Once again the intruder stopped and sniffed the air. It circled the neighboring tree trunks. Though her tunic and jackvest kept her warm from the cool of the night, Eva shivered from fear and slid back onto the leafy platform to hide.

I have to lead him away from me, she thought. But how?

She peered back down below her. In the wan light she could see that the intruder was still in the area, poking around in the bush with his bulb-tipped weapon. Some ways away a covey of birds, silhouetted in the night sky, fluttered up. The intruder froze and listened. Hunting.

A distraction, Eva thought. But with what?

She opened her satchel, and discovered that there wasn’t much inside: the Omnipod, lip balm, Glitterglow nail polish, a hydration kit, a drinking container, a few electra-notes . . . and the package of foodstuffs Muthr had given her. Curious, Eva opened the package. It was a pouch full of food: SustiBars, Pow-R-drink packs, water purification tablets, and nutriment pellets.

Nutriment pellets. Perfect, she thought, picking up one of the large brown pills.

Eva glanced back down, spying the intruder still circling below. Moving ever so quietly, she sat up and threw the pellet. It pinged as it banged off a distant tree. The dark intruder bolted through the undergrowth toward the disturbance.

Eva waited a beat.

One more, she thought. This time throw it as far as you can.

She stood up and hurled another pellet out into the darkness, but she heard nothing and sat back down. As she waited, Eva looked down at the surrounding ground for signs of the intruder. Hours passed. Inkblot shadows of the canopy swayed and rolled on the forest floor in the cloudy light, almost as if the ground itself were moving. The swaying movement began to have a hypnotic effect on the tired girl. Eva curled up in the wide cupped leaves of the tree and waited for morning.

CHAPTER 6: OMNIPOD

Eva was summoned from her sleep by a chorus of soft, low hoots.

She jolted upright, startled. “Where am I?”

Though it was still fairly dark, most of the stars had faded into the early morning predawn, and Eva could see that thick clouds still hung above her. The cool, misty breeze that wafted over her face smelled sweet, like flower-scented soap.

As she took in the dimly lit world around her, Eva spied the source of the hooting. Three distinctly marked birds were roosting on a leafy platform right next to her. Eva leaned over for a closer view in the dusky light—each was nearly as large as she was. One of the creatures flapped its finlike wings and warbled a warning, but did not fly off.

“Wow, birds. Actual living birds. Right here. Right next to me,” whispered Eva. As she watched them preen themselves, Eva pulled out her Omnipod. She whispered to it, “This is Eva Nine. Initiate Identicapture, please.”