She looked around the dining area, her gaze finding Mr. G halfway across the room. He was playing chess with a newer arrival. Mrs. Garcia sat with them, her smile dazzling as she talked to the elderly man who’d arrived the day before.
Tina adored the couple, who’d taken it upon themselves to be an unofficial welcoming committee to the loneliest of refugees. No doubt Mrs. G had already invited their newest companion over for dinner that evening.
Zac was nowhere to be seen. He’d probably ducked into the food line to mooch a cookie from the staff that could never resist giving out clandestine treats. When it came to indulging Earth’s smallest survivors, Imdikos were the ultimate softies.
Tina angled towards the Garcias, diverting to the table where the puppets, resplendent in primary-colored paint, sat drying. The results were impressive, though the hinged jaws for the dinosaurs hadn’t been attached to their faces yet. Zac had to be ecstatic with them.
She continued on. Mr. G glanced up at her approach. He raised a hand, then blinked.
“He found you, right?”
“Who found me, Mr. G?”
Her friend’s smile faded. “Zac. I told him to wait for you after we finished painting, but he said he knew the where to go and ran out. With this stupid bum knee, I couldn’t catch up.”
Tina froze, her heart slowing with dread. “How long ago?”
“Fifteen minutes. I’m sorry, Tina.” It was barely a three-minute walk from the hospital to the building Yorso’s office occupied.
“I’ll help you look for him.” Mrs. G, her bright smile eclipsed, stood.
“It’s okay. He can’t have gotten far. He probably saw something interesting and was distracted. Or he detoured to the playground.” Tina waved at her to sit down before hurrying out.
Despite logic telling her that Zac was fine, that he was somewhere near, worried gnawed at her guts with rabid rat teeth. Though he’d seemed to have recovered after Osopa’s talk, he might have taken it in his head to run away. He couldn’t possibly sneak off the site, but he might hunker down in any one of thousands of hiding places.
She had to find him quickly. With Callie bouncing on her hip, she hurried as fast as she could towards the playground, a block from the hospital on the opposite side from Yorso’s office.
Though Tina was desperate to cause no trouble for her clan, Zac was more important than a potential irritation. She didn’t yet have the small park in sight when she activated her com.
“Osopa? Zac’s missing.”
Barely a minute later, wandering frightened near the swings, she confirmed to her Nobek that Zac wasn’t among the children there.
Chapter Twenty-one
“You must be kidding me.” Tukui’s voice rang out in the silence.
Tina clutched her hands together so hard that they hurt as the small group huddled over Osopa’s security computer, staring at the security footage. The vid showed Zac crawling into the open outer storage bin of a search-and-rescue shuttle, disappearing into the interior.
When nothing happened for several seconds, Osopa fast-forwarded through the footage until a group of four men entered the shot. One of them shoved a bin into the cargo space, looking over his shoulder at the others as they talked. He closed and locked the hatch, shutting Zac inside. The four men boarded the vessel.
“They’re mine. Team Two, led by Dramok Ovkraz,” Tukui said. “They left the site half an hour ago. Their search pattern this evening is a slow flyover of their designated area, meal drop-offs at a couple of warehouses where refugees have taken shelter, and a walk-through in Bredro Sector to check on a sighting.”
“Bredro?” Tina asked, fumbling over the Kalquorian word.
“It’s an area near the containment barrier.”
On the vid the shuttle took off, its occupants unaware they had a stowaway on board. Tina tried to quiet her shaking. “Do those storage compartments open from the inside?”
“Yes. Site security commander Osopa to Team Two.”
“Team commander Ovkraz here, Commander.”
“What is your present location in relation to your shuttle?”
“We’re a mile to the west of it doing a ground sweep.”
“Return to it immediately. A small boy crawled into the portside outer storage bin. Bring him back to the site.”
“Yes, Commander. I’ll report as soon as I confirm we have him.”
A long silence followed as they waited. Tina nibbled her nails, praying as she waited. Callie yawned, cuddled against Yorso, and settled her head on his shoulder.
The Imdiko kissed the dark hair and gave Tina an encouraging smile. “He’ll be okay.”
“Osopa, give me a window I can link to.” Tukui’s sharp order was startling in the quiet.
Osopa brought up a blank holoscreen. Tukui pulled his handheld from its pouch on his belt and tapped. A moment later, a series of Kalquorian characters overlaid the gridded map that had appeared.
Tina looked from the screen to her Dramok. “Tukui, what are you doing?”
“Hold on.” His eyes narrowed as more Kalquorian writing scrolled over the map. After a moment, he muttered something under his breath. From his expression, Tina guessed what he’d said wasn’t nice.
Through gritted teeth, he spoke in English again. “He’s a smart kid.”
Osopa peered at the readout too. His startled look told Tina she wouldn’t like whatever they’d found.
She summoned the lately won assurance as their forever lifemate to bark orders of her own. “I want an answer as to what’s going on.”
Tukui faced her. “Zac knew exactly where he was going and how to get there, though I can’t say how. Team Two’s assigned area brought him almost as close to his home address as he can possibly be.”
Tina gaped. “Wasn’t that neighborhood destroyed?”
“It’s a wasteland, right up to the crater where the city was. Zac can’t reach it with the containment in place keeping the radiation within. He’ll be stopped a couple miles away.”
Osopa growled low in his throat. “The wasteland next to the barrier is called ‘The Rim’. That area outside the containment is in bad shape. The quakes that hit afterward did their fair share of damage. It’s dangerous, with drop-offs and falling debris.”
“How bad is the radiation there?” Tina was shaking.
“Within acceptable levels. We wear protective gear as a precaution, but a few hours in that area won’t do any damage. Right now, fallout is the least of Zac’s problems.”
The Nobek’s com came to life. “Team Two leader to Security Commander Osopa.”
“Go.”
“The storage hatch was open when we got here. No sign of a child. We’re fanning out to search.”
“I’m on my way with a team, but by all means, begin your sweep.” He glanced at Tina. “He won’t have gotten far, my Matara.”
That’s what she’d told Mr. and Mrs. Garcia. How wrong she’d been.
* * * *
Tina tried to be patient as Tukui doublechecked her radiation gear, making sure she was properly encased in the thick, crinkly suit and helmet. It had been fashioned for a Kalquorian, far too large for her slender, shorter frame. She wore as much tape as suit. Where the silver bands didn’t bind her protection close, the white suit bagged out in the strangest bulges. She looked like a balloon animal tied by the world’s worst clown.