“Hey! Come back here! You, First. You’re gonna get yourself . . .” He vanished behind a screen of trees, roots, and hanging vines. “. . . killed.”

“Who?” Falise asked, dragging herself up the hill, one weary foot at a time.

Kylee got a good look at her. Hadn’t really had a chance while plodding under Soukup’s extra weight. The woman’s streaked hair hung in a damp mass that fell down her back and was tangled with the slung rifle. Her nut-brown skin shone from sweat, and her fabric shirt clung like a second skin. The floppy-brimmed quetzal hat would have been long gone, but for hanging by its strap. The woman’s face would have made a photographer’s study in exhaustion and defeat. The fire that had once burned in those emerald eyes might be called lusterless and cold.

“Where’s Soukup? What did you do with him?” Falise asked woodenly.

“Flute took him.” Kylee matched steps with Falise, plodding up the incline. “Bet he’ll have him at the airtruck in a matter of minutes. That fool First went running off after him. I tried to call him back but—”

“He can’t help it.” Falise wiped a blood-spattered sleeve over her forehead. “They’re programmed that way. His only goal is to record what the IG sees, hears, experiences. When his implants are full, he would download it to the monitor, who would share the record with the analyst. Don’t have a clue what’s going to happen with the rest of them dead. Maybe the First’s system will just stop when it can hold no more data.” Falise made a defeated, tossing-away gesture with a red-stained hand. “They’re not designed for conditions like these.”

No sense asking how Falise had dealt with the trapped Third. Given the fresh blood, she suspected that Dek’s sister had found yet another use for that knife she’d once thought too big to be practical.

“Shit,” Falise muttered as she tripped over a high root. “I can barely see. How much farther?”

“Fifteen minutes? Maybe less. Listen, I have night vision. Part of my spooky alien eyes. You follow right behind me. I’ll talk you through the dangerous parts. We’re going to the left. You remember where we bypassed the bem with . . .”

She heard the distinctive whimpers coming from ahead, there, off to the right of the aquajade tree. Could smell the distinctive vinegar smell.

“Shit.”

“What’s wrong?” Falise was staring around with that gaping look of a human trying to peer through darkness.

“I guess I know where our missing First is. Ran right into that bem.” She reached out. “Here. Take my hand. We’ve got to hurry.”

Keeping a tight grip on Falise’s hand, Kylee led the way, talking the woman through the tough parts, keeping her from disaster.

It went on that way for what? Ten minutes?