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. I was glad that I had managed to pull a few leaves off some other branches and add them to my sleeping place to block out the light from the room in the morning. I wasn't always the most graceful early riser and preferred to wake up slowly.

After a while, I got up and lounged under the heat lamp. I hadn't buried myself a second time, somewhat to Soranto's disappointment. There was now an access flap so I could go into the backyard at any time. The backyard itself was changing little by little. Each time I came, it looked a little bit wilder.

I went outside to greet the sun. Singing alone no longer bothered me, and I easily got lost in the Song. Soranto and his family always came out to watch. As usual, it was a joyous occasion that made getting up so early completely worthwhile.

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

It was almost too soon before Adeline and Maria were saying goodbye as Soranto took me back to Taureen. He wasn't wearing his armor, and I knew today wasn't a day that Soranto was going to accompany us, since he had been 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," Taureen said, reading whatever was on his wrist comm.

"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. "It turns out that a passenger transport brought far more cargo than usual. The docking station crew unloaded it before they realized it hadn't been inspected. Everything is locked up in a quarantined warehouse until a fire lizard checks it out."

"Cool!" Dirk exclaimed, fanning his wings. "I can't wait to go!"

Even Mom and Dad were looking 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 the longest shuttle ride any of you have been on yet."

He didn't have to tell any of us twice. We rushed to get ready while Taureen and Aeria went to get their armor on and collect their weapons.

It didn't take them long to return, although all four of us were already lined up on a perch beside the harnesses by then.

"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 get his harness on easier.

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

"Who do they have tentatively 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 anyone else in the house for three days when these two hatched."

She snorted again and briskly rearranged her wings without replying, pointedly ignoring his comment.

Taureen had to lengthen the straps on my harness, which was becoming an uncommon occurrence as my growth slowed down. Once he finished, he offered me his wrist and I climbed on so he could lift me to his shoulder.

Tran, Vick, Sadria, and Rhay were waiting outside for us. For once, we had to wait a couple of minutes for the shuttle. This was one of the slightly more streamlined types that went between cities. As the shuttle took off, I crossed over to Taureen's other shoulder and stood beside Mom as we both gazed out the window. Trees and grass blurred below as we left the city behind and continued gaining altitude.

This was one of the longest rides I had been on. Mom yawned as she laid down, still idly gazing out the window. I kind of wanted to ask Taureen if we were at least 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 as if knowing would change our arrival time.

There were a lot of forests and meadows down there, although I did occasionally see a city in the distance. Each one had a tall wall protecting it and its citizens from the dangerous animals that lurked in the trees. This was more boring than walking around the streets.

I blinked as the green was replaced by blue. Lots and lots of blue. Even Mom lifted her head as she examined the ocean. The endless expanse of water 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 the discussion didn't interest me. We were occasionally offered water and fruit during our trip.

After what felt like nearly an hour, the sea was replaced with golden grass. The ground started getting closer, and I could see a few other shuttles as well, so we must have been getting closer to our destination.

I sat up as we approached a city. Now that we were closer, I could see the trees were very different than what I was familiar with.

"Do you know where we are?" I asked Mom.

"No," she replied, "although this kind of reminds me of Africa."

Now that she mentioned it, it seemed a lot like what we had seen in the Aralias Gardens. The shuttle landed inside the city, where several Kymari looked like they were waiting for us.

The door opened, and I wrinkled my nose at the hot, dry air.

One of the waiting Kymari greeted us, "Taureen, Aeria, thank you for coming on such short notice."

"It is only right to help each other," Taureen replied. "Any Port Master is able to call upon us."

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

"Other than stopping by the bathrooms in case they have to go, we are ready."

He nodded and gestured towards a large building to the side. "This way, please."

All of us entered the large building. The air was cooler in here, but just as dry.

Taureen paused by a door and pushed it halfway open before looking at us. "Do you have to go? Bathroom break?"

When none of us showed any interest, he let the door close and kept walking. The guards were used to the question since it was one we were asked several times a day. The other Kymari didn't look surprised either.

We passed through a doorway and entered a very big hallway. I gazed upwards at the high ceiling. The shuttle that had brought us here probably could have fit in here quite easily.

"We have the crates locked up in a quarantine area," The Port Master began saying. "We checked the surveillance; there is no chance of a crawler getting loose between the ship and the loading bay, but there might be one inside of a crate."

"Is there a reason for us to think that there is one around?" Taureen asked. "Or is this just a precaution?"

"Two were found at the originating port shortly after the shuttle arrived here. So, this is more of a security check."

"Either way, we are happy to assist."

They fell silent as they kept walking. The Port Master moved towards a large bay door and entered something into a keypad.

He looked back at our group. "Are you ready?"

The side guards held up their weapons while my family and I stared at him impatiently. He took that as a confirmation and opened the door. The door slid sideways and stopped once 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.

"This is half of the cargo. The rest 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 sound, 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 entered a few things on his wrist comm while closing the door.

We checked the room, but other than actually 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 that no crawlers had gotten onto the planet.

It really made for a boring day, though...