The sun sank beyond the Gash, leaving the sky a dark dirt-brown. I shivered outside the cave. The wind had returned, but it was better outside. There was no air inside. Only the steep drop to the sand forty meters below me kept me close to the cave opening.

  "Here," Hao said, coming up beside me, causing me to jerk. My grip on the rough outcropping on the wall grew stronger, more frantic. Crud heights.

  Hao held out a small steel flask to me.

  "What's this?" I said.

  "Tea," she replied, then laughed at the look on my face. If I'd had a mirror, I'd have laughed as well. I could feel my eyes bulging, my grin growing.

  "Real tea?"

  "Freshly brewed," she said, shaking the flask. It sloshed gently. I took it, opened, smelled.

  Bitter. Strong. Absolutely lovely. I took a small sip, letting the tea burn my tongue, then screwed the cap back on. No knowing when I'd get more.

  "If this is the extent of your cooking, then you've done a marvelous job," I said.

  Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

  "Don't you forget it," Hao said. "And I've got better news."

  "Impossible," I said, putting the flask against my cheek. The heat flowed into me, burning and wonderful at once.

  "Geir found a friend," Hao said.

  A sting of guilt hit me. I'd almost forgotten Geir.

  "How is he?" I said.

  "Bad," Hao said. "The skin on his legs is shedding. He can barely move. But he'll get carried to the ship."

  "His friend?" I said.

  "Yes," Hao said. "He found the Kylians."

  My jaws must have slackened, because I felt drool on my lips.

  "You solved all this while I was gone?" I said.

  "They solved," Hao said. "Came into the Gash with everyone else. Found Geir by chance."

  "How many?" I said.

  "Close to two hundred survivors," Hao said. "Some of them are from the Santa Kylie security forces."

  Riina's old unit. Or maybe they'd been on the opposite side. Santa Kylie had suffered a civil war, before the Syndicates established themselves as ruling powers there. I needed more troops, but...

  "Can they be trusted?" I said.

  Hao raised her bushy eyebrow, giving me an amused look from her too-blue eyes.

  "Trusted?" she said. "Haven't you learned anything about Remba."

  "Void," I said. "You quote the Knife again and I'll pour my tea over you."

  She smiled. It made her incredibly pretty. I could see why Tomlin had been head over heels in love with her.

  "That would be a waste," she said, then grew serious. "You think we'll succeed?"

  I stared into the darkening sky.

  "We'd better," I said. "Too much depends on it."

  "You'd better," the Knife said, sneaking up behind me without a sound. "Time to move."

  "Lead on," I said.

  He passed me, and we followed, Hao and I, inching along the path between him and his killers.