Lost Change

Chapter 83

Minna wouldn't let me follow the sicora out through the tear in the side of the ship, so instead we wasted more precious time by backtracking all the way back to the damaged airlock. I growled the entire way, aching to get into the air.

We got outside... and wasted even more time. Ketzel wanted everybody together before we left. Which meant we stood around and did nothing while the sicora got away and while more heavily armed Kymari gathered around us.

I was not happy.

"Nate?" An unfamiliar voice reached me. I had the vague impression of a tired looking purple dragonet along with the voice.

I thought back to that impression. "Yes?"

"My name is Tom – we haven't been introduced, but I'm a friend of Ivy's. Alec has filled us in about the ship crashing and said you're trying to track it with Minna. Serena and I are on the way now but it will be a few hours before we get there - is there anything I can do to help?"

Of course; now somebody gets back to me. "I think I just learned on the job. There were two sicora; the Kymari got one but I followed another scent out of the ship. Everybody's gathering outside and getting ready to go after it now." I hissed in impatience. "I wish they would hurry."

Ketzel was still talking to the three guards he had left outside the ship. It didn't seem like they had seen anything. I wasn't sure why he was wasting time asking them anyways; I could clearly smell which way the sicora had gone.

"Give them a minute. The Kymari are patient, but they're methodical. If they're taking their time, it's just so they can be absolutely certain they kill it when you find it. You'll get it."

Tom's words reassured me a little - I was so worked up that anything that worked towards getting the sicora seemed like a good thing - but I still wasn't happy with waiting. "It's already killed two people. The one they got killed two others. If we wait too much longer it's just going to get somebody else!"

"Four deaths?" Tom sounded shocked.

"Maybe more. I don't know how many people were killed in the crash."

"That's horrible..."

I watched as the Kymari wasted more time around me. "Ivy made it sound like this wasn't that uncommon. That sicora killed everybody on a ship if they weren't stopped."

"Well, yes, but..." There was still a sense of incredulity in the other dragonet's tone. "We've been really good at stopping them. Except for an occasional guard getting hurt in the fighting, they haven't been able to cause many problems anymore."

"This one is."

"Right." The voice grew quiet for a moment, as if the speaker was talking to somebody else, then came back. "We're already going as fast as we can. I've asked Alec to call Minna; he might be able to get things moving a little faster."

I thought back to how uncertain Minna had been while we were tracking the sicora inside the ship. Getting advice from somebody a little more familiar might be a big help to her. I know I was already feeling better just from knowing I could ask the purple dragonet if I had any problems. "Thanks. Any tips or suggestions?"

"Try your best to calm down, if you can. I know it's hard. But you'll need to keep from getting too focused on following the sicora. Once it realizes it's being chased, it might try and ambush you. You'll need to pay attention and be watching for that."