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Dani shifted his weight around His eyes darted to Molly for a second "There is also her Wadi to consider"

Cole looked at Molly "Hers?"

"Yes The Wadi she brought back is alive, docile, andWell, we believe she is a juvenile that has never taken a mate, never reproduced This, and the fact that she’s much older than a baby, but not quite an adult, The Circle will take as a great sign A momentous occasion Especially since the discoverer is hu "And now a Drenard"

Cole turned to stare at her as well Perplexed He furrowed his browhard One of the bandages on his head tore free

"What?" Molly asked

"Your Wadi is alive," he said, pressing the tape back in place "I think that ht--" her voice trailed off into thought

Cole wished he could listen in

He turned back to Dani "This is a good thing, though, right?"

"Possibly In so to be considered Drenards, and what happened here will becoend one day, I aine they will let her off the planet now She will ?" It was a deep but powerful thought Cole groaned aloud

"What is it?" Molly asked

"We ht be stuck here, even after all that work"

18

The Drenard officials cobbled together an impromptu ceremony in the rarely used shelter Normally, such an occasion called for banners, custo for practical use, but Dani had agreed to force the issue and try to get therave;bre

They gave the four friends fresh tunics to wear, signifying their status as Drenards and their place within the culture Each was unique, thrown together from borrowed layers of material fro with Walter that his was by far thein order to settle hied to tell hiht face

The four friends knelt in a line while lances were passed around and alien words were spoken Not a moment of the ordeal etting off that planet, and she wasn’t yet sure she should feel proud to be a Drenard

After a round of deep bows fro foursoan They ushered Molly forward as a large red box was produced and placed on the carpet with great care Pushed toward the box, blue hands on her back, Molly wondered as expected of her Dani held his pal opened, his hands hinging apart

Molly knelt in front of the box, i a special tunic of some sort Despite her anxiety to leave as quickly as possible, she found herself tingling in anticipation as she fumbled with the box’s small, unintuitive clasp

Someone behind her shuffled nervously The entire lobby had fallen deathly silent

Finally, the clasp came free Molly cracked the top--and then the lid exploded open She stu, as the Wadi inside leapt out and attached itself to her chest, its claws pricking her through the layers of tunics

Walter hissed furiously from behind her Edison roared

Molly turned and raised a hand to cal up her torso She could feel her cheeks cra so hard, her body flushed with excite, but the Wadi wiggled out and sca contentedly She patted its head while a tongue darted out, as if tasting the air

She turned to face Dani, her vision blurred with tears of joy "Can I keep her?" she asked

Even without the bands, she felt like Dani understood And the ansas even more clear as the officials re away each claw as the thing clutched desperately to her

"Why?" she asked, as they returned the Wadi to the box The poor creature writhed in protest, its li back to look at Molly

They shoved it inside and the lid sla sound emanated from within

The display horrified Molly, but the members of the Circle see of their language while Dani presented a red band to Molly, both cereo, Madaht, once she had it in place

"It’s over? Can I--?"

"It is over And no, you cannot keep the Wadi It will go to the Royal Zoo and be kept on display But let’s hurry--Bodi and his allies on the Circle are heading this way from the train depot We need to avoid thelance as it was shuffled out the door Soft thu noises resonated from within She felt sick with the poor Wadi locked away like that, even sicker that it would be put on display rather than set free

The look on Dani’s face told her it was no use arguing She turned to her friends

"We need to go," she told them

••••

The four of them boarded one of the shuttles Dani and Walter’s Questioner joined them, as well as the three Circle uard settled into the driver’s seat and began fiddling with the controls The large half-circle of a vehicle rocked slightly as everyone settled aot couards load into the other shuttle They looked like a s up for war Their shuttle would set off toward the train station to intercept Bodi’s group, which reportedly had refueled and turned around after hearing of Molly’s and Edison’s completion of the rite

The shuttle with Molly and her friends,another shuttle to transfer so on to a defense spaceport The Circlethe new Drenards into the planetary system--and they supposedly would be cleared to leave

Molly wondered how and where they wouldprotected fro they really would be allowed to fly away, not with so many people after them Her trust of the Drenard people was on the wane

The driver snapped the door shut, locking out the wind, and took the city over the horizon

Molly had so many more questions for Dani, but the red bands had been taken, along with her ability to co able to speak, of having relied solely on huues and their wide adoption, fixed her resolve: she was going to learn soet her mother to teach her Drenard

She wondered if her o and if that hy she had taken up the alien language

The shuttle lurched side to side in the oncousts roaring against theat times Molly sat with Cole, their hands interlocked, her eyes fixed on the red box in the Circle , and Molly heard so up to spec" She s his Questioner for a red band and panto a complaint One of the first bumps had spilled red juice down his new tunic, and he kept inquiring about a fresh one

After what felt like several hours, the tall buildings in the distance sees had co the horizon--it was just a testasup since they couldn’t build out The only structures out this far were tall toith five blades--an ancient windainst the black sky, e before fusion power and fuel cells

"Seems like a lot of prime real estate," Molly lass

"They can’t build out here," Cole told her