One by one they approached. Each one bowed to her and offered their welcome. Some gave her advice and others, the great majority, gave her small trinkets: teabags, hand stitched clothing, a decorated water bottle…
Dotty thanked them all. She thanked them and thanked them and thanked them, because she knew that every gift they brought was a treasure in their eyes.
The girl in the wheelchair with the red eyes gave her a plastic pendant on a rough string. It was a knight in armour who carried a shield and rode a bizarre gelatinous green animal.
"He's from Earth." She gave the figurine a kiss before handing it over. "He'll protect you."
She put her tiny hand over Dotty's own and those eyes intensified their call, making Dotty feel exposed.
"I know you'll be able to beat the poison, but it will cost you a lot."
When it was Mercedes' turn, Miso's mother, she kneeled down in front of Dotty and presented her with a bulky plastic suitcase. Dotty raised the lid carefully.
"My exosuit!" she cried. She pulled it out to take a look.
"I did everything I could to patch it up. Also, I installed an overdrive system that you can activate with this button on your wrist. It'll fry the suit's circuits but it might give you that extra push when you need it most."
Dotty hugged her tight, repeating "thank you" over and over as if it was a mantra. The suit meant so much to her. It was like a second skin. T1N had given it to her— just one of the many ways he had saved her life. Maybe, she thought, this was a second chance. Maybe she could make a difference in the little time she had left. If she tried her best, she could pay back this community that had welcomed her with open arms.
"We also need to give you this back." Mercedes clicked her fingers and Narrow approached from the edge of the circle. He was holding the arc rifle. "We don't have any right to hold onto it. It's yours and you should keep it."
"It's up to you what you do with it," said Narrow. He handed her the weapon.
She took it with both hands. The commander's stony face was inscrutable.
"It was jammed," continued Mercedes. "The dust in Eidolon's atmosphere is just as bad for our equipment as it is for us. You'll have to give it a bit of love from time to time."
Elder Bour approached and asked Narrow and Mercedes to return to their place in the circle. He asked Dotty to kneel and knelt beside her. He drew a small stiletto from the folds of his robe. The blade was narrow and silvery. Its edge flashed in the candlelight.
He held up his hand with the palm facing towards Dotty, then he drew a line across it with the blade. A trickle of blood came from the cut.
"But—" began Dotty, but the severity of the Elder's gaze stopped her mouth.
"Relax," he whispered. His voice was the only sound in the room.
He took the blood on the fingers of his other hand and used it to draw an inverted triangle on Dotty's forehead.
"May the three stars guide and protect you: Courage, Wisdom, and Heart. Now rise."
They stood together and the old man embraced her.
"Whatever happens, you are now a daughter of our tribe. Live well."
The others in the circle closed in, forming into one big group hug. Each one made their way to the centre to hug her personally, and each one hugged every other. Dotty accepted every hug and every gift and felt so full of warmth that her body might combust.
"Thank you," she said one final time as the tears brimmed in her eyes.