“I’m pretty sure there are enslaved women in Cibao. Suppose we could get them on our side? We’d have people to fight on the inside as well. More numbers. Wouldn’t that improve our chances?”

Rapt didn’t answer right away. He seemed lost in thought. Then he said in the softest tone she had heard him use: “Yes, it probably would. Especially if they were armed. But even if not armed, they would know the layout of the camp better than us.”

She nodded. “I think there are about thirty women in the camp.”

“Not all would join us,” he said. “And there’s no time to negotiate with them, anyway. When we attack, there’s going to be nothing but confusion.” He shrugged. “Good thinking all the same.”

“I have some aloe in my pack. It’s soothing. Would you like some for your cheek? Don’t get it in your eyes, though.”

“I don’t need it.” He turned away, but she thought he whispered “thanks” as she left.

CHAPTER 31 – DUST STORM

She sat in the council meeting after the recce group returned. They described the route they’d taken, and she memorized the landmarks as they spoke – a dead tree with branches like claws, a landslide, a pile of rusting car doors, a water tank with a jagged hole in the side. She’d seen only some of them on the PlAK. “One hour’s journey,” Kes said. “On the way back. Might take a little longer at night.”

Then it was her turn. She took Arc and Caroni over to the map she’d made and described the basic layout of the camp, where most guards were clustered. She’d counted nine guards, another nineteen males, maybe thirty women. “There might have been some people inside the buildings as well, so I wouldn’t have counted those,” she finished.

“Smaller numbers than I thought,” Arc said.

“And the dust storm?” Caroni said. “I can smell it now.”

“It’s spread out over a wider area. Seems not to be as thick, but thick enough in the middle. I figure it will reach us tomorrow night.”

“Should we go tonight, then?” Arc said.

“We can’t,” Emrallie said. “We’re too tired. If we’re to have a chance we need to eat and sleep. The earliest we can go is dusk tomorrow.”

“Maybe the dust will help us,” Rashelope said.

“We don’t know what equipment the Toplanders have. They could have PlAKs too,” Sorrel said. She felt Rapt’s eyes on her and she knew he was wondering why she didn’t speak about trying to get the captured women on their side. She shook her head and he said nothing.

“The dust will keep most people inside,” Caroni said. “Except for the guards.”

“Maybe that’s a good reason for not having a diversion,” Arc said. “Noise will bring people out.”