First Watch: A Watcher Bay Adventure by Auburn Seal Page B

capture—even partially—the magic they’d enjoyed at the beginning of their marriage.
    Levra looked at Gunnar, who looked anxious as he waited for her answer. So she did matter to him. As quickly as she’d determined it was time for her to say goodbye, she reversed course.
    “Okay. We’ll come with you.”
    She would be able to keep her marriage together, a detail not very likely last night. The reminder of the disrespect he’d shown by signing up without talking to her wriggled into her mind, but she forced it out. She would let go of it. She had too.
    As long as they were together. Together was everything. Now she had to figure out how to solve the problems with the Ddaerans at Dwyr in the next two weeks. She couldn’t leave knowing Alena and Mera were in danger of being arrested or worse.
    “I need to know Alena and her family are safe. We took the paperwork listing the abilities to the BDA offices today like you recommended, but Mera’s family has been such a support for me while you were gone. I worry about leaving them in a potentially hostile situation.”
    “Actually, I had a thought while I was out that might solve your problem,” Gunnar said. “I know how attached you got to Alena and Mera while I was gone. Would you consider bringing them with us? It would be great help to us as we interact with the Ddaerans on the east coast of Rasia, near Watcher Bay Outpost. I confirmed a plan with my contacts at the BDA. They will “lose” the registry, after officially acknowledging receipt and approving the list, which will make it look like the villagers at Dwyr have registered but won’t show their actual abilities. Your friends will be in the clear, but you might as well bring them with. It would be good for Enric, right?”
    Just like that, the stars aligned. And both moons.
    Gunnar, who only hours before had been at the top of her people-to-hate list, was now solving all of her problems.
    She was beginning to get whiplash from his constant mood swings, but she supposed it was normal for there to be some adjustments upon his reentry to a normal life.
    “What an excellent idea. Thank you for thinking of it.” She touched his hand gently. “Now I don’t have to worry. Then it’s settled. Let your boss know we’ll be ready to leave in two weeks.”
    He smiled at her response, but it didn't reach his eyes.
    “I’ll go first thing in the morning and give them the good news.”
    Levra swallowed the suspicions that continued to plague her about Gunnar. What choice did she have?
    Going with Gunnar seemed like the only option.

     

 
     
    CHAPTER 9
     
    Horizon Transport Ship
    October 15, 12 AA
     
    The last two weeks had passed in a whirlwind of preparations. New Seattle lay in the past. At least for now. Levra had said her goodbyes to her Ddaeran students and helped Mera and Alena prepare to accompany her and Gunnar’s crew to the Ddaeran village of Glanmorr that would be their home away from home for at least a couple of months. Gunnar made a phone call to Abramov, who in turn managed to get the BDA to agree to leave the villagers at Dwyr alone since they’d turned in their registry paperwork. It was a tentative peace for now, but peace was peace, and Levra added it to the plus column when she thought of the changes seen in Gunnar.
    Alena and Mera were both thrilled at the prospect of seeing other Ddaerans, not to mention the excitement of seeing another area of New Eden. Neither of them had ever traveled farther from their home than New Seattle.
    Now Gunnar and Levra, along with Enric, the two Ddaeran guests, and a small crew of 26 people, including Doctor Sanchez who'd already treated Enric for motion sickness, rode aboard the mid-sized spacecraft toward their remote destination at nearly a thousand miles an hour. The SS Horizon was a high-flying spacecraft that flew in the thinnest portion of the atmosphere high above New Eden. The ship would only need a few hours to get to the other side of the