“Can’t have that,” snapped Ariel, diving for cover as another burst of bullets flew by. “If they start hunting us, this might start to get serious.”

“This is a patrol team rounding up strays,” said Nandita. “A dedicated hunt would be orders of magnitude worse.”

Xochi fired over the rim of a rusted dishwasher, slowing the pursuit by forcing the Partials into similar cover. “In another minute or two we won’t have any choice,” she said. “They’re better at this, and there are more of them.”

“Wait,” said Ariel, cocking her head as she listened. Something had changed. Xochi fired again, and Ariel shushed her with a wave. “Quiet, can’t you hear that?”

Xochi dropped back into cover, and the three of them listened carefully as the others ran ahead. Ariel closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on the sound. What was it?

“The engines,” said Nandita. “They’re idling.”

Yes, thought Ariel, the sound of the engines has changed, but there was something else first. Something bigger, like a . . . She couldn’t put it in words.

“Remind me what idling means,” said Xochi. “I’ve heard, like, four engines in my entire life.”

“It means they’re waiting for something,” said Nandita. “They’re not pursuing us anymore.”

“They can’t get the vehicles through this junkyard anyway.”

“They revved them again,” said Ariel, still concentrating on the sounds. “But it sounds like they’re . . . leaving.”

“How can you tell?” asked Xochi. “I can hear engines, but none of this deep emotional nuance you two are pulling out of them.”

“You’re human,” said Nandita. “And you don’t have a fraction of the gene mods I do.”

“They can’t be giving up,” said Ariel. “They were too close. You think they’re trying to surround us?” She looked ahead, trying to see the rest of their group, but they’d gone around a corner and out of sight. “We have to catch up. Kessler can’t defend the mothers by herself.”

“There still might be Partials behind us,” said Xochi. “Moving out of cover might get us killed.”

Nandita shook her head. “They’re here to capture us, not kill us.”

“That was before we shot at them,” said Ariel. “Now we’re enemy combatants.”

“Give me a moment,” said Nandita, and closed her eyes, drawing in a long, deep breath. She held very still, as if concentrating, and Ariel knew she was trying to sense nearby Partials on the link. She took a breath of her own but didn’t notice anything; she never could. Maybe with practice?

Nandita’s eyes snapped open. “Ahead of us,” she gasped. “Run to the children!”

All three women jumped up and ran, pelting forward to the rescue. Ariel spared a quick glance behind, but saw nothing. Why would they abandon us? Even if they sent men forward to cut us off, why pull away from their position behind?