Slowly, everyone woke. Kes came over and spoke directly to Caroni. “You’re the leader, right?” he said without preamble. “I’m Kes. We don’t mean you any harm, despite what happened. We can just go our separate ways now.”

Caroni looked at him. “Do you have food with you?”

“Some,” he admitted.

“Shall we share what we have now? Together?”

Kes didn’t answer. No one else spoke and the silence lengthened. Rapt cursed under his breath.

“Lichen, go and get our food,” Caroni said. “Let’s move closer to the entrance. Sorrel, boot up the PlAK.” She turned to Kes. “We have something to show you.”

They sat in circles around the PlAK and a small pile of food. The males had emptied their pockets and added their rations. “Should we eat first?” Kes asked Caroni.

“After.”

Sorrel showed him all that they had seen on the PlAK. The dust storm was closer, now the shape of a pear on its side. Two ships had passed the nearby island of Ayiti. “Northerners are coming to Bajacu,” Caroni said, pointing.

Kes sat back on his heels. “Here? Why?”

“We’re not sure, but it looks like the situation on the continents is worse. We still have mountains and rain. Maybe they’ve struck a deal with the Domins. Or they’ll just moor their ships in our harbour.”

“Okay, fine, but I’m less worried about them – who says they’re going to get up here anyway – but that dust storm looks bad. We’re going to get stuck in this cave with almost no food.”

“We need to join forces,” Caroni said. “Don’t you see? We need to take the Toplander camp. It’s defensible, there’s water, they’re growing food, and if the satellites come down, it’s a high vantage point. We could settle there.”

Kes shook his head. “You don’t know what you’re saying. What it would take.”

“Let’s at least talk about it,” Caroni said. “What kind of food do you have?” She reached over and opened the Tribals’s wrapped food. “Alganola. Even dried fruit.”

Sorrel’s stomach cramped. She wanted to grab all the food and run.

CHAPTER 27 – TUNNEL

After everyone had eaten their rations – the males had something they called “jerky”, which was as tasteless as cardboard, but somehow made them feel stronger – they sat around Caroni and Kes.

“Rashelope, tell us what you saw at Cibao,” said the Zorah.