ZEDD
I swear, if one of us doesn't find Thomas soon, I'm going to tear apart the whole damn planet until I do. Unless - "Dar."
He glances at me from where he is - a good many feet away from me as he helps me recheck the gardens - and answers. "What?"
"He couldn't have taken-"
Cutting me off, he shakes his head. "No, not a chance. The three ships are voice coded to just the three of us. He might be able to hide in one, but he'd never get it out of the bay - much less off the planet. There are emergency parameters that would allow him to, but none of those conditions are met. Even so, the ship wouldn't take him to Earth. It would take him either to Rita or Zordon depending on the threat. And right now, he's not intelligent enough to reprogram it."
I suppose there's a small measure of comfort in that. It feels like we've been searching for hours out here and found nothing. I can only hope that Pina is doing better. Really, how far could he have gotten anyway? I know he's hungry - we both were. Any adrenaline that was fueling him has got to be wearing off, if it hasn't already. I stop and sink onto a bench, thinking.
I start thinking aloud. "Okay, if I were him, where would I be?"
I'm not surprised when Dar answers. "As far away as you could be from someone you think betrayed your trust."
Angry and sorrowful at the same time, I merely nod to concede the point. "But I would also know that the planet is fairly uninhabited, the woods go on for miles and that I cannot use the ships to escape."
"He's too unfamiliar with the plants here to know what's edible. Either he's foolish enough to not care and eat things anyway-"
"Or he's staying nearby. It makes the most sense. Here there is a food supply and clothes and shelter. We know that he's left the castle, but we don't know how far he would have gone. It makes sense that he would have stayed close." Following that line of thought, I trigger my communicator. "Zedd to Pina."
"Go ahead. Did you find him?"
"Not yet, but reason says that he should be fairly nearby. Come back to the castle and we'll try something else."
"I'll be there in five. Pina out."
I look at Dar. "We'll go in, eat and come up with a new search pattern after Pina gets back."
Dar nods. "We have five minutes. We might as well finish rechecking the garden."
I stand up, bone weary in spite of sleeping all afternoon. Which actually makes no sense. Dar and I finish the garden and meet Pina by the side door. We all go in and head for the kitchen. Dar moves to fix plates and I explain to Pina what we've come up with. Dar interrupts me. "So far, Zedd, your logic is holding."
"What do you mean?"
"Someone, and I'm betting it's Tommy, has eaten out of this pot."
"Are you sure?" Okay, I know he knows his kitchen and his dishes better than anyone, but I had to ask.
He gives me a look that I know I deserve and answers, "Yes, Zedd, I am sure. Which means that at some point in our search, he was in here."
I stand up, ready to search more, but Pina stops me, shaking her head. "Zedd, eat first. If we don't find him quickly, you'll need the fuel."
Sighing, I sit down again. Just as Dar sets a plate in front of me, I feel a rush of terror that is not my own. "Thomas."
"Where?" Pina asks urgently.
"Not sure." My eyes close as I focus on the feeling, trying to track it to its source. More emotions follow, buying me more time. Terror, anger, hate, helplessness. Where are you?
Abruptly, I rise from my seat, following the link, hoping to get to him before he realizes that it's open and praying that it's not deliberately open because he's in trouble. Suddenly, it snaps shut, but not before I realize where he is.
