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The rover is packed when Cleve drives it away from Data Haven. Not as many wolf beetles as last time, but just as many people. And this time, two of them aren’t over-eager to share a single seat. “I’m in front,” Astrid declares. Her age and her self-confidence give her all the excuses she needs. As the youngest and slightest, Cor and Louisa get shoved together into one of the backseats, and Chloe takes the other.
It’s a tight car, but as the driver, Cleve has all the space he needs. Still, he mutters pessimistically, “What could go wrong?” as he checks his mirrors. At least this time he’s not the only one here who knows how to drive. Astrid does too, having driven cars back on Earth. “Strap in, and I’ll try not to kill us all,” he tells his passengers.
“We’re not the ones who are going to die,” Corazon says grimly from the back. Removed now from Mr. Fuzzy’s calming influence, she is ready for some direct payback on his mistreatment.
The drive is bumpy. Even though Cleve has negotiated this route before, there are still no roads. The young folks don’t have much experience riding in a rover, and the trip is not gentle on their stomachs. They are only too happy to get out and stretch their legs when they reach the drop-off point. The excavator is right where Cleve and the others left it when fleeing the siege worm. It’s too large for craws to move, but one has taken up residence within it. Cleve shoos it away, and then everyone works together to lift it back onto the rover and secure it to the roof.
These ladies are going on a dangerous mission that Cleve himself is not. It’s a strange position to be in for the former soldier. “Well,” Cleve says, slapping his hands together to brush off the dirt. The strike force pays him little attention, focused as they all are on securing their packs and checking their weapons. Chloe has a rifle, Astrid a pistol, and Cor a tinker-made machete. The sealed armor of the Planetary Security Force looked like it would withstand small arms fire, but it’s possible Cor’s weapon could hack through it. “Don’t get killed,” Cleve tells the group. Ignoring him, Louisa insists to Chloe that she help with at least one hit on the Planetary Security Force or perhaps some advanced scouting. She’s got friends in the dome who would relish the chance to strike while the Morgan troops are still close to the dome. “Looks like you guys got it,” Cleve says more quietly, feeling awkward. Seldom has he had to watch a mission from the sidelines. It’s one of the burdens of leadership that the new Datajack Prime is going to have to start getting used to.
Cor steps up to him and offers her hand. She wishes him good luck on his own task. “Thanks again for finding Mr. Fuzzy,” she adds. “It’s a big deal. You understand; you said you grew up on a farm or whatever.”
“Yeah, but that’s different,” he demurs. “Sometimes you have to eat them, sometimes they’re your friends, and sometimes they’re a little of both.”
“I’ll never quite get you, Cleve,” Cor says, shaking her head in bemusement. “But that’s okay.”
“A good dog is a good dog,” he concludes with a firm nod.
She smiles. “Safe travels on your trip to the Stepdaughters of Chiron,” she tells him. “Don’t tell them that I fungicided a bunch of things—they don’t need to know that. And keep keeping Mariah alive. He’s a good guy. I know they’ll want to evaluate him there, but he’s a person, not a science experiment.”
“Understood,” Cleve affirms. Then he reiterates, “Don’t get killed.” Cor gives him a spontaneous hug, and he wraps his arms around her in response.
Then she backs up and pulls out her machete. “Few things can withstand a sturdy blade,” she says with a gleam in her eye. Cleve suspects she means more than just the vegetation she’ll be traveling through.
“Ready?” Chloe calls out. She secures her breath mask and then pulls up the hood of her red and green camo cloak. Astrid turns away from the reflective window of the rover that she was using to apply similarly colored makeup to her face. Although her attire is the same uniform-like clothing she wore in Data Haven, it has camouflaged cloth added to it now, such as the silky scarf tied at her neck.
Cleve watches the women march off into the fungus forest and then climbs back into the rover. On the return trip to Data Haven, the vehicle is quiet and lonely. The excavator supplies the absent passenger weight, so Cleve doesn’t notice any real difference in how the rover handles. He’s not a sentimental man, but he does miss having additional sets of eyes to help keep a lookout for road hazards and craws. Fortunately, he encounters no real dangers; all his worry is self-imposed.
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