The path turned sharply, climbing to the crest of the long ridge. The two women paused to catch their breath in the shade of a clump of smooth-trunked palm trees, the tawny land sloping towards the ragged coast and the sapphire-blue ocean shimmering with starpoints of early-morning light.

They drank from their water bottles. Ting poured a little water into the palm of her hand and splashed the back of her neck and said, ‘The view’s definitely worth a little exertion.’

Ysbel said, ‘You were going to tell me about Trina Mersdaughter.’

Ting looked sidelong at Ysbel. ‘It really is bothering you, isn’t it?’

‘I know I should let it go,’ Ysbel admitted, ‘but Trina thought it important enough to risk her career, and two natives died because of it.’

‘I don’t know if it will be of any help, but Trina’s partner works in the Behavioural Science section of S and S, part of a small group studying feral bears in the far north. Apparently, she heard about some old pre-fall map and thought it might be useful, and Trina agreed to try to get hold of it. If she had pulled off that stunt with the speedboat race, it would have been regarded as a masterstroke. One for the teaching aides. But it all went to smash and ruin, and she was ordered back to the Gathering Place and demoted to an administrative position.’

‘Do you know why they were interested in the map?’

‘What was it a map of, exactly?’

‘Bear cities. Including several built by a sect of philosophers that flourished just before their civilisation fell.’

Ting thought about that. ‘If you’re keen on bears, or need to win more funding, I suppose you might want to prove that they were something more than warmongering slavers, back in the day.’

‘That’s possible, I suppose,’ Ysbel said.

‘But you don’t think so.’

‘What’s the name of Trina’s partner? I should take a look at her work.’

‘Raia. Raia Karysdaughter. And now I’ve told you everything I know,’ Ting said, ‘why don’t we enjoy the rest of our run?’