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Eddie’s neighbors were home. The couple—a middle-aged Asian couple whose kids had left for college—took Eddie back to his pod in their pickup truck and they agreed to watch Papa Ito.
“You should already be gone!” Papa Ito said.
But Eddie hugged him, kissed him on the cheek and said he would be back.
Then he took the neighbor’s truck and barreled down the lone road toward town.
The road was dusty and he spent the entire ride peering through haze.
He couldn’t call anyone. He couldn’t stop. The drive was lonely and bumpy and nerve-wracking.
His family might be anywhere in the galaxy now.
There was only one thing left to do, and that was to find Ted.
The Refugio Police Station #11 was a long rectangular bean shimmering on the sand. Unlike a pod home, it encompassed offices, emergen
