“Females are useful,” said one of the other boys, standing just behind the one with the gun. It sounded like something he had learned in school. He was skeletal with straight black hair and he squinted. He probably needed glasses. “They’re great at finding food. I saw that somewhere.”

“Females can think,” Sorrel retorted. “Plan. Cooperate. Work. And in this case, use the PlAK to find out things you can’t. What level are you?” She stared at the boy with light eyes.

The males exchanged glances but didn’t respond.

Pia limped forward to stand beside to Sorrel. “I’m Pia, and this is Sorrel. What are your names?”

“Flower name,” the boy in front said, gazing at Sorrel. He had a groove between his eyebrows which made him look worried. “You’re from Bana. I’m – I was – from there too. I’m Kes.” He gestured to the others. “Slate, Journey and Rapt.”

“Rapt?” Pia said. “Like in –”

“Raptor,” the boy with the gun scowled. His voice was scratchy, as if he rarely used it.

Silence fell. No one seemed to know what to do. Four males with one gun. They could take the band’s possessions and then throw them all off the cliff. There could be serious injuries if they fought. She saw Landis’s split belly in her mind and remembered the old woman she’d seen reduced to a pile of rags in minutes in Bana.

“Let’s sit,” she said. “Tell us about your band and I’ll tell you about ours. I’ll show you what I saw on the PlAK. We’re no danger to you. Maybe we could help.” Should she mention Sarane and Lunar outside? Or the other members of the band in the tunnels who might return at any moment?

Kes looked at the boys with him and raised his hands in a what-do-you-think gesture. The one with the squint – Slate – nodded.

“I don’t know,” said the male called Journey. He was pale and freckled with a wispy reddish beard.

“At least ask him to put down the gun,” Sorrel said to Kes, inclining her head in Rapt’s direction.

Rapt made a sound of disdain. “I’ll wait outside. Under the overhang. Call me when you’re ready to do – whatever.”

“He doesn’t talk much,” Slate said. It sounded like an apology.

They stood in an uneven circle and no one spoke at first. Where were Sarane and Lunar? Had they heard the males and hid?

“We’re a band of females,” Sorrel began, speaking directly to Kes. Before she could go much further, they heard voices and Emrallie walked out of the tunnels into the cave, her group behind her. Her shoulders were slumped, and she stared at the ground in front of her. Sorrel guessed their search hadn’t been successful.