Atop Otto’s large back, Eva and Rovender watched the trees at the forest’s edge creep about in a great gigantic herd. Just below, Eva could hear the crunch of the sandy grit under Muthr’s knobby rubber wheel. Instead of riding alongside Eva, the robot had chosen to roll next to the giant water bear, scanning the surface terrain and listening to the data stream from the Omnipod. Eva could hear the device reporting in its chirpy tone, “This plain is, in fact, a salt flat created from a dried lake bed and likely extends to the shoreline. . . .”

Even though she was out in the open flats, and a considerable distance from the forest edge, Eva somehow felt a comfort radiating from Otto. Of course, it was also reassuring to have Rovender and Muthr with her. As she rode along, Eva began weaving a braid from some of the fibers that had come loose from her tunic and the top of her sock.

“What’s that you’re doing?” Rovender was cleaning the scab from the rope burn around his ankle.

Eva looked at him sideways. “Something. You’ll see.”

Rovender peered up at the horizon as the dim sun began to sink. Clouds were converging into a mountainous thunderhead over the great lake. “It may rain tonight,” he said. “I can smell the air changing.”

“Really?” Eva followed his gaze to the massive gray clouds. “I’d love to feel actual rain fall from the sky.”

Rovender gave her an incredulous look. “Feel . . . rain? You never have?”

Eva shook her head. “No. I grew up underground. How could I?”

“You can pull water from the air, yet you have never felt rain. Unbelievable,” he said.

Eva finished braiding her string, leaving the ends frayed. She paused, then rummaged through her satchel and produced a small laser nail clipper. “It’s weird, I know. But isn’t the rain just like taking a shower?”

“No. But I believe it will be cleansing for you in many ways.” Rovender pulled out a handful of seedpods and began eating them.

Eva brought the laser clipper up near her head as she grasped a wad of hair. In a quick slice she lopped off one of her many thin braids. She returned the nail clipper to her satchel and pulled the hair braid apart.

“What are you making?” Rovender asked once more.

Eva wove the hair into the braid of fibers from her clothing. “I told you, you will see.” She changed the subject: “So tell me, Mr. Kitt, what are we going to do once we arrive at Lacus?”

Rovender spit seed husks over his shoulder. “I will show you where to secure a good room and a ferry that will take you across the lake to Solas. As for myself, I will likely continue north along the coastline, a region I have yet to explore.”