Page 53 of Star Bright
Darcy gave her look. “His contract was expired. I didn’t even know this”—she waved, like Atsu did with both hands—“whole thingwasa thing.”
Brin shrugged one shoulder. “You’d be shocked how often chaos scores over quantum algorithms.”
“We’re not actually dating though,” Darcy said, trying to scrounge up her defenses. “Or mating either, or whatever.”
“No. It’s more than that.”
Without explaining that cryptic comment—and really, a hoax debunker shouldn’t evendocryptic—Brin peeled away, already conferring with Ug, Kong, and the other aliens about how to retrieve the broken ship.
When Darcy followed the others into the med bay, she found herself drifting to Vash’s side though she knew she needed her shoulder checked out eventually. He had still not retracted his tattered wing, and the thin but tough length was draped across most of the room. He’d obviously rejected care until his fledglings were examined; the children were perched next to him while an alien scanned them with a handheld device.
“A bit sore and chilled,” came the diagnosis. “Nothing that a night’s rest after a cup of cocoa won’t fix.” The being turned to Vash. “Nowmay I assess you?”
“Definitely not getting the deposit back,” Vash muttered with a nod to the medic.
Atsu burrowed under the edge of his wing. “I’m sorry, Addah.”
Vash smoothed down his flyaway black hair. “What were you thinking, my summer breeze?”
Darcy suspected he meant the question rhetorically, but Atsu perked up. “I thought a long time. Probably hours and hours, until I had a good plan. I was going to hide the ship where no onewould ever find it, or at least until maybe spring when the snow melts. Then I was going to go a ways away and light the fireworks so you could bring me home for cocoa and tarts. I knew you’d come find me.”
Vash closed his eyes. “But why did you steal the ship?”
“Without the ship, we wouldn’t be able to leave here. And we’d all be happy forever.”
Yadira peered at him. “But you knew the outpost rescuers were coming, and maybe the planetary authorities too. They’d just take us away on one of their ships.”
He stared back at her. “Well. I guess that could happen.”
She groaned. “Susu, if you want to steal a spaceship, just ask me first.”
Vash cleared his throat. “No more stealing of spaceships. Definitely no more crashing of them.”
The medic’s scanner beeped. “Your metabolic processes are very depleted, but considering the benefits of cellular transfiguration, I recommend shifting fully into your beast shape for tonight. We can treat your injuries in that configuration while you maximize your caloric intake for energy, and then you can complete your healing when you change back, hopefully in time for Christmas brunch.”
“If we push back all the chairs, the lobby is big enough to hold him,” Darcy said.
“Let’s all sleep in the pillow forts one more time,” Atsu suggested.
After the medic gave Darcy a shot and a sling for her shoulder, they trooped down to the lobby. It looked so peaceful with all the lights. Brin showed up with a man she introduced as her mate, Sol, who was part of the outpost security team.
“Although apparently our remote security couldn’t stand against a drakling fledgling,” he drawled, ruffling Atsu’s hair.
The boy beamed up at him. “Maybe you could hire me to be on your team. Or I could be your team’s enemy. Or both!”
Working together with whatever limbs were available and functional, they rearranged to make room for Vash and the pillow forts. Next to the makeshift tree, Vash changed, ripping through the paper pants supplied by the med bay.
“Sol changes shape too,” Brin told Darcy in an aside. “Looks like a phoenix, amazing. If you have any questions about…possibilities just ask.” She smirked.
Meanwhile, Atsu was poking around under the tree. “Santa came while we were gone. There are gifts, see? But he didn’t eat the cookies. I left some sparklers behind; maybe we could light them to bring him back—”
“No!” Darcy said. “Ah, one visit from Santa and one Fourth of July in the middle of Christmas is enough.”
“Addah needs them anyway for strength,” Yadira said.
Everyone got a cookie and the rest were dumped down the huge drakling’s throat. By the time that was done, the medic had seen to the remnants of Vash’s injuries, and Atsu was asleep in his fort.
Brin hugged Darcy. “Merry Christmas, since it’s after midnight. I’m glad you weren’t alone here.”
