“Tal?” Kalico’s voice sounded in Talina’s com bud. “Batuhan, two men, and two women, just left the admin dome. They’re headed south. Can’t see Carson’s rifle, but one of the men was holding something in two hands. Some kind of controls.”
Talina wiggled into the lee of one of the sheds, partially sheltered from the downpour. Peering around the corner, she watched the cannibals splash their sodden way to the barracks, where one by one they ducked inside. Draped as he was in a poncho that shadowed his face, she couldn’t be sure if the last one in line was the dark-haired shooter, or carried a weapon, but he did hold something in his hands.
Accessing her com, she said, “Sort of argues against them making a try for the science dome, doesn’t it? Unless they’ve decided to relocate the Messiah out of harm’s way.”
“Roger that. Makes us wonder where all the rest of them are. They had twenty-five men, right? Lost three to Talbot, and another fled to the Briggs place. We saw one being eaten by a tooth flower.”
“Yeah, and you’d figure that Donovan got a few more of them along the way.” She made a face. “But how many?”
“Maybe a lot, Tal. Think about it. They’ve only had women on guard. Is that because the men are missing or reassigned to some other task?”
“Like preparing a hot welcome for us when we arrive outside the admin dome?”
“Got me. Wish we had a drone.”
“Yeah. Me, too. Listen, we’re not in a hurry. I’m going to slip over to where Kylee’s keeping watch. Maybe she and Flute know something.”
“Roger that.”
It took Talina ten minutes to ghost her way around the sheds to the south side where Kylee was supposed to be. Even then, she almost missed the girl.
“Ta Li Na. You going somewhere? Or just enjoying the rain after being half cooked for a couple of days?”
Talina craned her neck, which let cold water run down into one of the last warm and dry places on her body. Kylee lay belly-down under a piece of duraplast sheeting. Stared up as a flash of lightning illuminated her stony blue eyes.
“What do you see, kid? According to our count we’re suddenly short of a bunch of cannibal men. Like all the ones we expected to make an attack on the science dome.”
Kylee shifted her duraplast, water sheeting down the back. “I’ve got nothing.” She hooked a thumb. “Flute, however, is prowling the rim. He could give a fuck about a bunch of human-eating humans. Something out in the forest’s got him creep-freaked.”
Talina glanced out at the dark trees beyond the escarpment. “Our mystery beast?”
“I catch a whiff,” Kylee told her. “Just every once in a while when the wind’s right. Nothing I’ve ever smelled before. Nothing that triggers quetzal memory with an image. It’s more of a scary feeling. The biochemical kind that says, ‘Run!’”
“Yeah, I’ve smelled it, too. Like rotted blood mixed with old hunger.”
The rain began to let up, easing from a head-beating downpour to a gentler soaking. Looking east, the first graying of dawn cast silhouettes across the station.
“How about one menace at a time? We’re not out of this mess yet. Let’s deal with—”
“Tal?” Kalico’s voice interrupted. “Got action. Batuhan and a bunch of women and kids are pouring out the doors of the barracks. Looks like twenty, maybe twenty-five of them. All lining out in the rain and headed south.”
“What about the men?”
“Muldare counts three in addition to the Messiah. Where are you?”
“South of the domes, just north of the farm.”
“They should be in your sight any second now. We’re making a try for the radio.”
“Hey! Wait! We’re still missing a bunch of—”
“There’s three of us, Tal. Armed. Tired. And pissed off. Besides, they’re not expecting us this early.”
Talina’s heart skipped. “Damn it, Kalico, wait for me.”
“Too late, Tal. We’re going. Fast. Before they can react.”
“Kalico?”
Nothing.
“What’s happening?” Kylee asked.
“Kalico’s making a try for the radio. I just hope she—”
“Yeah, well you might want to get under cover. Here comes trouble.”
Talina spun, staring north. Seeing the first woman leading the way past the geology dome. And behind her came a parade of children.
Talina had barely ducked behind a rusted evaporator when a hollow detonation—as distinct from thunder as could be—carried on the gently raining air.