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He turned away with a shrug after Daisy tugged on his arm some more.

Ash guided Georgia a short distance away from the main group, so they could talk without being overheard.

She puffed out a breath as she scanned the surroundings. “I know. You don’t need to tell me. I was being weird back there when Rexx mentioned the Siblet.”

“No one blames you for being weird. And none of us expects you to get over what happened to you easily.”

“I’m over it. It happened a long time ago. It’s ancient history.”

“If it’s still messing with you, then it’s not history. I’ve been in tight situations myself, so I know it can be difficult to make everything right in your head.”

“You’ve never been tortured, though,” she said.

Ash’s gut ached at the thought of Georgia being injured. He’d do anything to protect her, but he hadn’t been around when she was taken.

“Hey, you two, quit canoodling. There’s something over here,” Eden called.

They hurried back to rejoin the main group.

“What have you found?” Georgia said.

“This was an outdoor camp.” Eden touched her foot on a charred circle on the ground.

“And there are footprints going in several directions.” Rexx was farther away with Daisy, staring at the ground.

“How recent is this?” Ash knelt beside the fire pit and examined it.

“It’s two or three days old,” Eden said.

“I was hoping it would be fresher,” Georgia said, “and the aliens had come back so we could catch them.”

“They could still be here,” Daisy said. “These tracks look fresh. Although that could be because no one’s walked over them. There’s not much else living on this planet.”

“There are more tracks over here.” Eden had moved away from the fire pit with Blaze.

“Let’s split into smaller units,” Ash said. “Rexx, Daisy, you head away from the mountains. Eden and Blaze, you follow the tracks you found. I’ll go with Georgia and see where this path leads us.”

“We’ll yell if we find anything useful,” Daisy said. She headed off with Rexx, and Eden and Blaze did the same.

Ash glanced at Georgia, ready to pick up the conversation about the Siblet, but her expression was blank. She was in mission mode, and there was no point in talking to her when she was like that.

“Let’s move out,” he said.

She nodded and strode away from him.