25
Breaking Away
Weather on Furuichi's planet was weird. Oga turned up his collar against the cold biting rain that would start and stop exactly every five minutes, and while the Doctor was grateful to have his scent washed away, he was cold. It was like a bucket of ice water was dumped over his head every time he turned down another unfamiliar corner. Oga pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper from his soiled lab coat pocket, judging by his haphazard directions it wouldn't be that much farther to the portal. Was portal the right word to use yet?
Blinking out icy water from his eyes, Oga began to recognize objects and buildings from the first time Oga arrived on this planet with Fruichi. That, according to Dr. Lamia, was nearly five months ago.
There it was.
Most inhabitants of this planet walked right by it. A small opening of a blocked alleyway, choked with what Oga thought were the equivalent to weeds. All he needed to do now was wait for Lamia's call. The pink-haired woman had told Dr. Oga that there was a great buzz within the government facility where they worked together before his disappearance. The higher ups had sniffed out that Lamia was hiding something, though she insisted that nothing had changed in the search for Dr. Oga Tatsumi. Working with a select and narrowly trusted few, Lamia and Oga came up with a plan to transport Oga back to Earth and where he could go into hiding until everything boiled over.
"Oga!"
Oga whirled around at the sound of his name. Shit! Furuichi has already started looking for me! The good doctor ran into the bushes, not knowing where else to hide. "Oga!"
"C'mon Lamia," the doctor muttered to himself. If he jumped too early, there would be a possibility that the facility would know of Oga's return and find out how to travel to Furuichi's planet. If he jumped too late, Furuichi would never let the human out of his sight again. "Oga! Oga! Oga!"
Furuichi was getting closer and Oga's heart sunk when he realized that Furuichi's senses were much keener than an Earth dog. Rain wouldn't wash away the good doctor's scent enough to make his trail go cold. When the doctor's phone finally lit up, Oga could hear Furuichi's realization in his voice. Rushing into the alleyway, not wasting time to find out whether or not this portal was going to work, Oga closed his eyes and the last thing he heard before squeezing back into that wretched straw was a heartbroken Ryauw!
Lamia and her team quickly recovered the huddled mass that struggled for air and put him in a safehouse far from nearby cities. Oga recounted everything he had seen and gone through with Dr. Lamia, but neither knew of the traitor in their midst.