Lana was met with disappointment at the traveler' center once again. She now had to decide what to do with the rest of her day… Having the girls working on speed drills earlier, their work for the day should be done. It should be dinner soon but Lana was antsy. Did Arthur beating up Quinn really mean he chose the dalki over the humans? Lana needed an update. Did he return to the shelter? Did he invite dalki here to the settlement underground?
"Shalt, I need to find the girls. I need someone to watch the babies for a little while."
Shalt raised an eyebrow, "what are you planning."
She looked him firmly in the eyes. "I need to know if Arthur returned."
Shalt nodded and left the center. The ladies overheard and immediately started preparing traveling food. By the time Shalt returned with the girls, food was packed up.
"They were upstirs of the lab studying," Shalt reported.
Lana nodded. She turned to the girls, "I need to head out for a bit and need to be fast and silent. Can you three take the babies back to my house and tend them? If Sil returns, you can leave them in his care. He knows how to take care of them."
Fiza was stepping forward at "take the babies" and Dawn was right behind her. These babies were adored by everyone. Lana smiled as Mandy took the bag with some spare milk. "Put the milk in the bag into the fridge when you get there."
Mandy nodded as Shalt, Lana and Caser took off at a fast pace, Caser carrying the new bag of food. Using the tunnel, they made it to the other side in 15 minutes. The sun was still up and the day was still gorgeous, if hot and muggy could be included with the descriptive word, but the hour could be felt in the air. The plants were excited once again to see Lana. She greeted them all warmly, asking how their pollination was going. A few complained that the local beasts were eating their insect friends but most had good things to say about it.
Lana smiled. She then asked them about Arthur. Had he returned?
The tall, armored man returned and entered that underground entrance again. He has not returned to the surface.
After a bit more questioning, she was able to determine that Arthur returned here after beating up Quinn then went to the old settlement and has not been seen since. Her blood ran cold.
Max, I need you to go back down there. I need to know if he's still there.
After an extensive search, Max was able to let her know he was not there, neither were the other two people he saw last time.
"Who are you?" Lana heard a little girl's voice say.
Startled, she looked up from her seated position while she waited on Max. Lana saw the most adorable-looking 5- or 6-year-old little girl she had ever seen.
Quickly, Lana asked, her name?
Minny, was the response.
Smiling brightly at the little girl, "Minny, my name is Lana. I was hoping to talk to Arthur. Do you know where he is?"
Minny gulped, "he went into the bad place. If you know Arthur, why didn't he tell me about you?"
Lana smiled sadly, "I only met him once and I was brief. He's looking for information and I was hoping I could help him. I wanted to ask him some questions about it."
Minny sat down. "I'm waiting for him to come back from the bad place."
Lana glanced at Shalt. "Where is the "bad place" and has he been gone long?"
Minny sighed, "how do I even know you are telling me the truth."
All this time, Lana was gaining information from the plants about this little girl with beautiful dark curls in her hair to match her shiny ebony skin.
"Because he speaks very highly of you. Of how you have been raised by your mother and don't know your father. Has your mother ever told you anything about him? Arthur said he thought maybe the reason you go so far away from the safety of your shelter is you may be looking for him…"
Minny's eyes welled up with tears and she nodded. "Mother said we were one of the first families to settle here when the military announced exploration. Father was an explorer of the planet."
Lana nodded. "I am as well. I'm keeping my presence here a secret. Arthur doesn't even know I have come here. I was thinking of surprising him. While I'm exploring the planet, is there anything to identify your father? Did he carry any items to remind him of his family?"
Minny thought hard. "I think Mother said he had a locket with our pictures in it."
Lana nodded. "Similar to how my locket as the pictures of my parents."
"Where are they? Your parents?"
"My mother is dead apparently. I don't know about my father. I never knew either of them. I do know that my mother was here when I was young, just as the planet was being settled. I'm trying to find any evidence of her so I can learn where I came from."
Minny perked up at that idea, "can I come with you?"
"Absolutely not. This planet is far more dangerous than the military first thought. It's why they left. This is a red-portal planet now. Your shelter is in a relatively safe place. I know for a fact, the areas to the south, west and east are very dangerous. I have not been north yet. Are you hungry?"
Minny nodded and Lana called Caser over with the food. She jumped up and screamed "beast!"
Lana chuckled, "This is Caser. He is a maccavity. He is also my friend. I raised him. Do you want to pet him?"
"Are you from the Bree family?"
Lana shook her head, "but I have friends who are."
Minny stared at Caser who set the food down right in front of Lana then laid down in front of her, wrapping his tentacles around her in a hug.
Minny smiled and reached over and touched his fur softly then gave him more pets. Soon she was leaning against him eating the food the cooks packed up.
When she was done, "Do you think you can find Father?"
Lana thought about what she should say. "All I can say is I will try to find him."
The little girl smiled at her.
"Now, I think you should be heading back home. It's getting late and it's dangerous enough to be out in the daytime. And... Did you meet me?"
Minnie giggled, "Nope!"
Lana smiled, "That's my girl!"
Minny got up to leave then turned back, "the bad place is an underground area that Arthur said was very dangerous and I was never to go there."
Lana nodded and watched as the girl ran off faster than she had ever seen a girl run.
Once Minny was out of sight, "Now. Let's see what happened."
*************************************************************
Join me on discord at https://discord.gg/wuNsfeGP Or Patreon at patreon.com/MindyLeeCrouch
If you'd like to donate to me via PayPal, https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=8PCLHZTXAPFPC
Constructive criticism is welcome as it helps me become a better writer. If this story is well-liked, I will separate it from the original and write it again without the content from My Vampire System.