Page 123 of Alien Haven

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 his contacts possessed.

None of it would be one hundred percent confirmed to be Charity Nath. 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 a little 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 was Charity Nath, he’d soon find out.

“You can run, and you can hide, but the truth will be revealed,” he chuckled. He was 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 departed for 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. She directed 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 are moments he acts 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 then. 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 an idea. Invite the gang to dinner tonight.”

“All three? Ilid, Detodev, and Mitag?”

“Sure. Utber’s too busy shuttling the kids around 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 jabbered, 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 couple 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. You have a few hours you can concentrate on your courses, 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 to 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.

Before the door to the back porch closed behind her, she heard Sara confirm her suspicion by muttering, “Yeah, that’s what he’d do, bless his heart.”

* * * *

“Replacing doohickeys and whatchamacallits again?” Charity hopped off the hovercart and trotted to Detodev.

He awarded her the briefest of glances. He dismissed her and bent to the field monitor spilling its guts on the tilled ground where he knelt. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’ve never heard of such components.”

“Crabby. You look tired. How late did you guys stay up? Where did you go after you left? Was it somewhere fun? Did you crack a smile?” She flopped down to sit cross-legged beside him.

“Ilid dropped us off. His parents were expecting him, he said.” Detodev tossed his head to swing the long braid hanging over his work out of the way. “Do you always ask a hundred questions and refuse to let someone answer?”

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