A smile took over Thorn’s face as warmth bubbled up from her belly. Home. I have an excuse to go home! “Yes. I’ll be taking a group to Abritos to check out the planet. We’ll see if we can find any bugs, search the main cities they attacked, and the surrounding area. If the area is clear, we’ll begin moving in groups to rebuild and then the rest can come home.”

Flower Prancer snorted. “Do you really think that surveying a small area of the planet will be enough, Commander Firoza?” Contempt and disapproval dripped from his words.

Major Shift’s body stiffened, and his mouth tightened. “Sir. Our sensors show the planet clear of the krottel. Our next step is rebuilding. What the Commander has planned is for us to check over the planet as we rebuild. I know you weren’t implying that Commander Firoza, or any of our leaders, were negligent in their duties, Elder.”

The yonat’s violet eyes swung to Major Shift. “Yes, Major. I am implying that one as young as she, or you, will make silly mistakes.”

Betsy snorted. “For fuck’s sake, Flower Prancer, just because you’re an Elder, doesn’t mean you’re old, do you forget that? I’m older than you, and you’re barely older than these two. Major Shift is over two hundred years old.”

“Two hundred and seventy-one, ma’am.”

“Exactly,” Betsy said, pointing at the Major. “You aren’t even three hundred and fifty, Elder. So, get off your high horse and either be helpful or get out. Being judgmental of everyone is getting old … older than you!” The Pillar of Earth glared at the yonat. Gods, she is in no way intimidated by the Elder who scares everyone else.

Thorn wanted to cheer.

With a swish of his tail, Flower Prancer snorted. “If you’re quite done comparing our ages, Pillar Doeth, then we can move on. I do not know what horse you’re talking about. I am a yonat, not a beast of burden. I am also not judgmental. Yonat only judge when asked.” Thorn saw everyone in the room press their lips together, trying to hold back their reactions to his statement. “I try to help by asking the important questions. As for being helpful, I’d suggest bringing young Ms. Kor along. She may be in her infancy in her magic abilities, but her sensing is probably the best I’ve seen. If anyone could pick up on a krottel presence, it would be her.”

Before anyone else could say anything, Thorn took control of the discussion. “That is a great idea. I was planning on taking her anyway. She doesn’t know anyone else here and this gives her something to do beyond practicing language and her magic.”

Next to her, Betsy nodded. “I’d like to go, as well. I haven’t seen your planet in over a century.” She squinted up at the ceiling. “Unless you don’t want to bring Scout and need someone to stay with him. I could understand that.”

Thorn wrestled with her conscience. On the one hand, she knew Scout would love to go home. He may be crushed if he weren’t allowed to see Abritos. On the other hand, it wasn’t safe. She licked her bottom lip as she debated her answer. “I would love to have you along. Your knowledge and magical skills would be a blessing on our travels. That said, if you could stay and help with Scout and the ven, that would be a huge weight off my shoulders.”

Betsy nodded. “Then it’s settled. I’m sure I can make it to your lovely land during the repopulation.”

Before anything could be said, the door opened, and Juniper stuck her head in. “I’m sorry for interrupting, and for being late. Commander Firoza, did you still want me to join you in this meeting?”

Thorn smiled at her engineer. “Yes, Juniper, please come and sit down. We were just about to start talking about taking a skeleton crew to Abritos. Having you here to discuss numbers needed to ensure a safe round trip will be helpful.”

They spent the next couple hours planning the trip, how many people they needed, how many ships, and what they’d do once there.

***

As Thorn approached the door of her suite, Horax lumbered out. The dragon smiled wide. “Commander, it’s nice to see you.”

She tilted her head. “Horax. Is everything okay?”

“Yes, ma’am. After winning my round and getting my free meal on the promenade, Scout had a fun project for me. You know him, always up to something.”

Thorn wasn’t sure if she was excited or apprehensive to hear her son was up to planning things, but she smiled. “There are new orders in your inbox for tomorrow. I’m glad you got some time with Scout before we head out.”

“We’re leaving?”

“Yes, but we can discuss that later. Have a good night, Horax.”

“You, too, Commander.”

Thorn opened the door to her unit and the spicy scent of food permeated the air. Her belly grumbled. Inside, Viera and Scout sat waiting for her in the kitchen. On the table sat a huge bowl surrounded by smaller vessels.

Viera smiled wide. “Beef curry, rice, chicken satay, and crab Rangoon. Are you as hungry as I am?”

“Gods yes! This is an amazing surprise. While we eat, we can discuss my day as well as yours.”

Scout filled his plate, then took a huge bite of fried crab. “Tiffany and I went back to the training fields. Since Betsy was with you, Tiffany’s dad came with us. He hated it, so we only watched Horax. Then we went to her place, and I helped her practice Galactic Standard. She’s super-fast.”

He spoke so quickly, his words tripped over themselves. Once done, he dug into his food. The smile on Viera’s face as she watched Scout warmed Thorn’s heart. She loved how much the other woman loved her son. Part of her yearned for this to be more than a short-term thing. She knew Scout loved his former teacher, too. But Viera was needed on Earth.

After finishing her own bite of curry, Viera said, “I spent most of the morning making sure I could move a ball back through time. It’s only a few seconds, but I think I can do it. I’m not sure of any practical application of the magic, but it’s nice to gain control of my abilities. Each time I figure something out, it’s like a puzzle piece that is me is put back into place. It feels nice.”

Thorn tilted her head. “So, you can move on then?”

Viera snorted a humorless laugh. “No, I’ll have to keep playing with this, looking at it from different angles, so that I really understand the dynamics of it. Magic is a rich, multi-dimensional beast, and if I don’t comprehend all the nuances, I could hurt someone, or myself. However, I’ve learned the first step. As the saying goes, you need to learn how to walk before you can run.”

“Okay, that makes sense … mostly.” Thorn took a few bites of curry. The flavors exploded in her mouth. “This is fantastic. I didn’t know the panel could create anything like this.”

Scout bounced in his seat, practically dancing. “Ms. Kor and I spent like an hour figuring out how to program in these recipes. We had to call Horax to help us. We wanted to surprise you with something she loved.” He glowed with excitement.

Viera reached over and ruffled his hair. “I thought we were going to keep that our little secret.”

He blushed. “Sorry, Ms. Kor.”

Thorn laughed. “It’s okay. I appreciate it even more.”

“What about your day?” Viera poured some wine for herself and Thorn. Then she took a sip, waiting for Thorn’s reply.

“I spent most of my time looking over reports and having a meeting. We’ve decided that tomorrow a group of us will head to Abritos, to make sure the krottel have really left.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Scout start to vibrate with excitement. “Sorry, kiddo, you can’t come. This is a military engagement. If we find any krottel, it may not be safe. You’ll be staying here with—”

He sighed. “Ms. Kor?”

Thorn gave him a small smile. Before she could answer, Viera turned to him. “It’ll be great. We can continue our language lessons. You know I want to become fluent.”

He perked up a bit at that.

With a sigh, Thorn continued. “Actually, Viera, you’ll be coming with us. Believe it or not, that was Flower Prancer’s suggestion. We need to determine if there are any bugs on the planet, and your ability to sense them is one of the best.” She turned to her son. “Betsy agreed to stay with you. I believe she has some plans to make your time fun.”

His face scrunched up before he nodded. “We’ve talked about starting to train the young ven. I bet that’s what she’s thinking.” He seemed to perk up a bit.

As much as Thorn got annoyed at the flying beasts, if they worked to distract Scout, she’d be grateful for their presence on the trip.

“I get to see your planet?” Viera’s voice was soft, but her wide eyes and slack jaw showed her shock and, Thorn hoped, excitement.

“Do you want to go?”

“Yes! I mean, absolutely. That would be amazing.”

Thorn smiled, again feeling warmed by Viera’s response. “It won’t be a vacation—no more than any of this is a vacation.”

“Not for you, maybe.” Viera snorted. “But to me, I’m totally taking a secondary vacation from this vacation.”