Who else, she wondered, was something other than what they appeared to be? She knew almost nothing about most of the Mjollnir ’s contingent, particularly Perez, Driscoll and Nancy Schiller herself-all strangers to her until she boarded the frigate. They had each been vetted personally by Corso, but if Trader turned out to be telling the truth, what did that mean about the rest of them?

Who else might not be who they seemed?

Nancy finally came abreast of her, closely trailed by the spiders; her faceplate had polarized until it was nearly opaque beneath the bright glare of the sun overhead.

Dakota followed in Trader’s path, soon leaving Nancy and the spiders behind once more. From the top of the next hill she could make out a low dome squatting on the wide flat plain surrounding the mouth of the cache, several hundred metres away. The dome’s grey colouring made it almost invisible against the surrounding landscape, and there were the ruins of other buildings all across the plain.

Looking closer to hand, she saw Trader forging ahead of her, and jogged down into the next valley to catch up with the alien halfway up the next rise.

That dome. Is that where we’re heading?

<Most assuredly. > Trader turned in his bubble to look back towards Nancy, still making her way down the slope of the hill behind. <Our companion appears to be getting left behind. Perhaps it would be amusing for us to hide and see how she reacts? >

Dakota ignored this remark as she watched Nancy laboriously make her way towards them.

That’s not the way to do it, Dakota sent to her. Run on your toes, like you’re skipping.

<I’m doing just fine.>

Then you won’t mind if we leave you behind.

Nancy swore, then pushed up and off the ground with both feet. She came sailing back down in a low arc and landed on her hands and knees. Dakota watched as she picked herself up and tried again. This time it looked like she tripped over in slow motion, but managed to catch herself on the way back down.

I’m surprised you’re having such a hard time. You were pretty nimble during the hull repairs.

<Yeah, well, that’s different,> Nancy replied.

How?

<It just is, okay? I’m almost there.>

Dakota followed Trader downhill, herself bounding in long, low, skipping strides. Despite her mood and the shock of Trader’s revelation, not to mention Nancy’s seemingly boundless hostility, a part of her was actually beginning to have fun. She made good time, looking behind her once or twice to check on Schiller, who was trailing huge dust clouds behind her.