44. Letters and Numbers

"Titch! Em!" Ma called out from the farmhouse door.

When they had first arrived, One had been afraid Ma would find it strange that Five possessed a number designation instead of a typical name, so she had agreed to go by Emily while they were staying on the farm. Ironically, instead of a number, now Five was typically identified by a single letter.

"Come in! You have a delivery."

One and Five paused in their painting of the barn and exchanged a puzzled glance. Shrugging, they put away the paintbrushes and headed towards the house. Mozart pranced at their heels.

45. Delivery

The courier handed One a rectangular package.

"Thanks," One said, but the courier did not turn to leave. "Do I need to sign something?"

The courier shook his head. After a beat, he added. "I am to see that you open the package immediately."

"Oh. Okay." One used a pocketknife to remove the outer covering, revealing a tablet. The screen immediately flashed on, and a loud voice caused One to jump, the tablet slipping from his fingers.

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOUR SAPHEAD FRIENDS NOT ANSWERING MY CALL?!"

Equally startled, Five barely caught the tablet before it hit the ground.

46. Old Friend

Cautiously, Five set the tablet on the kitchen table. Getting her first good look at the screen, she was somewhat surprised to recognize the face, which continued to blabber as she turned toward One.

"Great job, butterfingers. I'm surrounded by bloody morons. On all sides. Do you know what it cost me to get this to you? You know I would have to cut out your eyes if you had broken it, don't you?"

One stared wide-eyed at Five, before gathering himself and peering into the screen. "What do you want, Calchek?

"And more importantly, how did you find us?"

47. Ignored

Calchek waved dismissively. "Rich kids always run home.

"Now, why is the Raza not responding to me? Do they think that they don't need me? They've taken jobs without my guidance before and how did that work out? Oh, that's right, they wound up in PRISON."

"Maybe they're out of range," One suggested.

"Oh, I WISH they were out of range. Guess again, chucko. I have some rather VITAL information for them. If they want to, you know, stay out of PRISON, or may not be SLAUGHTERED like mangy dogs. But if not, then by all means, just ignore me."

48. Brains

"Somehow or another, one of the geniuses activated a BEACON, that is transmitting their location, oh, I don't know, EVERYWHERE. There's not a single brain on that entire ship, is there? I assumed you two were dead weight, but I guess you guys were stopping the others from wandering out the airlock.

"If you want your friends to continue their brainless existence, I suggest you get them to TURN OFF the beacon and get REALLY FAR AWAY from where they announced their presence to the ENTIRE GALAXY."

"If everyone knows where they are, then why haven't they been caught yet?"

49. The Countdown Begins

"That's a great question, one I really want to spend time explaining to you. Or maybe you should just DO WHAT I FRICKIN' TELL YOU and GET YOUR SORRY BACKSIDES MOVING."

"I think we're done playing your games." One moved to shut off the tablet.

"OKAY, OKAY! It's a beacon. It broadcasts a location, not name. You have to recognize the beacon to know who has it. Which, I, obviously, do. With any luck and will take the GA a couple days investigate.

"Cripes, I can't believe you're the smart one.

"Bottom line, your idiot friends have, maybe, 48 hours."

50. Farewell

"I'll miss you," Ma said, moments after Calchek's image flicked off the screen.

One looked up, surprised to see her leaning against the kitchen doorway.

"You may think you've changed, Titch, but you haven't. This farm was never going to be enough for you. I'm glad that you came back, but I knew you wouldn't stay for long. You couldn't."

One looked down at Five. He could clearly see her eagerness to return to the Raza.

"Thank you," he said to Ma, "For everything."

"Don't be strangers now. You ever get in trouble, I'll be right here, waiting for you."