“Woah, shit,” Vosh squeaked, seeing Kade’s black colouring.
“It’s fine,” I told her. “He can change colour, is all.”
“What’s the story?” Bryce asked Kade, ignoring Vosh’s reaction.
“They’re coming,” Kade said simply. “From the south. I’m not sure how many. Maybe five?”
“Show me,” Bryce said, then as a second thought, told the rest of us, “Wake the others and grab all the gear. We need to move.”
He and Kade slunk off around the edge of the rock, while Vosh and I woke Associate Nors and Bidge. “We need to move,” I told them both. “Shoes on. Fi, grab a pack and your bed. We don’t have time to pack them up properly.” I messily rolled another bed into a cylinder. “Bidge, can you carry this with your good arm?” He nodded and took it. I slung a pack onto my back and grabbed a third bed, while Vosh did the same.
“Doesn’t look like they’re hunting,” Bryce announced, arriving back at the camp, Kade close behind. “If we lie low in that crevice I found earlier, we might get lucky and they just pass us by.”
“Lead the way,” I said, while Kade moved to grab the last pack. But I stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “Bryce, can you carry this one? I’d prefer to have Kade free to move.”
Bryce gave a slight huff. “I’m the Commander here, Hill. I think I have more experience than a man who’s-”
“No,” I cut him off. “Please, Preswood, trust me on this one. And I’ll explain it properly when we’re safe.”
He looked Kade up and down, then shrugged. “Fair enough.” He swung the pack onto his shoulders, then led the way around the north side of the cluster. The crevice was narrow; a metre across at the widest points, and about half that at a few bottlenecks. We all squeezed in, staying nearer the northern end, since we might have to make a hasty exit from here if the Geshtoch spotted us.
“Go check where they’re up to,” I told Kade, pointing down the end of the canyon. He slipped away, silent as a mouse, and then Bryce shrugged off his pack and followed Kade. I completely understood his wariness. If I hadn’t seen Kade in action, I would have felt the same way.
“What do we do if they find us?” Associate Nors asked in a whisper.
“Kill them,” I said.
“Isn’t there a better way to deal with all of this?”
I raised disbelieving eyebrows at her, though I doubted she could see me in the darkness. “That’s a question for the Parliament. I’ve been told they’ve been reviewing the Geshtoch treaty, but nothing’s changed so far.”
Nors huffed. “The instant I’m home, I’m going to look into that. It’s ridiculous that we can’t walk across our own planet without being shot at.”
“Please do,” I said, then returned my attention to the two dim figures at the far end of the canyon. Long minutes passed, while neither of them moved… and then they were suddenly dashing back towards us, Bryce pulling his rifle off his shoulder.
“They’re coming our way. They said they’re going to camp next to this rock.” It was a common strategy for the Geshtoch to camp near rock towers, though their reasoning was for protection from the wind, rather than attackers.
“Fuck,” I muttered, shrugging off my own pack and grabbing my rifle. “You said there was cover up the top?” I asked Bryce.
“Wait, what are you doing?” Nors asked. “If they said they’re just camping…”
“If they find us, they’ll kill us,” Bryce told her. “No amount of reasoning with them ever seems to work.”
“This is ridiculous,” she grumbled, and I didn’t disagree with her. But unfortunately, none of us had a better solution.
“Let’s get up onto the-”
An ear-splitting boom shattered the quiet, and bright red light flashed in a staccato pattern as the far end of the canyon caved in.
“Move, move,” I yelled at Bidge, who was closest to the near end of the canyon. “What the fuck are they doing?” I asked Bryce, not expecting an answer. “How did they know we’re here?”
“Infrared scanners?” Kade guessed. “If we have them, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t.”
“If they’re so stupid, where do they get their technology from?” Nors asked, as she scrambled after Vosh, heading out of the canyon.
“Don’t know,” Bryce answered her. “Trade, maybe? Culrads? Rentrals? Who the fuck knows? Fi and Bidge, stay here, but retreat if they get too close. Vosh, Hill, up here.” He vaulted up onto the nearest boulder, making for the top of the stack. Vosh followed him, but I paused.
“What do you think?” I asked Kade. If I told him to go up there, he would, but he might have a better idea.
