Chapter 9

We returned later that afternoon as the shadows of the trees engulfed our resurrected home. I was greeted by Ely's dulled feather duster when I barged in through the front door, entirely out of the mood for gracious movement.

Menderash looked up from yesterday's newspaper, torn by the talon marks of its deliverer. His mouth opened in preparation to speak, but I showed no interest in listening, and Santorelli could fill in the information gap as he so wished. I wanted to talk to Jake, and Jake alone.

He wasn't in the living room, so he would be in the only other place he was ever found. The door to the kitchen was slightly ajar, and I bustled through to the sound of rustling paper and muttered conversation. When I turned the corner, I was frustrated to see Jake speaking with Sten, huddled over the kitchen table and a large map. They both turned their heads to acknowledge my arrival. Sten's quickly returned to the map, but Jake watched me to gauge my thoughts.

Sten was babbling about the map and, eventually, Jake began to retake notice. I scooted up at a distance to see what the fuss was about.

"And make go here," Sten spoke, dragging a finger to a marked position on the map. The closer I looked, the more apparent it occurred that he had been scribbling on the map with crayons. I felt instantly nauseous.

"Okay," Jake said with undue approval. "Are they a roaming patrol?"

Sten shook his head. "No. Stay for half-half Sun. Then change. They are not move."

"What is this?" I interrupted. "Don't tell me this is our sentry plan…"

Jake bit his lip. "This is our sentry plan."

"He's drawn it in crayon!" I barked. "Is this some joke?! This is insane!"

Sten rose to a full standing position in front of me. I felt my legs instinctually move away. "This plan is good," he grumbled. "Good plan to keep Humans safe."

"Safe from who? The Boogie Man?" I chided.

"Hey, relax!" Jake urged, stepping forward. "He's explained the plan to me. It's good. It'll keep us protected."

I wasn't happy to play along, but Jake's interjection forced me to show somewhat more openness. "Tell me what the plan is," I requested half-heartedly.

His pout of discontent vanished, and he turned back to the map with guiding fingers. He placed one at a point marked with a blue cross. "This is Human home. This is what Sten must protect." He motioned to two green squiggles directly adjacent to the cross. "Two for close patrol. Stay for half-half Sun, then change because of long day." His fingers moved further away from the cross and began to circle it with a wide radius, helped by eight more green squiggles forming the cordon. "This main security. Keep people out. Change half-Sun," and finally, he indicated three squiggles placed further out. "These are perimeter patrol. They roam, do search. Change half-half-Sun with close patrol."

I had listened to his vague, simplistic plan. I saw the areas that he intended for his people to search. Who knows what they would be searching for…

"That's it?" I huffed. "That's the security plan?"

Sten smiled, not sensing my anger. "Yes! This is plan."

"Are you serious?!" I snapped. "Jake, you can't honestly accept this!"

Jake remained voiceless. He was thinking, pondering for the correct response.

Sten rose again and pouted. "Why bad?" he demanded.

"We had a deal with Toby. You're here to arrange our security and keep people out, but a three-year-old could have come up with this plan! You've taken ten seconds to think of it and then scribbled it onto a map with crayons! This is a joke!"

"Plan is good!" Sten shouted. "Marco think bad!"

I sighed and pulled the map closer. I jabbed a finger around the two close patrol marks. "These. Do you honestly think that's a good idea? What will somebody think when they see two Hork-Bajir standing guard around an old rundown house? They're going to think we're hiding something. Considering that your main security won't stop a ship flying overhead, that's the last thing we want. And these," I continued, pointing to the roaming perimeter control. "What's the point? Complete waste of time. Get rid of it. And the main security ring… What are they looking for? Where are they standing? What do they do if they see somebody?!" I shoved the map away in genuine disgust. "This is crap!"

"Marco think bad!" Sten repeated.

"At least I'm thinking," I grumbled.

Sten whined in protest but turned to Jake for a defense. Jake broke the silence for a temporary compromise. "We'll keep working on this," he said to Sten. "It's only a first plan."

Though highly offended and about ready to storm off, Sten accepted Jake's offer and straightened out the map. Jake stepped over his limp tail and pulled me to the back of the kitchen.

"You can't be serious," I whispered. "This isn't a game, man."

"It's something we can work out together," he said. "Besides, once the planning is done, Sten can organize his people, and we'll have the security we need. I've been talking to him a lot, and he sounds like he has sufficient experience."

I crossed my arms in reluctant surrender. "We found Jeanne."

"What did she say?"

"Well," I began. "For one thing, she's no longer Jeanne. She's now a degree-holder in Alien Relations from the West Coast called Clarissa, and she's found herself a cushy job holding Toby's hand when crossing roads."

Jake's reaction of skepticism wasn't surprising. "Okay…"

"Anyway, Clarissa got news from Burr-Ammit about some Kelbrid bases popping up here on Earth. There's one here in the US: A supply base being constructed somewhere in the Rockies."

Jake looked off to the side and nodded slowly. "Our job?"

"Apparently, it's Surote's wish."

"Then we'll get ready," Jake replied. "It'll be the five of us. Did he give a deadline?"

I was shocked at his complete reluctance to even think about it. "You're just going to accept this from him? We don't know anything about this base."

"We made a deal with Surote," Jake reiterated. "We don't have a choice."

"Yeah, we have a choice," I argued. "How the hell will he know if we do it or not?"

Jake glared. "Are you really asking that? Think about it, dude. Surote has informants everywhere. If we do nothing, he'll know, and I don't want to deal with the consequences of that."

"So we're just that freak's bitch now?" I asked harshly. "He says; we do?"

"It gets us closer to Ax."

"It gets us closer to death," I corrected.

"We're doing it," he forced. "If you're going to give up, you can stay home and plan sentries with Sten, but the rest of us are going. Make up your mind quickly because I'm calling Groof tonight."