Back at the homestead, Sca awoke and alerted the family that Abigail was gone. An experienced tracker, he knew she had been taken. While he searched the house, he found she’d taken a few small survival items, and he thought her plan had initially been to leave. When he went outside, however, he found Baston’s ship standing open and a piece of Abigail’s shirt lying beside it. There were drag marks leading to a set of scooter tracks. She’d definitely been taken. Han was probably just waiting outside to make his move and caught her on her own.

It was unfortunate because Han could have taken her anywhere. But luckily, they still had Halo’s tracking device. They could find her anywhere in the universe if need be. Baston had helped Halo get it working after he’d found it exploring the planet. It was far from a kid’s toy. The men didn’t know they could track Abigail, so that would work in their favor.

Baston plugged the tracker into a computer system he had that would allow it to work like a GPS tracker. After a few clicks, he’d easily tracked Abigail to a commune they all thought was abandoned. After they’d been on Adna for a while they’d made their way across every place they could safely get to, and when they’d been there it had been empty.

“I did good, didn’t I, Dad?” Halo beamed as he watched the little red blip on the screen. He grabbed Sca’s hand as he asked swinging it back and forth.

“You sure did.  Listen, keep your eye on that red dot and if it moves get in touch with us. Sound good?” He ruffled the hair on his head.

The men loaded up, this time leaving Cherie with the kids. They took the skiv tracker on this journey. The skiv was like an aerial SUV. It was smaller than a regular ship, but powerful and able to move just as quickly. It was more convenient and had a camouflage mechanism that would allow them to get close to any target without being noticed. The skiv also had a layer of heavy duty artillery and a laser and bullet proof hull that made it one tough little piece of machinery in air, land, or sea. Yes, the little tracker was also seaworthy. It could be sealed in seconds to take on depths well into those of the deepest trenches. Sca was pretty proud that he’d acquired it.

It was a well-equipped little beast and perfect for the job. The men loaded and pointed the ship for the other side of the plains. They would be there in about an hour. Their plan? A simple search, rescue and destroy.

“What do you think she will do?” Sca’s thoughts were only of Abigail. He felt her absence in his heart and realized he wanted to be with her. Now he was worried the men were violating her and it made him furious. 

“I don’t know. She is a feisty one, you know?” Baston said, breaking through his thoughts.

“Yeah, I love the fight in her. I hope she stays.”

“Yeah, me, too.”

They continued over the terrain, keeping their eyes open in case the men decided to move with her or take her back to their other territory. The commune was full of nice, large houses, much like where they were staying, but it was from an older time so the technology was older and the rooms were decorated in an antique way. It was their plan B, and now they knew the men knew about it. This meant they’d have to change their contingency plan again and might be at their current homestead longer.

Sca was okay with that as long as they could find Abigail and get her back. His stomach had been a bundle of nerves since he realized she hadn’t left on her own.

“We have to find her, Baston,” he said finally letting some of the worry back into his voice. He’d been friends with Baston since they were kids, and now living on a planet with the same wife had brought them closer. He knew his friend wouldn’t fault him for being worried.

“I know Sca, we will find her.” He put his hand on Sca’s shoulder.

***

Abigail

“What are we doing?” Abigail asked as she bent over her knees. She really wished she had Sca’s air mask at this point. They were moving so fast through the woods. The air was growing thicker and the familiar burning in her chest told her she wasn’t getting enough air.

“We’re going to get a ride,” Dao said, not slowing down as she kept moving in front of her. Abigail followed her quick pace, occasionally getting too close and getting slapped by a branch. They stopped outside a cave that looked eerily familiar to the one she and Sca had been in when they were attacked by the bugs.

Dao whistled loudly and Abigail heard something loud stir inside the cave. She hoped Dao knew what she was getting into, and soon a large cat head appeared at the entrance of the cave. Another one followed, and Abigail realized they belonged to the same body.

Dao held her hand up, and one of the heads nuzzled it then the rest of the massive cat came out of the cave and bent down so she could get on its back. She reached down and pulled Abigail up as well.

Abigail changed her mind about her earlier thought on nothing surprising her. This two-headed cat they were riding surprised the hell out of her.

The cat made quick work of the woods, walking through effortlessly, and Abigail thought she noticed the trees slapping at it on their own. She put that strange thought out of her mind. It was unclear how long they’d been riding through the forest when they came out into an open field. The suns were starting to come up, so they’d definitely been at it all night. She found herself wondering if the family even knew she was gone yet.

Dao stopped the cat and turned it sideways.

Abigail had been lulled into a dazed state riding behind her and almost fell off at the sudden change.

“Someone is coming this way fast.” Dao said pointing in the distance across the open field.

Abigail looked where she was pointing at something approaching them fast in the distance. She saw Baston and Sca coming up to them on some kind of machine. She climbed down off the giant cat and ran towards them.

“Those are my men!” Abigail exclaimed, a little surprised at herself calling them her men. She didn’t care though, they’d come for her even though she’d been mean. They’d come to save her. She really did belong with them.

Baston got to her first lifting her from the ground and spinning her around before kissing her and then pulling back to put his forehead to hers.

“Is that the cat from the maze?” Baston asked as he put her down.

Dao answered, “It is, she doesn’t stay in the maze all the time.”

“I’m glad you’re okay. I was really worried.”

Next Sca grabbed her and pulled her close to his chest. She inhaled his scent and felt right at home. After he’d kissed her and looked her over for injuries, he turned towards the little red girl with her.

“You’re one of Ation’s girls,” Sca said smiling.

“I recognize you two.” Dao said. “It’s been about four years now.”

“Yes, when we first came here,” Sca replied.

Abigail hadn’t realized the two knew Dao and was tempted to say it was such a small world, but refrained. Something hung in the air between Sca and the little red girl.

“This will make up for you taking the Astro Fox, coming to save us.” Dao said.

“Oh, you know about that do you?” Abigail noticed Sca’s cheeks had reddened.

“Can we give you a ride somewhere?” Baston asked her.

“No, I’ll get to my tribe by morning, thank you.”

Dao walked off, leaving the three of them wondering how she would be safe, but Abigail was fairly certain she could handle herself.

“We left them kind of worse for wear.” Abigail said as she climbed onto the ship the two were riding on.

“Makes me proud. Cherie is going to be very happy to see you. So will the kids.” Sca said as he turned them around and started heading across the large field.

“The place you were taken to was our contingency plan,” Baston said sadly. “Clearly it’s been compromised.”

“I think it’s their home base. Their mother was there and she was talking about them bringing their problems into her house.”

“Well, that’s surprising.” Sca said, but he didn’t mention it again the whole way back. Baston held her while Sca drove and kissed her periodically. She was very happy and relieved to be going back to somewhere she’d be safe.

The kids ran out as soon as they were back in front of the house.

“Mama killed Jaca,” little Ruby said as Baston scooped her up and kissed her forehead. A large Jaca body lay on the front steps and its head was blown open.

Abigail felt another pang of guilt bringing something like this to the kids. Now they were seeing so much violence that could have been avoided.