The shuttle seats hadn’t been designed to be slept in. Talbot realized he was getting a kink in his neck, and his butt was numb. But then, none of the adults in the passenger section were really sleeping. More like they were dozing, waiting for the night to end.
The kids, however, were so deeply asleep they appeared comatose. That was the thing about kids. When they ran out of energy, they switched off. Dropped into that alpha-wave pattern. Didn’t seem to care if they were cramped, jammed into a chair, or what absurd position they were bent into.
Even Damien, for all of his distress and hurt, had surrendered to oblivion.
For Talbot it was just one nightmare after another, playing over and over in his head. How had Kylee managed to get out of the dome? Where had she gone? What happened to Rebecca and Shantaya?
Surely they hadn’t walked off into the forest.
Or, if they had, why? Was it the abandonment of the dome? Had losing the security of their high and comfortable home been such a shock that it completely unhinged Rebecca? Enough that she’d seek suicide in the forest rather than live in a hovel on the ground?
But that didn’t explain her taking Shantaya with her. Or why Kylee would have suddenly snapped out of her funk enough to sneak away.
None of it made an atom’s worth of sense.
Which left him to imagine. He’d lived so many of Donovan’s horrors. Smart as Rebecca was, he couldn’t imagine her, Shantaya, and wounded Kylee out in the darkness. Where would they have gone? How would they stay safe?
In the dim light, Talbot saw Su get up and walk forward toward the cockpit.
He sighed, climbed to his feet, and rubbed the back of his neck as he started forward.
He stepped through the hatch to find Su standing behind the pilot’s seat, staring out at the darkness. Light from the instruments silhouetted her slender body. Glowed around the edges of her long black hair.
“Can’t sleep?” He asked the dumbest questions.
“Scared. Heartsick. Frustrated. You name it.” Su shook her head sadly. “This is like a nightmare that doesn’t end. The worst thing is what I keep imagining.”
He stepped up to put an arm around her shoulders. “Rebecca is the best of us. She’s been here from the beginning. If anyone knows her way around the forest, it’s her.”
“It had to be the girls,” Su said stubbornly. “Kylee must have come to. Maybe Shantaya told her we were abandoning the base. They’re best friends, you know. Same age. Kylee wasn’t quite sane. Decided to run rather than give up her home. Somehow Rebecca discovered what they were up to. Saw them as they disappeared into the trees and . . .”
“Why didn’t she call the rest of us?”
“I don’t know. Maybe she didn’t have time.”
Talbot hugged his wife closer against his side. Memories kept flashing through his mind: Kylee, grinning as she teased him about being a pedophile. Shantaya, dirt on her nose, laughing as she picked blueberries and plums. That wry, somewhat amused look in Rebecca’s eyes as she told Talbot she was pregnant with his child.
How could a man who loved so much be so helpless?
“I’m a marine. I should be out there.”
“In the dark?” Su asked. “Have Dya, the kids, and me scared to tremors over you, too?”
He bit his lip, fought for a breath. “It’s the waiting. The not knowing. Damn it, if my armor still worked, I could be searching right now, using the thermal sensors in the heads-up. Wouldn’t matter what Donovan threw at me, I could be keeping our people safe.”
“Kylee’s behind this,” Su whispered. “Has to be.”
“Hey, don’t. She’s a little girl who lost her best friend. If it’s anybody’s fault, it’s the lieutenant’s.”
“I wish . . .” Su swallowed hard. “I wish that woman were dead.”
“If I ever get the chance,” Talbot promised.
“Mark? What if something’s happened to them? How are we going to heal? It’s going to destroy Dya, Damien, and the kids. On top of losing our home, it’s just too much.”
“Rebecca knows what she’s doing. You’ll see.”
He wished that were true as he looked out at the black night. Couldn’t even see the buildings under the cloud-dark sky. If Rebecca and the girls were out in the forest? Damn. The darkness would be so thick they couldn’t see their hands in front of their faces, let alone a sidewinder or chokeya.
Su nodded.
But he could tell she didn’t believe it.
Neither did he.
Please, let them be alive, he prayed to the universe. Prayed like he’d never prayed before.