[i]She doesn’t get it,[/i] Serix realized. [i]She thinks I’m just going home to visit the rest of my people.[/i] He was about to correct her, but then he stopped himself. Maybe it was better this way. Cassie didn’t need to know what was actually going to happen when he went back to the ship. She could go back to living in her ship for a while longer. There was nothing either of them could do to stop the coming Lunairan invasion, so she might as well have some peace and quiet before they came.

“You probably don’t believe me,” Serix said, standing up and collecting his things – except, of course, the Silencer. The human would need it to protect herself if any of the other Scouts found her ship later on. “But it was nice meeting you.” He turned and headed out the metal door before she could reply.

Serix looked up at the sky. It was starting to turn pinkish-orange as the closest star neared the horizon. Cassie was right. He didn’t have much time. He took off at a fast paced walk until he the airport was out of sight. Then, he broke into a sprint to cover more ground. He didn’t want to get caught out in the open by those four-legged beasts while he was unarmed. He was confident that he could still fight them off, but doing so by hand would put him at a greater risk of getting injured. He glanced back over his shoulder. The city was growing smaller behind him, which meant he was almost there.

When he finally reached the cargo ship, he was relieved to find that he wasn’t the last Scout to return. There was still one missing. Everyone else had gathered to discuss their findings while they waited for the pilot to emerge from the cockpit. Serix casually joined them, although his heart was racing from the exertion of the sprint back.

“…these weird two-wheeled things. Did you see them?”

“Yeah, I found a big cluster of them. I wonder what they were?”

“Hey, one more is back,” one of the Scouts took notice of Serix’s arrival. They all turned to him. “What did you find, friend?”

“Probably a lot of the same things you did,” Serix replied evenly. “There were these unusual beasts roaming around the area I was exploring. I had to kill one that attacked me.”

“You mean you actually had a chance to [i]use[/i] your Silencer?” the others gaped at him with newfound admiration. “What was it like?”

“Well,” Serix said slowly. His mind was spinning. If none of the others had used their weapons, that meant they hadn’t come across any other humans. Cassie really was the only one left. “It worked just as expected. It fired the electromagnetic projectile and killed the beast on contact.”

“Wow,” one of the Scouts breathed. “Maybe I would have gotten a chance to kill something too, if it hadn’t been for all this bad weather.” The others murmured in agreement.

“Wait…” Serix tilted his head. “Bad weather?”

“Yeah,” the Scout gave him a funny look. “You know, the rain and thunder. We all had to take shelter to keep from getting completely drenched.”

“How do you know what it was called?” Serix pressed. He didn’t remember being told anything about this ‘weather.’

“The pilot told us,” now the Scouts were looking as confused as Serix felt. “He contacted everyone through the intercom in our belts. You didn’t get it?”

“Intercom?” Serix repeated. “No. I never received any information.”

“Really?” another Scout said in astonishment. “That storm must’ve really freaked you out, huh? How have you even made it this far? The rest of us have been getting pointers from the pilot throughout our mission.”

“Tell me something,” Serix’s heart began to pick up. He had a chilling thought that he might have just solved a huge piece of the puzzle... and he didn’t like the picture it was forming. “Were you able to respond to the pilot? How did he know what advice you needed?”

“I tried responding, but it seems like the intercom only functions one way,” the Scout said warily. He must have heard the desperation in Serix’s voice. “And I believe he used the tracking device. You remember that, right? The pilot told us to press the button on the intercom if we needed help. I’m pretty sure it sends your location to everyone else so we can come and help.”

Serix unlatched the belt he was wearing and slipped it off, holding it up to examine it more closely. Just as he suspected: the tiny mechanism in the belt was no longer flashing. His intercom must have malfunctioned somehow. He felt weak with relief. His secret was safe for now.

He had figured out how at least some of the human-sympathizers had been caught. The Scout had said the intercom only worked one way, but that wasn’t the case. The pilot was able to hear their voices the entire time. It wasn’t that they had to turn it on to reply; the intercom was never turned off. The pilot would be able to secretly listen in and find out if any of the Scouts had betrayed the higher powers, and then he could pinpoint the traitorous Scout’s location with the same device. It was a clever setup. Unfortunately for the pilot, the Scout that actually turned out to be a traitor happened to have been assigned a broken intercom.

The final Scout finally joined them and the pilot stepped out of the ship. He issued everyone their new food rations and switched out their full sample containers – Serix had snatched a few more plants to put in his containers on the way back to the ship – and replaced them with empty ones. The pilot didn’t check the Scouts’ recordings. He told them the pictures they took would be examined at another time. Serix let out his breath when the pilot dismissed them again. He turned to leave.

“You there. Hold on a moment.”

“Sir?” Serix turned back around at the sound of the pilot’s voice.

“I noticed your intercom was broken,” the pilot held out a new belt. “I don’t know who gave you that piece of junk, but I can promise you that he will face the repercussions.”

“Thank you, sir,” Serix took the belt, switching out his old one. His face was a mask of calm.

“You may be on your way,” the pilot nodded at him and turned back for the ship.

Serix headed back towards the city. How was he supposed to return to Cassie now without giving himself away? He couldn’t ditch the intercom somewhere or the pilot would know something was wrong. He also couldn’t break it intentionally. The pilot would definitely notice if his signal disappeared. Serix shook his head as he approached the edge of the city. He was at a loss.