Kalico studied the map, wondering where the quetzals had vanished to. Despite crisscrossing the area, the drones were coming up with nothing. “I wanted the new people to get a feel for the bush, for the dangers. Somehow, I’m willing to wager that all of a sudden, they’ve had an epiphany.”

Step slapped a hand to the map. “So, where did they go? With a drone, we’ve always been able to pick up a quetzal. They can’t hide that infrared signal. And once we had a hit, it was just a matter of tracking the fart-sucking beast down.”

“Beast,” Allison added. “Single. There are six of them out there. Changes the whole calculus. You and Tal going out in an aircar to start tracking? Knowing that even if you close on one, or two, or maybe three, there’s another three? Lurking . . . where? To do what?”

“Why can’t we get an IR reading?” Kalico asked again.

“Maybe because they know?” Talina said as she stepped in the door and set her rifle to one side.

“How’s that, Tal?” Step asked.

“Just a bad thought,” Talina told them as she walked over the table. “But consider this: Quetzals are used to camouflaging in the visible spectrum. They’re so good at it, people hunting them have stepped on them.”

“But they still give off an IR signature,” Step reminded. “And usually they’ve been running, burning energy. That’s what makes tech so good when we’re hunting them. They glow.”

“Quetzals also control their infrared, use it at night the same way they do color during the day.” Talina shot Soukup a wary glance. “At night, they communicate through IR patterns. So, it’s not like they can’t modify their signatures. Maybe they’ve figured out how the drones locate them?”

“What about the body heat?” Step asked. “Metabolism is still a chemical fire. It’s not like they can shut themselves off, stop digesting, breathing, pumping blood through their arteries.”

“Are we sure of that?” Allison asked.

“Well . . . uh . . .” Step made a face. “No.”

“There’s a lot we don’t know about quetzals,” Talina said absently. “Even with everything I’ve been privy to.”

“Yeah, something to think about.” Talina looked around the table. “The Turalon shuttle is skids-up for space. Gates are locked, and marines are standing watch with our people. Motion sensors are on, lights are covering the usual avenues of approach. Shig’s sent the overinflated aristocracy off to be horrified by their new lodgings. Unless we’ve missed something, we’re tight for the night.”

“I’d better get back to The Jewel,” Allison said. “God knows, we barely got cleaned up after last night’s free-for-all. And I don’t want one of these entitled soft meat wandering in if I’m not there. Costs too much to replace the breakage.”