23. Welcome Aboard

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Mi stood in the middle of the secret room, his mouth hanging open as Adam apologetically grimaced. "You lost ALL the hoppers?"

"Apparently, they ran into some trouble at a village and had to ditch them in order to get out," Adam replied. "But, technically, I didn't lose them."

Mi sighed heavily, removing his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Thanks, Adam. I'm so happy to know who exactly to blame."

Bo, standing next to Adam, glanced behind her shoulder to see Helga hovering nearby. She was pretending to be looking over one of the Forlorn patching a rescued girl, but Bo knew that she was really listening in to what all Mi was saying. The fact that Helga was already on his bad side meant that the hoppers would only strain their relationship even more. Bo felt a twinge of pity for the other woman.

"On the bright side," Bo said, turning back to Mi, "we found Adam and prevented him from being completely destroyed in his attempt to take on the Judge's compound."

"You don't know if I would have been destroyed," Adam protested.

"Uh, I do. The airship cinched the deal, and without it you would have suffered far heavier casualties."

Mi's eyes lifted at the mention of the airship. He slid his glasses back on and practically vibrated with excitement. "Airship? What are you talking about?"

"Khan's new recruit," Adam said. "He owns an airship and helped us get all these girls here."

"Where is it now?" Mi asked, seemingly uninterested in the man behind the machine.

"Silver has it parked in the dust fields. We're going to have him keep it safe and hidden until we need it for a new mission," Adam said. "You'll need to scrape up some funds to pay him for not using it for himself until we need it."

Mi nodded. "I think I should go check it out. Um, to make sure that it's working properly before we shell out a lot of money on it." He clenched his fists, a smile playing across his lips as he rushed toward the tunnel.

"He's such a nerd," Helga muttered, appearing at Bo's shoulder. "He'd probably rather have new machines in his life than a wife."

"I'm sure that's not the case," Bo said.

Adam looked around the room, which was filled with rescued girls and the injured. "We need to figure out what to do with everyone."

Khan stepped forward from the crowd, cracking his neck and stretching his arms. "We need to keep the injured here until they're well enough to be moved. But the rest of the girls, we can start sending back to their homes after they've finished eating."

Adam nodded. "We'll do that."

Bo glanced up at him. He was strangely deferent, as if he was looking for someone else to take over when it came to the girls. He kept his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes cast downward. She couldn't figure out why until she looked around them and saw that all the girls stared in fear or anger as they ate their dinners, creating a circle around where Bo and Adam stood. It wasn't a welcoming environment, and Bo suddenly realized how uncomfortable Adam must be. Somehow, these girls were cowing a man who had once been a beast. She still felt a rush of anger as she thought of this, but she knew she had to understand the girls.

"How much longer do you think it will take for them to start heading home?" Bo asked Khan. He shrugged.

"Some can start now. We want to let them out only a few at a time to try and avoid any suspicions. They'll have to travel as if they were normal citizens in order to keep the militia from looking too closely at them."

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