians like fruit pies?” Charity was excited at the notion of baking for her new friends. They probably thought an astronomy student with a supposed penchant for blowing up labs had never set foot near an oven.

Sara grinned. “A few baskets of strawberries and blueberries were dropped off a few days ago. I made most into jam, but there’s probably enough for three pies.”

“Perfect! Okay, where can I set up?” Charity looked at the myriad surfaces where she might assemble her contributions to the meal.

“Hold on. You haven’t done any of your schoolwork since you arrived. You may not be on punishment detail for real, but you won’t let your studies slip on my watch. Concentrate on your courses for a few hours. Then you can work on the pies.”

Charity felt a rush of warmth to be mothered by Sara. “I’ll get on my lessons once I’ve talked to Detodev. I overheard Groteg say he’s in the west field. Can I take the hovercart again?” She headed for the door.

“You don’t have to go see him. You can com him the invitation, same as the other two.”

“Ha! He’ll see my frequency and never pick up.” Charity was certain the Nobek was the type to regret having hung around her last night. He’d avoid her for at least two days if he could.

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