“Oh, they should have returned by now,” fretted Sheah, pacing back and forth in front of the Redland Runner’s garage tucked away at the edge of the village. She pulled out her pocket watch. How long had it been since she last checked the time—ten, fifteen minutes? She examined the watch face.

  It had been three.

  The minutes seemed to pass so slowly now that the sun had fully set. Every second felt like an age. Sheah pocketed her watch and resumed her pacing. Kaelis and Jira—they were supposed to reconvene before nightfall, regardless of what they had found. That was the plan. Had something happened? What if they were trapped, or injured… or worse? She shut her eyes, praying to the Angels that no terrible fate had befallen her companions.

  Her rhythmic steps were accompanied in time by the dulcet tones of Dez’s saxophone. He sat in a folding chair propped up against the garage’s massive door frame, lit by the warm light spilling from within and playing a song without so much as a hint of concern. Wrapping up his latest number, he dropped his instrument from his lips and angled his head towards Sheah.

  “Yer gonna wear out the bricks pacin’ like that, Ms. Ziedler,” he said with a reassuring smile. “Worryin’ ain’t gonna do ya much good.”

  “I am not worrying,” Sheah protested. “I am merely… preparing for the worst.”

  Dez chuckled. “Don’t be frettin’ yerself. You ain’t known Jira long as I have. It’s gonna take more’n some monster to take her down.”

  Sheah stopped and looked towards him. “And Kaelis?” she asked.

  Dez sat motionless before raising his instrument up to his lips.

  “…I’m sure she’s fine too.”

  Removing her glasses, Sheah rubbed her eyes. Could this day get any worse?

  “It’ll be alright, Miss Sheah,” came Lange’s calming voice. She and the Mayor emerged from the road, joining the team at the doorway. “Stuff like this don’t always go accordin’ to plan. Just gotta have a bit of patience.” She put a comforting hand on Sheah’s back. Sheah fluttered at her touch.

  “How long are we prepared to wait?” grumbled the Mayor, his arms folded over his beard. Behind his surly expression, Sheah could see a seed of worry germinating within him. “And what will we do if tsey do not come?”

  “Brighteyes’ll show,” Lange assured him. She drew in a deep breath. “She’ll show.”

  Suddenly, Sheah saw motion through the dark, approaching from far on down the road. She wandered away from the door, moving in for a closer look. From out of the haze of night emerged two familiar silhouettes.

  A broad smile tugged at Sheah’s lips. “There they are!” she exclaimed, rhapsodically clapping her hands together.

  “See? I told ya,” Lange boasted to the Mayor, slapping him on the chest with the back of her hand. She jogged over to Sheah, joining her under a streetlamp outside of the garage.

  Kaelis waved broadly as she approached, her helmet and jacket bundled under her arm. She followed it with an exhausted thumbs-up, confirmation that their task was indeed a success.

  Dez and the Mayor ambled over and joined the group just as Jira and Kaelis emerged into the light. The two women looked worn and weathered, visibly weary and preoccupied by distant thoughts. The day had clearly taken a toll on them.

  “I knew you could handle it!” declared Lange, running towards the two fatigued women. She threw her arms around Kaelis, wrapping her in a friendly hug. Kaelis laughed lightly and patted her on the back in return. “So what was it?” the Sheriff grilled. “Unbound? Some kind of freaky cultists?”

  “Uh, not exactly,” said Kaelis, glancing to the side. “It was, uh… Captain?”

  Jira folded her arms, appearing somewhat distressed. “It won’t be bothering you anymore,” she replied.

  “Great,” said Lange. “But what was it? I gotta know!”

  Kaelis and Jira exchanged apprehensive looks.

  “…Let’s call it a bear for now,” said Kaelis.

  “What of tse men?” eagerly asked the Mayor. “Are tsey found? Are tsey alive?”

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  Jira bit her lip and shook her head solemnly. “They’re gone. Crushed by rubble inside the house.” She met the Mayor’s eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

  The Mayor bowed his head, his face compressing with grief. Crestfallen, he breathed a sigh through his nose. “…We will have to ready a memorial…” he choked, looking towards Lange. She nodded in mournful agreement.

  Steeling himself, the Mayor sucked in a breath and stood upright. He marched over to Jira and looked her straight in the eye. “I apologize for my earlier boorishness. It was not my place to judge you as I did,” he declared, a hint of shame in his voice. “You have done us a service this day, and I give to you my thanks.”

  The Mayor extended his hand out towards Jira. She nodded at him and softly smiled, gripping his hand in return. After a firm and friendly shake, he turned to address the group.

  “Fix your ship. You have one week.” With that expression of gratitude, he offered a final, deep bow before spinning around and departing back into the town.

  After the Mayor had faded from view, Jira and Dez withdrew to chat a few paces away, leaving Sheah, Kaelis, and Lange in their own circle.

  “Ah, good ol’ Brighteyes, dependable as always,” said Lange, throwing a thankful smile towards Kaelis. “I owe ya big time.”

  “What you owe me is that drink,” laughed Kaelis.

  “Hey, I ain’t forgotten! I best be seein’ you at the bar come sundown tomorrow.”

  “You know I’ll be there.”

  Lange stretched her arms over her head, looking satisfied. “Welp, time to call it a night. You folks take it easy.” Before departing, she turned and flashed Sheah a playful wink. “Miss Sheah,” she smiled. With that, she waltzed down the road.

  Sheah kept her eyes glued on Lange until she disappeared, her face awash with a dreamy look.

  “…What was that about?” Kaelis asked Sheah with a grin.

  “Hm? Oh, we had a nice chat is all,” Sheah deflected, unable to hide the redness in her cheeks.

  To Sheah’s relief, Dez interjected, rejoining the group and stealing Kaelis’s attention away from her. “Glad to see ya back in one piece!” he laughed, slapping Kaelis on the arm. He gestured towards Jira as she rounded out the circle. “Looks like you two had quite a time.”

  “Yeah, it was a real barrel of laughs,” said Kaelis.

  Dez raised his brows quizzically. “So… A bear?”

  Jira and Kaelis exchanged a look. Clearly they had quite a tale to tell.

  “Uh huh,” chucked Dez. “So what was it really?”

  “Oh, it was this whole thing,” said Kaelis. “You probably wouldn’t believe us if we told you.”

  Dez scoffed at the notion. “I’ve seen some wild stuff in my time, young lady. Gimme yer best shot, I reckon I can take it.”

  “Fine,” said Jira, rubbing her eyes. “It was the Duke.”

  “The Duke of Saruleah? The dead one?”

  “…The soul of the Duke.”

  “In a jar,” added Kaelis.

  Dez nodded, somehow accepting that answer with ease. “Hm. Interesting.”

  “Pardon? Surely you jest,” said Sheah, struggling to keep up with her teammate’s wild explanation of the day’s events. “You encountered an actual ghost?”

  “C’mon, Boss, ghosts don’t exist.”

  “Then what do you mean?”

  Kaelis laughed. “Well, let’s get inside first. I need a sit. And a good drink.”

  “Agreed,” grunted Jira. She promptly slipped out from under the streetlamp and made for the garage door, with Dez sticking closely behind her.

  Sheah followed, taking her time, letting the day’s stresses roll off of her shoulders at last. As she walked, Kaelis ambled up beside her.

  “Hey, Boss,” she said. “You feelin’ alright?”

  Sheah arched a brow. “What ever do you mean?”

  “Well, you seem kinda tired. And it looks like you spent part of the day rollin’ around on the ground. Did somethin’ happen?”

  Sheah turned her attention to her clothing, which was indeed smeared with subtle scuffs of dirt. In a bizarre way, it was nice of Kaelis to notice.

  “Oh, well…” Sheah paused, thinking of what best to say. “…It was nothing I couldn’t handle,” she finally asserted with a smile.

  “I bet,” chuckled Kaelis, thankfully accepting this vague answer. “Ya know, you shoulda been up there with us today.”

  “Really?” asked Sheah incredulously. “Do you actually mean that? Or is this some kind of peculiar jape?”

  “Haha, I’m not kiddin’.” Kaelis tossed her a sincere grin. “You still wanna be an adventurer, yeah? Well, this one woulda been good experience, believe me. You’ll be with me on the next one, I promise.”

  Sheah felt her chest buzz with warmth. She smiled brightly at her teammate. “Thank you, Kaelis.”

  “I’m gonna close the shutter!” called Dez from inside the garage. “You two comin’ or what?!”

  Sheah and Kaelis sprang into the warm light of the building, joining the team at the rear of the Redland Runner, which scarcely fit inside the space. Kaelis raised her brows, inspecting the numerous panels of the hull leaning in stacks against the wall.

  “How’s the repairs comin’?” she asked.

  “Let me tell ya, I too had me a helluva day,” announced Dez to the group as he activated the shutter switch. “So Lorell, the owner of this here garage—real nice woman—she and I got to work on fixin’ the ship. First thing we did was remove one of the aft panels, only to find that one of the TC-21 converters were cracked clean in half. And worse, there weren’t no spares lyin’ around. But we put our heads together, and get this…”

  The crew slipped into the patchy chairs scattered around the space, too exhausted from the day to do anything other than smile and nod at Dez’s jargony story. The garage shutters touched down onto the ground, sealing the team snugly inside and leaving nothing behind but the sound of crickets chirping into the warm spring air—another peaceful night in the village of Concord, out there on the edge of the wasteland.