"I suppose we'll find out," Isren responds, smiling thinly, even though Firin cannot see. She waits until the other ships have confirmed their approach, each with their own reservations, then turns to Keslin.
"We'll follow you," she reports. "Kandrona help us."
Keslin smiles a little. "It'll be alright, Isren. Trust me." Pushing away from the wall, he steps back over to the Bug Fighter he arrived in. "Things are going to turn around for us. I promise."
<<Don't make promises you can't keep, man,>> Chris warns as they step onto the Bug Fighter, leaving Farrah and Isren alone to navigate the Skimmer.
Nefitt grunts noncommittally. "I do not know either of them well, beyond the time they have spent in the hospital. Illim's brashness is concerning, though."
He keeps his eyes on the viewscreen, rather than looking at Xevec. One finger tugs at a loose dreadlock, spinning it and twisting it in an old nervous habit.
On one of the drifting Bug Fighters, a fourteen year-old girl is eying the incoming communication doubtfully. "What do you think?" she asks the woman sitting next to her.
"I don't know, Edith," the woman murmurs, reaching up to adjust her head scarf. "Farrah and Isren are usually thorough about these things."
Edith is about to respond, but she is interrupted by a scowling, male voice. "Don't you think it's likely that they've been compromised by the Andalites?" The man's eyebrows raise. "We shouldn't be following them, Valerie. We should be getting the hell away."
"What if your sister is there, Dan?" Valerie asks. "Or Miles?"
That makes the man flinch, but the scowl never leaves his face. "Miles is dead," he says flatly. "So is Teresa. As far as I'm concerned, they're all dead, and we're walking into a goddamn trap."
"But Keslin isn't dead," Edith points out. "He's on their ship, with Chris. He says that there are others alive. We can't just leave them, can we?"
"No, of course not," Valerie responds, placing a gentle hand on Edith's shoulder. "We'll follow at a safe distance."
Dan's scowl deepens. "Fine," he mutters, throwing himself into one of the few available seats on the crowded fighter. "But when they string us up and torture us don't come crying to me."
With a soft sigh, Valerie turns away, her attention returning to the viewscreen. "Edith, set a course for the Skimmer," she say quietly.
"On it," Edith chirps, entering in the coordinates. Then she opens a communication to the Skimmer. "Farrah, it's Edith. We're on your tail. Just tell us where to go!"
