Then he found what he was looking for. Stunned, he regarded Qalu with worry he couldn’t hide coloring his next words. “Apparently they’ve been sent to the Barrens. We’ll need to hop on a shuttle from here. City transport won’t get us there.”

“You don’t sound like that’s a good thing.”

“The area is…dangerous. But the settlement should be safe enough. Are you willing to go to the end of the world with me?” he asked.

Qalu’s amusement showed in her light tone. “Haven’t I proved it over and over again?”

“Then let’s book passage. There’s a shuttle leaving soon.”

“Not another ship!” Aevi whined.

“This is the last one for a while,” Qalu soothed. “We’ll visit Helix’s family, and then the next journey we take will carry us home.”

That satisfied the Pherzul enough to settle her. They got the last seats on the next flight to the Barrens, surprising that so many would want to go there. But from listening to the conversation, it seemed the shuttle was full of thrill-seekers and monster hunters. Aevi curled up on Qalu’s lap and went to sleep, whirring softly as she dozed.

It wasn’t a long flight, but Helix grew nervous the closer they got to their destination. If he dug deeper in the system, he could access Zylar’s private comm-code and send a message making sure of their welcome. At the same time, they were already en route, so if Zylar and Beryl Bowman did not wish to see him, it would be impossible to divert course. No, better to believe they would be pleased by his return.

In time, he slept because his physical body required rest, even if his mind remained unquiet. He awoke as the shuttle lost altitude, the swooping motion unsettling his insides. Gravity affected his Tiralan form in so many interesting ways. The shuttle AI explained one last time how often it would be possible to book a return to the city and the codes for doing so, then the shuttle set down near the settlement. Helix gaped at how different it was from the rest of Barath. Here, the landscape was craggy, bare rocks and sand, with a poison cloud visible in the distance. There was an outpost carved from the land itself, hollowed into the stone like a warren.

Did they punish Zylar for letting me go?

Others rushed ahead to disembark, leaving his group for last. Aevi stretched and hopped down, choosing to exit under her own power. Some of the arriving travelers had welcome parties waiting. Unsurprisingly, they did not, and he realized they hadn’t washed their swators in several days. Under these circumstances, they might not make the best impression, but this wasn’t a tourist destination, and the only option for shelter lay ahead.