Tessa’s POV:

  I yawned as the light in the tree alcove grew brighter. If this third sleepover was anything like my previous two, Soranto was probably the first person awake. I stuck my head through the leaves to double-check.

  “Good morning,” he greeted me cheerfully.

  With a quiet whistle, I pulled my head back inside to wake up at a more sedate pace. Eventually, I flew over to the new access flap and went outside. The plants changed a bit each time I visited, with the manicured ones disappearing as wilder ones took their place.

  As the sun rose, I eagerly greeted it. Singing alone no longer bothered me, and I easily got lost in the Song. Soranto and his family always came outside to watch.

  After the Morning Song, I had my breakfast and got my scales cleaned and polished. Soranto served excellent breakfasts; there was always cantaloupe somewhere in the bowl.

  Before I knew it, Adeline and Maria were saying goodbye as Soranto took me back home. He wasn’t wearing his armor, and I knew Soranto wasn’t on a patrol shift today since he’d come with us yesterday.

  As always, I was excited to see Mom, Dad, and Dirk again. Soranto didn’t stay long, leaving so he could get to work on time. I lounged under the crowded heat lamp with the rest of my family. Soranto had given Taureen a larger heat lamp, but it was still crowded with four dragonets under it. There wasn’t quite enough room for us to spread our wings.

  Taureen’s wrist comm beeped, and he checked it. “This could be interesting.”

  “What is it?” Mom asked.

  “Chiaben City wants us to check their cargo storage area. They think a crawler might have gotten into one of the cargo bins.”

  “Can we go?” I asked eagerly, sitting up at the thought of actually getting to join a real patrol.

  At the same time, Dad inquired, “How did it get past the inspecting dragonet?”

  “We are all going since it’s in a city and not on a spaceship,” Taureen said. “Passenger transports usually don’t have to be inspected. This one brought some cargo, and the port crew unloaded it before they got word from the originating port that a crawler had been found in a different ship. They locked the crates in a quarantined warehouse until a fire lizard can inspect it.”

  “Cool!” Dirk exclaimed, fanning his wings. “I can’t wait to go!”

  Even Mom and Dad looked more alert. I wondered if they were getting tired of all of the training when they already knew everything.

  “I’m arranging for a shuttle to pick us up, so you might as well get ready. It’s going to be a long shuttle ride.”

  By the time Aeria and Taureen were ready, we were already lined up on a perch beside the harnesses.

  “I haven’t seen you this excited in quite a while,” Aeria commented in amusement as she picked up Dad’s harness.

  “I’m getting tired of tracking dead things,” Dad replied as he unfolded his wings so she could put his harness on more easily.

  “Soranto will be doing his first solo patrol tomorrow,” Aeria said, “so either you or Tasha can spend a day inspecting spaceships.”

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  “Who do they have scheduled?”

  “Us, supposedly in case Tasha’s motherly instincts act up since that will be her first day without either Tessa or Dirk with her.”

  Mom snorted and jumped up to Taureen’s shoulder pad as he finished putting her harness on. “They are overreacting.”

  Taureen chuckled as he clipped my harness on, telling her, “If I recall correctly, you were the one who didn’t let guests in the house for three days when these two hatched.”

  She snorted again and briskly rearranged her wings without replying, pointedly ignoring his comment. The four guards were already outside, and for once, we had to wait for the shuttle, which was one of the slightly more streamlined types that flew between the cities.

  Once we were inside, I joined Mom on Taureen’s other shoulder and gazed out the window. Trees and grass blurred below as we left the city behind and gained altitude. Mom yawned and laid down, idly gazing out the window as time dragged on.

  I kind of wanted to ask Taureen if we were halfway there, but there was no way for him to reply with the guards present. With a heavy sigh, I also laid down. It wasn’t like knowing would change our arrival time.

  We passed over lots of forests and meadows, and I occasionally saw a city in the distance. I blinked as the green was replaced by blue. Lots and lots of blue. The ocean.

  Even Mom lifted her head to examine the endless expanse of water, which was even more boring than the trees and grass had been. The Kymari talked among themselves, but the topics were about far away places and didn’t interest me. Taureen and Aeria offered us water and fruit as our trip continued.

  Eventually, the sea was replaced with golden grass, and the ground started getting closer. We must have been getting closer to our destination.

  “Do you know where we are?” I asked Mom.

  “I’m not sure,” she replied, “although this kind of reminds me of Africa.”

  Now that she mentioned it, it was similar to one of the domes in the Aralias Gardens. The shuttle landed on the outskirts of the city where large buildings were. The door opened, and I wrinkled my nose at the hot, dry air that flooded into the cabin. It was hotter here than the left side of Soranto’s heat lamp.

  Several Kymari waited outside, and one greeted us, “Taureen, Aeria, thank you for coming on such short notice.”

  “It’s only right to help each other,” Taureen replied. “Any Port Master is welcome to call upon us.”

  “Do your companions need anything before we get started?” he asked, glancing at us.

  “Just to stop by the bathrooms in case they have to go.”

  He nodded and gestured toward a large building. “This way, please.”

  We followed him into the large building, and thankfully, the air was cooler.

  Taureen paused by a door and pushed it halfway open before looking at us. “Bathroom break?”

  When none of us showed any interest, he let the door close and kept walking down a huge hallway.

  The Port Master said, “The crates are in a quarantine area since two crawlers were found at the originating port shortly after the ship docked. We’re hoping your companions can confirm that none have snuck inside a crate.” When we reached a large bay door, the Port Master entered something into a keypad and looked at our group. “Are you ready?”

  The side guards held up their weapons while my family and I stared at him impatiently. With that confirmation, the door slid sideways and stopped when there was enough room for us to walk through.

  As we entered the huge storage room, I took a deep breath, but was disappointed when I didn’t smell anything. We walked up and down a couple of the corridors, but there was nothing.

  “The other half of the cargo is in the next room.”

  That was some of the better news I had heard all morning. We left this room and went to the next one.

  As we passed through the doorway, I took a breath and proclaimed aloud, “Ktari.”

  Mom and Dad also made the distinctive chirping sneeze, followed shortly by Dirk saying the same thing. The smell was stronger than I was used to, perhaps due to these ones being alive and not just hides.

  “Close the door behind us. There are ktari in here,” Taureen instructed.

  “I’ll have the fumigators correct that problem once we leave.” The Port Master said, tapping his wrist comm while closing the door.

  We checked the room, but apart from seeing a ktari skitter across the floor ahead of us, the investigation was uneventful. The Port Master was pleased, and in a way, so was I, since it meant no crawlers had gotten onto the planet.

  It made for a boring day though…