Her entire body stiff, Kira managed to clamber down and stand without falling over. Jason was having the same trouble. Even though Kira wasn't thrilled at the contact, they had to hang onto each other for a while to be able to walk. Behind them, nobody at the large coach stop bustling with people during the mid-morning rush seemed to have noticed two extra passengers leaving the back of the coach.

"Public bathroom," Kira rasped. "Over that way."

After all of that time stuck in the baggage compartment, Jason didn't argue. Kira wasn't sure that she'd make it to the bathroom, but she did.

Jason was already waiting just outside when she was done. He was somehow managing to look exactly like someone who was trying not to be noticed. Kira led him away from the coach stop, her legs still protesting every movement. "How are you doing?" she asked.

"Everything hurts," Jason said.

"Yeah. We're in Danalee, but we can't stay. We need to head north, but if we get spotted leaving the city heading north, that would give away that we're going to Dorcastle, so we need to head west."

"We need to go north so we're going west?"

"Right."

"Sure," Jason said. "That makes sense." He looked up, as if searching for something.

"What are you looking for?" Kira asked, irritated by his last response and by the lingering aches in her body.

"Drones. The ship only has a few. I don't know how long it will take it to make more, and I don't know if they have everything they need to make very many. But they'll probably deploy what they've got to places like this, that people have to go through to get somewhere else."

She stopped walking and punched his shoulder, angry. "Why didn't you tell me about that before?"

"Because it's so obvious!"

"No, it's not! You can't assume that—" Kira suddenly realized that their argument had attracted the attention of a nearby police officer.

"Keep it down, young lovers," the officer advised in a voice that carried warning but not hostility.

"Yes, ma'am," Kira said, tugging Jason into motion again. "Stars above, that was stupid of me! She noticed us! We need to get out of this city now!" She took her bearings and turned at the next corner. "Young lovers! How embarrassing!"

"For you," Jason said. "It's a pretty big compliment to me."

"Don't even start," Kira warned him. "We need to get into the rail yard without being spotted so we can sneak aboard a freight train. Mother and Father did that to escape a city once."

"Another train?" Jason said, suddenly wary.

"Yes. We'll hide in a freight car until we get out of the city." Given Jason's attitude, Kira decided not to tell him anything else about her plans.