

Broken

Tenets

By Beth Reason

Copyright 2013 Beth Reason

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this ebook. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be copied or resold, either for commercial or non-commercial use. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author!
Table of Contents:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

About the Author

More Great Books By Beth Reason!
Chapter 1

Tenet lay in a pool of his own blood, the result of a bad situation completely of his making, and cursed everything and everyone he wanted to blame instead. He refused to accept responsibility. As his life congealed unapologetically beneath him, such a revelation surely would have meant the end. He cursed the stars as he tried to move the shattered remains of his arm. He cursed the sky as he made a pathetic attempt to clench what was once a fist. He cursed his mother for having instilled in him a reckless streak of abandon, and he cursed his father for daring to try and quell it. He cursed the migration. He cursed the police. He cursed the bots and crops and bugs...

As long as he had breath to curse, he was breathing. And that, most of all, was what mattered.

While his left arm was mangled beyond recognition, his right was mostly intact. His mind ran through the short list of things to blame for his situation. His instructors. They hadn't warned him just how bad it would be, so it was all their fault too, wasn't it? He cursed them as he gritted his teeth and made a valiant effort to shift into a better position. It felt as if his arm had successfully moved mountains. In reality, it was just barely out of the rut in the sand it made on impact.

"Goddammit!" he screamed, not caring that anyone around to hear him would be exactly who he was trying to avoid. He wriggled in a fit and was happy to find that at least one leg could move enough to send up a plume of dust. "Ha!" he shouted in triumph, as he watched the sand settle back in place. As small as it might be, it was indeed a victory.

Victory was short-lived. The outburst in the middle of the blazing sun had sapped him. And so, he cursed again, this time finally admitting whose fault it all was: his own.

Tenet panted and tried to will his heart to slow. He had to get himself under control if he had any chance of survival. The thought crossed his mind, and actually made him laugh. A little maniacally, true, but it was still a laugh. What was it that his mother always said? "If you can laugh, it can't be that bad." He took a deep breath and tried to move his arm again. Rightie creaked, and he was certain he heard a crunch, but slowly he got it to obey.

Movement was limited. Being a shattered heap at the base of an unsheltered cliff had left him with very few options. Every inch of movement took ten times the effort it would have in normal circumstances, and he quickly discovered that it was better to plan how to move next before trying to come up with something along the way. When he had finally moved enough to prop himself up on his elbow, he felt like collapsing with relief. He took a few deep breaths, wishing he could somehow maneuver to wipe the sweat off his face. It was out of the question, of course. He hadn't mastered his face mask with two hands just yet, never mind trying to let rightie go solo. Even if he miraculously had the dexterity of a superhero and somehow got it off, he couldn't leave it that way. He'd last maybe an hour, if informations from the Undergrounds was correct...half that if the government was to be believed. He sighed. There was nothing to be done but let the sweat drip.

His fast, shallow breathing slowed. That was something, anyway. He took a deep breath and nothing popped or cracked, so he figured it was another good sign. Carefully he twisted to the right, then left. The leftward movement was a mistake. Searing pain shot up his arm and he nearly succumbed to the dark threatening to claim him. "Left bad," he mumbled over and over, trying to remain conscious.

Eventually his mantra helped the dizziness pass. He was sorely tempted to lay down and wait to see if someone would come to help him, but the thought was absurd, both to his ego which still insisted he could take care of himself, and the practicalities of the situation. He needed to move. He needed to find shelter. He needed to remove the face mask. He needed to check his wounds. He needed to stop the bleeding. He needed so much that he had no idea how to get that in the end, he resolved to just look around. Look around, find somewhere. Then think of the rest.

As it had for days, the hollowness of the land both astounded and confused him. He knew this land. He'd spent his whole life here on the Tenet Ranch.

No, that wasn't true. As he'd been reminding himself for just as many days, he'd only spent half his life here. The cold half.

But still, he thought he should recognize something, shouldn't he? He looked around at the scorched fields and cliffs and tried to picture them green. If he could picture them green, he might have a chance. Surely he combed every inch of this land in his childhood. Was this where he and his sister hid for two days because there had been no way of hiding the broken lamp? Or was this the other side of the ranch, where he and Jiti Ton had the tree climbing contest? There were trees, or trunks of trees to be more accurate. Were those the ones?

No green anywhere. Last week, the land had started to turn. As with every spring that fades into the oppressive heat of summer, the leaves took a darker hue, drooping instead of being vibrant and excited to stretch toward the sun. A haze had developed in the afternoons, watery sheets of heat hovering over the crops. Even the dogs had taken to resting under the porch instead of chasing after flies. The signs of summer were all there.

But...it had still been green.

He wondered again idly how many people knew this happened? Of course, they all knew in the abstract sense of those who have gained knowledge from the tales of others. But how many of them actually knew? When they were boarding the transports, trying to remember what it was they surely forgot to do before the migration, did any of them realize just how quickly it happened? Just how lucky they were to beat the true heat of Summer?

It didn't really matter when there were more important things to focus on. He let the thoughts slip away and tried to search the horizon. He had been walking for days, so he doubted he'd be able to see the house, especially from ground level. Much to his surprise and chagrin, the transport network had been shut down as the last migration transport pulled away from the station. He knew they shut it down for Summer, but, like everything else, he had no idea how quickly the process would be complete. There must be a switch somewhere. One big switch. Maybe a big red button that some maniac giggled about finally getting to hit...

Tenet shook his head. Focus. He had to focus.

His head rolled to the right and he saw shade. That's where he was going. Right there. It didn't matter that it was a good mile long crawl. He could make it. Yup.

And with that thought, he heard a soft thud in his chest. Just before he blacked out, it occurred to him that it was odd he didn't feel anything.

**

"I said get the hell up!" hissed a voice very close to his ear.

But Tenet didn't want to get up. He was in the middle of a wonderful dream. Everything was green. His mother was bringing him lemonade to quench his thirst. His sister had an ice pack for his scorching head. He didn't want to wake up, and closed his eyes tighter.

"Get up or I'm leaving you to roast."

Tenet frowned. Now that didn't sound very friendly!

"I know you can hear me, I know you're awake. Get your pampered ass up and get those legs moving."

Tenet cleared his throat. "Perhaps you didn't notice that I'm injured," he sulked, though his lips were too dry to pull off a pout.

The person sighed and swore under her breath. Definitely a woman. "You're fine. Get up. We need to go," she said, with less anger and more urgency.

Tenet cracked open his eyes and blinked, expecting to be blinded by the sun. Instead, they were under some sort of a plank. Where, he had no idea. He was equally clueless as to how. The one thing he was sure of, though, was that he was definitely injured. "My arm. I fell off the cliff..."

"Look we don't have time for this!" she almost yelled. Almost. She caught herself just in time. "I don't think you understand what a serious situation we're in. In less than an hour, bots will be all over every inch of this ranch. I don't know about you, but I'm not a fan of those creepy little bastards, so last time: either you get up now, or I'm outta here."

Tenet heard her tone and knew she was dead serious. Gingerly he tried to raise up on his right elbow again.

She sighed heavily once again and suddenly was standing over him. He opened his mouth to object when he saw her hand heading for his collar, but the look on her face said quite clearly that there would be no arguing. He squeezed his eyes shut, bracing against the pain as her hand gripped his suit front and he was lifted upright. He stood swaying, expecting to hit the ground again at any moment. When it didn't happen, he cracked an eyelid open.

She was staring at him through the window of her mask with an expression of confusion, disgust, hatred, and maybe just a little respect...though Tenet hedged he was just hopeful about the "respect". "There. You're up."

He looked down at his mangled arm. "Huh," was all he said when he saw that it was perfectly in one piece. "I thought I lost it for sure."

She swore and stood muttering to herself for a second, obviously searching for patience. "From what I can gather, you tripped over a rock and hit your head. The pattern in the ground looks like you passed out and were in the same position for quite some time." She held her hand up when he opened his mouth. "Don't worry. I already cleared the area." He closed his mouth, even though that wasn't what he was going to ask. In fact, he kept his mouth shut while she detailed the reality of his ordeal out of sheer humiliation. He hadn't even thought about clearing the area, nor any area he had plundered through the past few days.

"My guess is that your arm fell asleep, you woke up and couldn't move it and assumed the worst," she said, shaking her head. "No matter. The point is, you're a bit scuffed up, but fine. Now can we go? I don't want to face the bots, especially after dark." She turned and started walking, leaving absolutely no room for debate.

Tenet's head was spinning. He flexed his left hand inside the thick gloves. It worked, and there was little pain. He lifted it in front of him, and again, nothing fell off. He could have turned red with embarrassment, hung his head, and obediently followed behind his mystery savior. Hell, he probably should have. But he didn't. Why should he be embarrassed? He still got knocked unconscious. He certainly didn't deserve the barely contained contempt. "Now look here," he said, starting after her.

Instead of stopping, she pushed forward, increasing her pace until Tenet had to jog to catch up.

"Hey! I'm trying to talk to you!"

"And if you want me to save your sorry ass, you'll do less talking and more walking," she said in an even tone, not showing one bit of the hard breathing Tenet suffered.

"Well who asked you to, anyway?" he yelled.

She pivoted in her tracks and marched back to him until she stood mask to mask. "Scream like that again, and the bots will have to fight over your remains." Her voice was cool and even, but Tenet wasn't stupid enough to mistake it for calm. He knew without a doubt that she fully meant it. He took a deep breath and tried to stop his knees from shaking.

"I didn't mean to yell. But look it at from my point of view. I was walking, had an accident," she opened her mouth to object, but he plowed ahead, "however it happened. You say a rock, I say a cliff," again, he had to ignore the roll of her eyes. "At any rate, it was a severe enough knock to the head that I was rendered unconscious. I woke up in extreme agony, confused out of my mind..."

"That was from dehydration. I swear, tackling Summer without a water supply..."

"Whatever!" he cut in, loudly enough to get the glare. He lowered his voice. "I was still out of my head and confused, alright? Does it really matter why? No. So, there I was, languishing in the sun..."

"You wanna speed this up?"

He did a silent ten count. He couldn't strangle her, no matter how frustrating she was. The fact was, he needed her. "My point is that I haven't even had a minute to think things through, and I'd appreciate you answering a few questions."

She opened her mouth, then snapped it shut. "Fine. Ask while we walk. I wasn't kidding about the bots." She turned around and resumed her horse race pace.

"What's your name?" asked Tenet, falling into the swift step.

"Scarab."

Tenet snorted. "Like the bug? What kind of name is that?"

"Mine."

There was more to the story there. Way more. He'd have to find out later. "Fine, Scarab. I'm Tenet..."

"Bradwin the third..." she finished.

Tenet frowned. "It's fourth, actually..."

"Whatever."

"How did you know?"

Scarab didn't answer, just kept up her break neck pace. He asked again and she flipped a rude gesture over her shoulder at him. Okay, that subject was also closed. He sighed. "How did you find me?"

She laughed then, not a maniacal laugh of a lunatic, but a deep belly laugh as if he had just said the funniest thing in the world. "You're kidding, right?" she asked when the chuckles subsided.

He knew she was laughing at him. For what, he really didn't know. For awhile they just trotted in silence while he tried to brood. He had been extremely careful to cover his tracks. Except for the fall scene, of course, and he couldn't be faulted for that, now could he? No. Other than that, he had carefully picked his way across the ranch, looking back every now and again to make sure he left no sign. Okay, so he didn't do any cover or sweep. But he didn't see anywhere he had needed to.

He sniffed at the insult as he played it over in his head. His tracking skills won him much acclaim at the Academy. Top in his class, his professor had pronounced to the banquet audience just last Winter. How dare she question his ability? And so went the conversation in his head, while ahead of him, Scarab randomly snickered.

Anger turned to offense and mixed with curiosity. Eventually, curiosity won over sulkiness. "Alright, I give up. Just what do you mean by 'you're kidding'?"

She shook her head. "No offense or anything, but I doubt you could hide yourself from a bot if you were sitting in the middle of a magnetic field!"

Aha, so it was supposed to be offensive. He snorted and huffed and finally said, "I'll have you know I was tops in the Academy!"

She sighed. "Hey relax, okay? I said 'no offense'."

"I was," he persisted.

"Yes, I'm sure you were. And that's fine. Good, even. Did you get a ribbon for it? Medal, perhaps?"

He started to answer before he realized she was still picking on him. "Actually, I got a..."

"I was joking," she said, flatly. "I don't really care what fancy thing they did for you. That was in school. This is life."

He wouldn't let it drop. "The point of schooling is to prepare one for life," he said, in the haughtiest voice he could. "Professors McCoodle and Gransh are renowned for their tracking skills."

"Is that a fact?"

"Absolutely! World renowned. And I'll have you know that fourteen graduates from my class alone, myself included, have received personal letters of recognition from the Grand Council itself on setting the new standard of tracking and track courses."

"Oh really," she said, flatly.

He puffed his chest a bit and had the stupidity to continue. "And, if that's not enough for you, I'll have it be known right now that I happen to be the head tracker on this very ranch, the largest ranch in both Summer and Winter."

That did it. Scarab set her jaw and said in her haughtiest voice, "And how many of those attending the Academy have ever actually had to put it to the test, huh? Hell, for that matter, how many of those sainted professors have, either? I'll wager none, since I'd know their names if they did!"

He rolled his eyes. "Of course we have never actually tried it. Not from the bots. But the skills are a necessary part of Agro, and are used every single day." He was tempted to add a "duh" in there, but decided to take the high road.

"Well, now," she said with a sly grin, "We're not tracking raptors, are we? We're not tracking wraiths. We're not tracking gilla or coonskunks. In fact, Mr. Know-it-all, in case I haven't gotten it across to you by now, we're not tracking anything. We're being tracked. Just what have your professors taught you about that?"

Alright, point to Scarab. "Fine," he grudgingly conceded. "But that doesn't change anything. We're being tracked...so I've just been doing everything in reverse."

She stopped so quickly he almost ran into her. "Everything in reverse?"

He nodded. "Yes. I take the signs I look for when tracking, and try not to do those things myself."

"Ah," she said with a nod. "I see."

He gave a smug smile. That's right. Point Tenet.

She made a turning motion with her finger. "Would you please look behind us?"

He turned and saw their track. Actually, he saw one track. He followed it from the horizon back. Not surprisingly, but much to his dismay, the tracks lead right to his very own feet. "Oh," he said quietly.

She took pity on him. "Look. You track. I'm sure you're very good at it, in proper season. But Summer...it's a whole different ballgame. You have to look for solid items..."

"I was!"

"I know. But you have to look for clean solid items, something without dust."

He looked back at the track and could see her point. He never even thought of that. He'd been very careful to hop from rock to rock whenever possible. It was what lead him to the top of that large cliff. He figured he'd leave prints in the ash that was once the green of the ranch. Yet when he looked back, he saw not her footprints in the ash, but a completely undisturbed expanse. "But how..."

"Look," she said as she stomped her foot. The ash puffed around her legs, but quickly settled. She took a step forward and to his surprise, there was no print left behind at all.

"That's amazing!"

She sighed again. "Not really. Just set your feet straight and almost stomp. Don't drag, or the whole thing is ruined."

Tenet gave it a try.

"Stomp, not shuffle."

He tried again. And again. And again. Finally he threw his hands in the air and was about to yell when he caught the look she was giving. "I can't do it," he said in a carefully controlled tone.

"Maybe not yet, but you will."

He doubted it. She turned and started walking again, but he stood and watched. Puffs, then settling into nothing. He seriously doubted he'd ever be able to pull that off. It made him wonder how long she'd been out here. He clumsily stomped his way up to her and asked just that.

"Seven Summers here, seven Winters there."

Tenet scoffed. "That's ridiculous. No one does that."

She shrugged, not caring one way or the other if he believed her. "You're out here."

"I'm here because..."

"No," she said firmly, holding her hand up almost in his face. "I don't want to know."

Now that was odd. Tenet was thoroughly confused by this woman. She claimed to spend fourteen off seasons? Insane. No one could have lived through that much physical torture, much less a woman. True, there were urban legends about such people. But that's all they were, myths. The logistics of actually doing it were beyond human comprehension. Not to mention the legality of it. There was no way a government would allow someone to risk it. One Winter, one Summer, maybe. And that was pushing it. The penalties were too severe.

And yet...the ash walking trick, he knew it had to take time to learn, so this was not her first off season. He watched her walk a few paces ahead of him. It was impossible to tell just how large she was because of the suit, but she was definitely tall. Probably not skinny, either, he decided after watching the way she moved. He himself had lost weight, and he'd only been in the off season a few days. If she truly was one of those mythic creatures who hovered on the outskirts of humanity and society by being off seasoners...

Tenet stumbled over a rock, his thoughts scattering. "Shit," he hissed, catching himself before another fall. "Who the hell designed these boots anyway? A blind monkey?"

Scarab snorted again. "I would have thought you practiced walking in them in the Academy."

Tenet sniffed and held his nose a notch higher. "For your information, we did. I'm just not used to these antiquated beasts. We had the very latest in terrain gear available, you know."

"I bet you did."

"There was obviously a reason these horrendous things died out."

"Obviously," she said dryly, shaking her head. The latest models, he said. Of course. What else would do at the Academy? "If it's so great, and you're such an expert in using the latest and greatest, then why aren't you wearing it?"

Tenet frowned and sulked to himself. They both knew the answer to that one. One of the main problems with this little plan of his had been how to get the equipment for such a daring journey. Since off seasoning was illegal, the very best equipment was hoarded by the military. He knew that going into it, but thought that certainly someone of his status could at least get his hands on the second best. He was sorely mistaken. The best he could come up with was an old set of boots, a suit that had needed repair, and a pair of gloves that would embarrass his mother if she ever saw him in them.

"My headgear is top notch," he muttered in his own defense.

"Great. Walk on your head."

He sighed.

"Or, here's a thought," she said holding up her finger. "Maybe you could just spend more time thinking about where you're walking instead of blaming the equipment? Hm?"

He scowled at her. "This is not a very good rescue."

"Well that's because it's not a rescue."

That surprised him. "I thought you said you were here to, how did you put it? Oh, yes. 'Save my sorry ass.'"

Scarab shook her head. "No. I asked if you wanted me to."

"Same thing."

"No, it's not. Personally I don't give two shits if you live or die."

For some reason, that hit home with Tenet. All of a sudden, the gravity of the situation slammed into him with an almost physical blow. Here he was, not only breaking the law, but lost beyond belief in his own land. The place he knew for half his life, the hills that offered comfort, the creeks that gave him joy, had disappeared almost overnight. He may as well have been on another planet. And then someone comes along to rescue him, or at least he thought it was a rescue...and the one person he's seen in this devastated wasteland doesn't care if he lives or dies. He didn't doubt her for a moment. She meant it. She honestly didn't care a whit for him or his well being. The disappointment and isolation was suddenly grit in his mouth.

He swallowed it down and cleared his throat. "If it's not a rescue mission, then, what is it?"

"Oh," she said, too casually for him to actually take it that way. "I'm a bounty hunter."

Chapter 2

He broke the law. Tenet Bradwin, IV, son of the Exalted Leader on the Grand Council itself had broken the law. He knew it. He knew going into this insane adventure that it was beyond illegal. He knew it when he was planning with his friends, all of whom backed out at the last moment. He knew it when his father questioned the equipment he found stashed in Tenet's room. He knew it when he poured over his plan and his lists and his supplies. He knew it every step of the way.

For some reason, though, he never imagined that he'd be one of "them". There was a long list of foolish folks who, for whatever reason, rejected the mandated migration, both Summer and Winter. Those poor saps would spend the rest of their lives chained in the bot factories across the world. But not him. Surely not Tenet Bradwin, IV. He never once allowed himself to entertain the idea that there might just be serious consequences.

Tenet plodded for hours behind Scarab in silence. He had a bounty on his head. A real bounty. That changed everything. He never dreamed he'd be in this much trouble. He thought at the worst there would be a public reprimand, his father would shake his head and slap his wrist. The Council would go along with it publicly, of course. A society had to have law and order, after all. But he imagined pats on the back over brandy in the back rooms of the Clubhouse away from the public eye. He imagined the secret "attaboy" and "way to go" and honestly thought deep in his heart that there would be pride, not condemnation, for his actions. The serious misjudgment was the most humbling part of it all. Too humbling to swallow.

Maybe the bounty was a show? An act? Tenet's brain seized the nugget of hope and squeezed it for all it was worth. Yes, that had to be it! They needed a public show, after all. Make a point about it. The more he thought, the more certain he became. That's all it was. A public example. Surely nothing would actually come of it.

Scarab stopped suddenly and turned to the left. "That way," she said.

"What's that way?"

"The end of your land."

Tenet nodded. "Can we rest after that?"

"Yes. The bots won't be looking for anyone off your land. Not tonight, anyway." She trudged ahead as if that cleared up everything.

"How far will we go past that?"

"Oh, I don't think too much. Another ten minutes or so. It's about all I have in me until I eat. It's been a trying day," she said dryly.

Tenet ignored the barb. "But won't they see us there? I mean, ten minutes...that's nothing. Wouldn't we be better off to push on a bit more? You know, just to be on the safe side."

She stopped and looked at him like he had lost his mind. "Safe side? We are on the safe side. That's why we're heading east." She said it in a tone someone speaking with a toddler would use, and Tenet felt about as competent in that very moment.

He took a deep breath, swallowed his pride, and said, "Ok. You got me. I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about and I admit it. There. Are you happy?"

Instead of the smirk he was expecting, she frowned. "You mean you honestly don't know how the bots work?"

"I know exactly how they work. They tally the crops, report on crop loss, warn of wraiths and..."

She waved him off. "No, idiot. I mean in the off seasons."

"Oh. Well..." he started, then stopped. It suddenly occurred to him that he, in fact, had no clue. Instead of trying to bluster his way through it, he shook his head.

Scarab threw her hands in the air, turned and started walking. He thought for a minute he'd have to just suppose on his own, but then she started speaking.

"The bots are useful in season, for all the purposes you listed and more. Message carrying, secret service patrol, general policing...all that. Off season, though, all bets are off. You know nothing about it at all?" she asked abruptly.

"Well, a little. I mean, I know they are programmed to find the forgottens."

Scarab scoffed. "Find them. Yeah. Right. If that were the case, then why would we need bounty hunters?" He opened his mouth, but she waved him off. "They were supposed to do that. They were also supposed to kill off wraiths and gilla and all the other nasties that can live in this." She waved an arm around the expanse of ash and heat. "Anything that can naturally survive in a climate like this...trust me, it ain't pretty. Or nice. We're talking the nastiest of nasties. Teeth and claws and survival of the fittest."

"What has that got to do with the bots?"

"I'm getting there," she said with annoyance. "The bots are, at core, actually very simple machines. Contrary to popular urban legends, they can't think. Never could. People tell tales of bot injustice...but it is really nothing like that. They can't think, so to them there is no such thing as justice."

"Imagine the world if they could think," said Tenet, proud to be able to offer anything at all to the conversation. He knew about the mechanics of bots. Everyone learned about them. Everyone who attended the Academy, of course. Though there had been several attempts to make a safe "thinker", they always failed. In the end, twenty or so years before, one of his father's first official acts as exalted Leader was to ban artificial intelligence chips in bots. It was a measure that was only opposed by a handful, and ended up being touted as "the start of a wonderful leadership," according to his history professor.

"No thanks, I'll pass on that thought," Scarab said. "So bots can't think. They only follow their programming. During the off season, their programming is quite simple: kill."

Tenet was shocked. "No. I'm sorry, but no. The Grand Council would not allow..."

"I thought you didn't know anything about it? You want me to stop?"

He shook his head, but kept his mouth shut.

"They kill. It's what they do. As I said, anything that lives here naturally is terrifying and deserves it." She glanced at him, waiting for his objection. When none came, she continued. "Enter human error. What happens when someone is left behind? What if the skiffs take off without them? What if a child wanders off just at the last moment and becomes a forgotten?"

Tenet looked to her and saw she was actually expecting a reply. "Er, I suppose the bots would find them and report it to the authorities..." He knew it sounded naïve, but he really didn't want to believe the sinking feeling of dread.

"They kill, Tenet," she said evenly in a voice that left no room for debate. "They see something move, and they kill. They don't care that it's human...they have no way of distinguishing."

Tenet swallowed hard, feeling he needed to defend the governments, his father. "Surely you're mistaken. I mean, the programming is simple in a bot, but there are ways to program in characteristics for the bots to assess and..." Scarab was shaking her head slowly through his little speech, waiting for him to wind down.

"What would you use for characteristics, huh?"

Logic. Time for logic. There was still a way for it not to be true. "Well, for starters, there's the fact that humans walk upright, and..."

"So do wraiths."

"Oh," he said quietly. "That's right. Well, how about faces? Surely there's a way to program them to recognize human facial features."

Scarab sighed and stepped over a small electric fence. "We're here," she said, plopping to the ground right on the other side. "Facial features are fine and all, and it's a good idea that's been tried. And failed."

"Why?" he asked, sitting next to her, glad for the rest.

"Have you ever seen a raptor attack? Or a wraith? Hell, even a coonskunk?"

"Attack? No, I suppose not."

"You will. And when you do, maybe you'll understand how pointless it is to program facial recognition into a bot. Won't work. They'd need to get far too close in order for it to be successful. Wraiths...they stand near human height, but they can jump forever. Since they're from monkey stock like us, you'd have to be pretty damned close to tell the difference. When our ancestors screwed around in the old labs, they didn't go halfway. If you get close enough to tell the difference, you're destroyed. Period."

"DNA sampling," he said, thinking out loud.

"What?"

"DNA sampling. They can take a sample of the specimen and analyze it on the spot and...What's that look for?"

She stared at him blankly.

Then it dawned on him. "Oh. They'd have to get too close, right?"

She saw that there was actual hurt in his eyes, as if the knowledge betrayed him somehow. "Look, don't take it hard, okay? All of those things have been thought about and tried. And failed. Voice recognition, heart rate monitoring, clothing verses fur...all of them were tried. Honestly, I'm not really blaming the governments for this one." She reached up and unsnapped the seal on her mask. "Sun's low. Go ahead. Even the heat of the evening breeze feels better than being trapped."

Tenet reached up and tried to unsnap his mask, but found the task too difficult with his gloves on. Without a word, Scarab reached over and deftly unclipped it. He was grateful, but pride held his tongue.

The rush of the intense heat was at first almost too much to bear. Gradually, though, his skin became accustomed and he indeed felt much better for not being completely trapped. With the sun low, the searing light had waned significantly, and he was able to look around with naked eyes in daylight for the first time in days. "It's so different," he said softly, still unable to recognize anything.

"That, Tenet, is the whole point." Scarab reached into her sack and took out some food. "Eat. Not much, because we can't have a fire, but it's something." Tenet took the lump from her hand and tried to chew it. She passed him some water, and told him to take a bite, then a swig and it would make chewing easier. He tried, and she was right. Still, it was absolutely disgusting.

Scarab laughed at the face he made. "Oh, come now. It's not so bad. You'll get used to it."

He shook his head. "I'm just trying to figure out what it is."

She opened her mouth, but closed it quickly. He was not ready for that yet. "Just enough to keep us alive."

Tenet chewed as well as he could and nodded. His own food supply had been as poorly thought out as the rest of this journey. Being a privileged son on a corn farm meant that in real life he never wanted for food. It meant that people lined up to be the ones to furnish the pantry. It meant more bargaining power than anyone else, and it meant he wanted for nothing. It also meant that any "emergency planning" was beyond him. He had packed fruits and vegetables, all kinds of them, as many as he could fit in his sack. Flour for making breads, egg protein powder and he even managed to find cheese. His sister turned her nose up at the idea, but he read somewhere that cheese was a good source of protein. All of these items would have him eating well for weeks...if they hadn't succumbed to the heat so quickly. He knew it was going to be hot. He never dreamed it would be this bad. Within a day things were rotting and drying up. The stench was horrendous, and he had cast aside his sack. He was very grateful for whatever it was that he was eating, even if he couldn't manage to chew it completely.

Scarab finished off her chunk of mystery nourishment and chugged the rest of her water. "Ah. Life on the run. Fun, isn't it?"

Tenet ignored the comment. "The bots," he said, reminding her where they left off in the conversation.

"Oh, yes. So the bots kill. Doesn't take a genius to figure out that it's not exactly the kind of system that'll bring forgotten loved ones home. I'm sure they'll keep trying, keep striving for that perfect bot. Since we're not there yet, they have to use what they've got. Can't let the wraiths and the like get out of control. Imagine how bad it could be on migration day if everyone came home to find their lives were destroyed? Or worse, walked in their front doors and got eaten."

Tenet forced down the last of his dinner with his water, then wiped the back of his mouth with his glove. "I think you're exaggerating a bit," he said, leaning back on his elbows. "I don't think it would be as bad as all that. First, I've been out here nearly a week already and have yet to see either wraiths or a bot. Nothing. You're the first moving thing I've seen."

Scarab shook her head. "You're the one that's wrong. First, you haven't seen wraiths or anything like that because it's still early in the season. Right now they're prowling south, where they go when it's Winter. But they'll be back. I guarantee it. In, oh, two weeks' time we'll start seeing them. As for the bots, and getting back to the whole point of this discussion, you haven't seen them because they haven't been here. Yet. Bots patrol in sectors. Your land happens to be its own sector and..." She stopped abruptly and looked up. Tenet looked in the same direction but could see nothing.

"What's the matter?"

"Shh. Look. To prove my point..." She raised her hand and pointed across the fence.

Tenet squinted but could see nothing. He hastily put his mask back on and amplified the display. Way off in the distance, five little dots could be seen hovering. "Are those..."

"Bots."

Tenet took off the helmet and squinted, but again could see nothing. "How the hell can you see those?"

"I don't see them, I hear them."

It was faint, but if he concentrated he could hear a tiny hum similar to a bee. "Oh."

"Your land is their sector through tomorrow. This land we're on now was their sector yesterday. This early in the season, the go sector to sector in groups of five and comb the area. Seek and destroy." The words were spoken quietly, but they may as well have been shouted. The effect on Tenetts nerves was the same.

"And they do this all season?"

"No. They do this for a couple weeks. First 18 days of the off season, to be exact. After that, as the herds or gaggles or whatever you want to call them flood in to battle it out for their temporary mating land, everything changes."

Tenet could see the bots now with his naked eyes. They panned back and forth, little dots in a perfect formation, searching for things to destroy. "What...what happens then?"

Scarab frowned, but kept looking straight ahead. "Each sector gets one bot. The bot patrols it around the clock. A bot on every sector, every moment of the day."

"For the rest of the season?"

"Unfortunately, no."

Tenet's eyes went wide. "It gets worse?"

"Toward the end of the season, in the last 22 days to be exact, when the heat cools and the plants start to grow and the animals with no common sense try to rush their own migrations, one bot per sector just isn't enough. It becomes a feeding frenzy. Wraith and raptor numbers skyrocket. Gotta feed all the young that were born that season. You look out over this land right now and it's dead. Give it two months, and you'll wish it was dead again."

Tenet swallowed hard. "So, more bots?"

"Five per sector, around the clock. No sweep patterns like you see here, no formations. I know they can't think. I know it is absolutely impossible for them to feel anything. But I've seen it, more times than I ever wanted to. In those moments, in the heat of such intense battles where everything is either trying to kill or avoid being killed..." She turned and looked at him. "It's almost as if they enjoy it."

Tenet looked away from her and stared at the bots with a growing feeling of dread. The little creatures of man were small, only about a foot tall and wide. Someone along the way decided that painting them to look like the were wearing uniforms would make them more palatable to the average person. Since these were military bots in design, they had the camouflage of a soldier, complete with little stars. In everyday life, he had actually found their paint jobs to be cute. Messenger bots with their little brown paint jobs, complete with a painted on package...it worked. They were cute and harmless, just another pack of schmucks in the rat race of life. In everyday life, it worked. In this wasteland of unfamiliarity, it sent a shiver down his spine.

True to her word, the bots got within a foot of the fence and stopped. They hovered for a moment, and Tenet couldn't stop himself from taking a step back, waiting to bolt if it was necessary. But it wasn't. They hovered for a moment while their programming ran the next line of code, then simply turned around and started the sweep again.

He didn't even try and stop the sigh of relief. "You're sure it's safe here? You're sure they already did this sector?"

"They already did this sector. We're safe from the bots." Scarab turned and picked up her mask that was on the ground. "Let's go."

"What? I thought you said we'd stop here?"

"That's what I said and what we did. Now let's get going."

Tenet threw his hands in the air. "If it's safe, what's the rush?"

"Do you ever listen?" she asked throwing her hands in the air. "We're safe...from the bots. But only from the bots."

Tenet set his feet and planted his hands across his chest. "Of course I listen! You said we're safe from the bots. You also said there are no wraiths or any nasties here yet. So what's the rush?"

Scarab turned and placed her own arms across her chest. "You think that's all there is to worry about? Look, buddy. We've got precisely fifteen days to get to base camp before the bots step up their patrol. As you obviously haven't figured out, we've got no choice but to walk. Add to that the fact that you're delusional enough to assume that I'm the only hunter looking for you, and we've got ourselves one mighty tight time line. Now, I suggest you pick that mask up, stick it somewhere, and get moving."

He was torn. She was a hunter after him. There was not one good reason for him to trust her. It would be so easy to once again defy reason and turn away. He knew where the bots would be and when. He now knew which direction they were heading. He knew her trick about covering tracks and would no doubt be able to master it if he had to. On the other hand...he had no food. Aside from generalities, he had no idea where they would actually be safe. He had no idea how many hunters were also hard on his heels, and no way of knowing when they'd get him. And if he was going to be truly honest with himself, and only himself, he couldn't even recover from tripping over a rock.

"Well?"

He sighed and grabbed the mask. When he got right down to it, what choice did he have?

**

"Stop," he said in as loud a voice as he could muster.

"Five more minutes."

Tenet dragged his feet through the ash, no longer even trying to step lightly. "I can't go another five seconds, let alone minutes!"

"Stop being such a baby."

"I'm not being a baby," he pouted. "We've been walking almost all night! I need a rest."

"Not yet. And pick your feet up more."

"You're an evil little woman," he mumbled. Scarab laughed and thanked him. The moon was bright over the ash, and seeing wasn't as much of an issue as he thought it would be. It was almost like the first snow over the fields, the sign to migrate. Several times in his life he'd been able to witness it at night, and it shocked him that the only real difference between then and now was temperature. The nightfall over the Summer scene added yet another twist to the surreal existence that had become his temporary life. "Can I at least take my gloves off?"

"No."

"But it's cooled down so much!"

"Not the sand."

"Just for a little bit..."

Scarab threw her hands in the air. "Fine. If it'll keep you going, fine. But I warn you...don't trip."

He didn't bother to tell her he had no plans of falling again. It was better not to remind her of the mess earlier. He worked the combination on the gloves clumsily, trying to complete a delicate task through the bulky material. Finally the first lock clicked into place and he tugged a finger with his teeth. A rush of warm air flooded around his hand, up into the arm of his suit. He wouldn't have cared if it burned him on contact...his hand was free. He held it in front of his face and flexed it, reveling in the feel of actual air circulating between his fingers. "Ew. It's wrinkled like a prune."

"What did you expect?"

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter. It feels wonderful." Just at that moment, when she was finally looking at him without any sign of contempt, he tripped. He stuck his hands out in front for balance and struggled to counteract the pull of gravity on the bulky suit. It was only a momentary bobble, he recovered easily. However, the smirk on Scarab's face gave him her "I told you so."

"Pick your feet up. Up. Why is that such a hard concept?"

"I am picking my feet up!"

"Pick them up higher!"

"What does it matter, anyway? The bots won't be tracking us..."

"Never listen. You never, ever listen," she almost shouted. "I found you, right?"

"Well, that wasn't very hard since I was lying unconscious after the horrible..."

"I could have found you anyway!" Scarab tried desperately to get herself under control. She was getting dangerously loud, and that wasn't good. She ran a glove through her hair, grudgingly agreeing with Tenet that the gloves would be better off. "Look. Let me spell it out for you one more time. Bots, hunters...and wraiths."

Tenet scoffed. "Wraiths are stupid animals."

"Animals, yes, but definitely not stupid. Walk."

So it was the walk and talk thing again. He sighed and plodded after her. "I fail to believe that they track."

"Of course they do, you ninny. All animals have their ways of tracking."

"No, really?" he said sarcastically. "I know that. But they track with scent. There's absolutely nothing I can do to hide my scent."

"Have you ever seen a wraith hunt?"

"Well, no."

"Then how do you know what they can and can't do? Wraiths were intentionally genetically designed to be as close to us as was possible. Why would you think they can't do pretty much what we can?"

"If they could do what we do, then they'd have their own civilizations. There would be towns of wraiths. There'd be a society and culture and..."

"And you assume there is not."

That silenced him. What he knew of wraiths wasn't very extensive. The only hard documentation was from hundreds of years ago, chronicling their creation and stopping, obviously, at the time of impact like everything else. They were a nasty race of apes that, as far as science could tell, consisted of a handful of descendants of ancient laboratory experiments some bleeding heart let loose before the big asteroid impact. Though no one in modern times could feel anything but disgust behind the experimentation on primates, the goal appeared to have been to insert human characteristics into other primates as a means of strengthening the human body's own genetics. Perhaps if the world stayed turning on it's comfortable axis as they must have assumed it would, the science could have been honed. Instead, the cosmos interceded and what was released into the wild was a population of mutated monkeys that were too human in all the wrong ways, and no one around who could document the further changes. The only purpose of a wraith was to kill, eat, and survive at all costs. On the few occasions where he actually witnessed one in the wild, it had already been dead and covered in another animal's blood. The bodies were always given to the sciences for study, but aside from the blood and bits of all sorts of animals, there weren't many clues to the life of a wraith.

"They have a civilization?" he asked.

Scarab gave a curt nod. "Rough, but it's there. There's an organization to them that I've only seen in humans. They look at tracks, they seem to discuss their options..."

"Wraiths have no vocal chords. That I know for sure. We dissected one in biology."

"True, but there are other ways of communicating," she continued, half expecting his schooling to make him interrupt. "Watch them sometime. They're far more cunning and organized than any regular old animal."

He shook his head slowly. "No. Sorry, but it just doesn't make sense. If they have a civilization, as you claim, we would have found colonies. Dwellings, at least. There would be some kind of proof."

Scarab was unfazed by his argument. "Maybe there are. How good would you sleep at night knowing that just past Border South there was a colony of wraiths, just waiting for someone to be forgotten?"

The thought made him shake to the core. Even the dead ones he had seen sent shivers down his spine. Bald apes, with tiny hairs all over their bodies. Structurally, they were very similar to humans. In fact, it had been said that there were "advanced wraiths" who tried to pass themselves off as people, donning clothes, going from home to home and devouring all inside. Of course it was a fairy tale designed to keep children from trusting strangers. But Scarab seemed so sure. It was almost as if...

"Have you seen them?" He tripped, but caught himself again before she noticed. "These colonies. Have you actually seen them?"

She thought about ignoring the question and letting the subject drop, but he was going to have to face them sooner or later. Better to be armed beforehand. "Yes," she said slowly. "I've seen towns of wraiths."

It was too much. "No," he said firmly. "The government would kill them."

"You and your damned government," she said half under her breath. As their time together grew, so grew her mixed feelings of contempt and annoyance at having agreed to the bounty. Not that there was ever much choice. Her resources were dangerously low. Being an off season bounty hunter took way more money than the average person could ever imagine. Every season, Summer or Winter, supplies had to be purchased new. The suits for Summer were designed to last maybe one whole season, usually not even that. She had to have a backup at all times of every piece of Summer gear. And in Winter...Winter was even worse. The suits "specially designed" to handle the frigid climate were intended to be used in emergency situations only. Seven Winters so far, and though the scientists assured the bounty hunters they were "close", they were still waiting for the breakthrough in technology that would increase hunter survival. And while they waited, the seasons were getting worse.

So when the Exalted Leader himself offered her this bounty on his spoiled, rotten, self centered son, she did the math. This one bounty would give her a bit of financial freedom. With it, she could purchase enough supplies for easily three seasons. "It won't be easy," the message on her com had said after she signed the contract. "But I'm told you're the best." At the time, it was his tone that annoyed her more than having to once again risk her own life for an idiot.

Most bounties were governmental consignments. The majority of people who risked the off season lifestyle did so to escape prosecution. However, there were a handful of private bounties every year; terrified parents who desperately needed her help finding their foolish child before the government taggers realized they were missing. It was the modern teenage rebellion: survive the off season. The kids believed it gave them a status with their peers. She always spent the first couple of weeks in the off season searching for little brats. And her instructions from the parents were almost always the same. "Find him, find her...bring them back safe." This was her very first private bounty where the instructions matched her governmental consignments, to the letter. It gave her a grudging soft spot for this misguided boy. His father's instructions were clear enough to make her determined to bring the boy in alive, despite what she said to keep him in line.

And yet, Tenet had no clue. He put his entire trust and faith into a government that didn't care one bit about his well-being. It was clear he had a top notch education. He had perhaps the most inside view of government any regular citizen ever would. He was privy to the closed door meetings and the secret societies with their padded pocket plans and aspirations. He was in the thick of it, and still had no idea how things truly worked. Perhaps it was time for a little real education.

"You ever been to the Borderlands, Tenet?"

The comment threw him off guard. "I thought we were discussing wraiths?"

She nodded. "We are. The Borderlands, though. North or South."

He shook his head. "Of course not. That's illegal." Scarab gave him a bland expression, and he realized what he said. "Oh. Yeah. No, never been."

"You've heard of them, of course."

"Well of course," he said with annoyance. "We learned all about them..."

"...at the Academy," she finished with a roll of her eyes. "Right. What have the almighty learned ones taught you about the Borderlands?"

Tenet cleared his throat and stood straighter, a habit from giving dissertations at the Academy. "Borderlands North and South is somewhat of a misnomer, as both the northern hemisphere and southern hemispheres have their own. However, since we inhabit the northern, we'll use that for this discussion." He ignored the roll of Scarab's eyes. "The Borderlands North is an eight hundred mile band that encircles the earth. It's the border between seasonal habitation, the dividing line between Winter and Summer settlements. The climate is considered too volatile to support lasting colonies, and as such, is dead space. Caught constantly between the seasons, any human habitation there would be impossible. Borderland South is the twelve hundred mile band around the equator where the temperature never cools enough to support life. The global desert. As uninhabitable as the Great Arctic."

Scarab sighed. Why she had asked in the first place when she knew exactly what she would get... "Fine, Mr. Textbook. That's great to teach to little kiddies so they'll never wonder."

"That's straight up fact." Of that, he was sure.

"Borderland South...now that one I'll give you. You think this is hot? Imagine this doubled, all year long. On that, you're absolutely correct. I've been there once, and I'll never take another assignment in that region. Ever."

Tenet quirked and eyebrow. "What assignment could you have possibly had down there?"

Scarab ignored it. She never disclosed the intimate details of her bounties to anyone, not even the Association. In her mind, people screwed up. Why make it everyone else's business? "A hot one," was her only answer before she moved on. "But you're completely wrong about Borderlands North."

Tenet sighed. "Do you have to argue with everything I say?"

"When everything you say is wrong? Yep."

Tenet suddenly felt very tired. "Fine. Disagree with everything I say. I give up."

Scarab looked at him and saw the sag. Well, they got further than she expected. Their discussion had driven him about two miles more than he claimed possible. There was no mistaking his posture or the look in his eyes. This time, he truly was spent. "We didn't make it to my usual stopping point, but I know this area fairly well. If you can go a few hundred more yards, over that crest there, we'll use the barn for the night."

Tenet looked shocked. "Use some else's barn?"

Scarab laughed. "Oh, come now. Don't look so shocked and embarrassed. I'm not going through their belongings, we're not stealing anything. They'll never even know we were there."

Use someone else's house? His mother would have a fit! Good, honest, decent people just didn't do that. Of course, Scarab was a bounty hunter. Not exactly the good, honest type. An even ghastlier thought popped into his head. "Dear god. Have you ever used my house?"

Scarab chuckled to herself and pointed ahead. "There. See it?"

She had! Her tone said it all. "You...you..." he sputtered, trying desperately to think of an insult.

"Let's go," she said with a grin, obviously enjoying his intense discomfort. They plodded ahead, Scarab radiating self satisfaction and Tenet trying desperately to shake the willies. How many hunters were there? And how many of them had felt free to make use of his home while he was completely unaware? Did they snoop? Did they check his cabinets for medicine and look under the mattress for private things? He could picture grubby fingers rifling through his belongings. His mother's underwear drawer. Or even worse, his sister's. What did they do? More importantly, what did they know?

They reached the barn, and Scarab took a unitool out of her sack and waved it at the lock. To Tenet's great dismay, the latch unbolted and the seal disarmed in seconds. "Oh, god," he said in a sick voice. "It's that easy?"

Scarab sighed. Enough torture. "Look, kid. We do what we have to do. Our suits need to come off. We need to repair. Our boots must be coated and our masks purged and recharged. And we can't do any of that without air conditioning. There honestly is no other way."

Tenet swallowed hard. She made sense. He knew for a fact his air supply needed purging. It was one of the reasons he was so eager to get it off earlier in the day. And he didn't even want to think about what the inside of his suit looked like. He'd worn it four days straight. He knew what she said was logical. He still couldn't shake the feeling, though, that it just wasn't right.

Scarab didn't want to wait for him to make peace with it. For the last five miles, the heat in the sole of her left boot had been building, and now she was sure she had blisters. She'd pushed through two whole days without stopping to find him as quickly as she did, and was sorely hurting for her efforts. There was nothing more in the world she wanted at that very moment than to dip her feet n some cold water, and a criminal suddenly standing on his morals wasn't going to stop her. Without a word, she stepped behind him and gave a great shove. He tumbled ahead into the dark barn and Scarab sighed with relief as she sealed the door behind them.

"Heaven," Scarab said awhile later with a contented sigh, swishing her feet back and forth in a basin of cold water. "Absolute heaven." She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the chair, enjoying the sweet simplicity of cool feet.

She had shed her suit almost as soon as the door had been resealed. In a burst of energy Tenet couldn't help but admire, the next few minutes had been spent setting the suit to recharge and repair, clipping the mask to a purge unit, and gathering supplies for her foot bath. All Tenet had managed to so was plop down on the floor and watch.

What an odd person she was. Tenet had heard of bounty hunters, of course. He knew they caught criminals. In the rare moments he ever gave them any thought, he'd always imagined that they were rough and tough and very near to being outlaws themselves. It never crossed his mind that they could be women, and certainly not ones like Scarab. Her suit was rough and aged, the white marred with dirt, dust and small tears. Her mask was an older model, one that didn't have the auto shield his own contained. The visor was slightly mirrored to reduce glare, and with it on, her features were nearly impossible clearly to distinguish. When she had removed it to eat earlier, even then she still looked rough and tough. Dirt and grime had gotten inside, and her habit of constantly squinting outside, even in the dark, made her look weathered and trail weary.

Without her suit, the cares of the heat forgotten at least for the moment, she looked like someone he could have known in his own life. His father always insisted one could tell good breeding from a distance. There was something about those from a higher social status that could not be masked. The idea that this Scarab person might be more than she seemed both shocked and humbled him.

Scarab rolled her head to the side and opened an eye. "What?"

He turned red at having been caught staring and said the first thing that came to mind. "How do we have power? I thought the grids were off."

"They are, the main ones anyway, transport grid and main power. These barns have to be able to withstand the temps. Houses, too. Every house and barn had their own source to keep the basics on." Scarab leaned her head back on the chair and rolled her eyes. "I figured a man of your education would know that."

Tenet's blush deepened. Of course he knew that. He just had no idea how to access it. One wave of her unitool, and it was lights on. He didn't want to admit how long he tried to access the emergency power on his own land to get inside.

Scarab chuckled to herself then told him to get his suit off and get some sleep. "I have to repair and charge..." he started to protest.

"Not tonight. Get to sleep. I'll get it started for you." The look of relief on his face annoyed her for some reason. "I said just for tonight. Don't get used to it. By the looks of your gear, it needs a professional touch."

Tenet tried to hide his smile as he got up and plodded to a corner of the barn which contained emergency supplies. Every farm had to, by law, be equipped to handle any weather anomaly. Hurricanes, tornadoes, and even early heat waves had caused devastation in the early days of the New System. As a result, a list of emergency supplies that everyone had to have was passed into law. He opened the emergency storage bin and removed a blanket, thought about it, then removed one more. With blankets in hand, he looked around the barn for a private place to strip out of his suit. Unfortunately, this was the Mcaf Ranch. He knew it well. The Mcaf's were feed farmers, scrap corn and wheat, and their crop needed little work. Unlike his own barn, there were no stalls for processing, no little rooms for storage. Two huge cube bins took up an entire wall of the barn. As his father said, "An enviable crop, actually. Hack, slash, and store. That's it." Aside from the silos, the barn was an enormous open space for people to work and for the tractors to be repaired in season. Off season, of course, he didn't even have the tractors to offer a bit of privacy.

Scarab sighed heavily. "I suggest you stop standing there and get moving. Come on. We can afford four hours of sleep, then it's back to it."

Tenet swallowed hard and looked around for somewhere, anywhere, to change. "Uh, can you turn around?" He hated sounding like a child. But he hated the idea of no privacy right at the moment even more.

Scarab shook her head. "Oh, for heaven's sake..."

"Come on. Please?"

The please was new. Scarab bit her tongue and scooted her chair away from him. "There, Mr. Self Conscious. Better?"

He ignored her comment but was truly grateful. Scarab had removed her suit in front of him like it was no big deal. And it wasn't...for her. She had been smart. A pro in every aspect of the use and care of the suits, Scarab had been smart enough to wear full clothing underneath. Unlike Scarab, when he donned his suit, he assumed that the less clothing he had on under the suit, the cooler he would be, and had opted to wear only underwear. As he learned less than four hours into wearing the suit, it had been an unwise decision. He worked the system of locks and snaps as quickly as he could, dreading what he knew he'd see.

As soon as the cool air hit his bare skin, he felt a flood of relief. The relief was short-lived, though. Within seconds, his skin felt like it was on fire. Every inch of him felt chaffed raw by the system of wires, coolers, and padding that had seemed misleadingly soft when he tried the suit on before his adventure. He tried to move gingerly and wrap the blanket around him, but the wool of it felt like little shards of glass and he couldn't control the hiss of pain that escaped.

Scarab turned at the sound, and swore like a sailor as she jumped up and ran over. She kept on swearing when she ripped the blankets from his hands and looked him over, head to toe. "Shit, Tenet. What the hell were you thinking?" She poked and probed and hissed herself at a few particularly bad spots. Tenet could do nothing but close his eyes, feel the heat scorch his face with embarrassment, and wait for it to be over.

"Underwear," she said incredulously. "That's all you wore? The big bad rebel chaffed raw in his friggin' underwear!" She raged and screamed as she stomped her way to the first aid center and rummaged around for supplies. "Did you think this through at all? I'm serious. I want to know. Did one single plan actually factor into this little test of manhood or was it completely a last minute whim?" She said she wanted an answer, but Tenet knew otherwise and did the only thing he could. He kept his mouth shut and waited for her to wind down. "Dammit," she scoffed, dabbing at a raw spot on his knee. It took all he had not to wince, but he somehow maintained control. "For the love of..." she went off again when she got to his upper thigh, where one of the three main cooling units had actually drawn blood. "Why the hell didn't you say anything sooner, you...you....ass!?"

Tenet took a deep breath and held it. Her hands were on his midriff then, gently messaging salve around his hip and across his stomach where the center crease of the suit left an angry red welt. He could no longer feel the sting of the salve. Instead, he felt something else and tried desperately to keep himself under control. He looked at the ceiling and pretended not to notice how soft her hands were or how close they were getting to... Wraiths. Had to think about wraiths. Other hunters. Big, mean ones, bearing down on him. Bots. Those were good to think about. Better yet, a bot blasting a wraith who was eating a hunter. Ghastly scene. He had to keep that in his head.

Scarab was oblivious to anything he was thinking or feeling. She was disgusted with him in that very moment, and decided she'd probably stay that way for a long time. Never in all her hunts had she come across a suspect with such little common sense. Underwear. What the hell was this kid thinking? "A fat load of good that fancy degree did for you, Mr. Smartypants!" She moved into safer territory, wiping with gusto at the scratches up and down his arms. After the salve came bandages. "And now I'll have to spend the entire night on your suit."

Tenet cleared his throat. "I'll do it," he said weakly.

She stopped and gave him a look that told him not to argue. "That suit is a festering pile of disease. You're lucky you haven't gotten infected as it is. Do you know how to clean it?" She didn't wait for an answer. "No, you don't. If I let you back into that suit and there's even one bacteria still alive, you're dead. Nothing I can do. And I'll be goddamned if I'm bringing you in dead!"

Tenet quirked an eyebrow. "Really? I thought you said it didn't matter if I lived or died?"

The glare she gave him scorched to the core, but he didn't care. He was glad he said it anyway. At least he regained a bit of pride. Just a bit.

When she was finished, she gathered up the supplies and put them back in the emergency bin. Without a word she stalked past him to her sack and rummaged through until she found what she was looking for. Into her com, she said, "Scribe. Supplies. Mcaf." She snapped it shut, then closed her sack with a loud thud. She saw that he was still just standing there and sighed a heavy sigh. "Get to bed." He didn't argue, just numbly nodded and spread the blanket out on the floor. Within seconds, he was asleep, leaving Scarab to spend a long night picking over every inch of his suit.

Chapter 3

Days passed. Since the night in the barn, the two only spoke when absolutely necessary. Tenet was deeply embarrassed at his own foolishness and lack of preparation and thought. He brooded for the first full day about it before the humbling thought of how quickly this woman helped. True, she criticized every step of the way. Even when she was healing, she was tearing open another kind of wound. But, the fact remained that she did help him. Was it to keep her investment safe? Did it really matter?

So Tenet resolved to follow her lead. He decided he had no choice, since she was right. He had absolutely no idea what he was thinking, if he'd been thinking at all, when he embarked on this half-baked scheme to prove...what, exactly? Before the migration, it all seemed so clear to him. He wanted to prove himself to be a man in his father's eyes. Not that he admitted it, not even to himself, back then. Then, he did it to be one of the few who had, and that was all he thought drove him. The next level in his lifelong crusade of daring. But as he walked in silence, every step sending shards of pain through him in spite of the clothing Scarab supplied, the purpose of his journey became more and more clear.

He wasn't out here for himself. When he got right down to it, nothing he had ever done had been for himself. He did it all for his father. His kind father. His loving father. His demanding father.

At one point in the endless days of walking, he tried to bring it up to Scarab. "Do you want to know what it's like to be the son of the exalted Leader?" But she had answered with a curt "no", so he continued his self assessment alone.

True, he had everything. Mostly everything, anyway. He was a loss with the ladies. But his mother constantly reminded him that his own father suffered from the same bad luck until they met when his father was well into his forties. That actually didn't concern him overly. His mind rarely wandered in that direction, and when it did, he shut the thoughts down as quickly as possible. He wasn't interested in settling down with a family, so women weren't a top priority. He'd have plenty of time later.

He also had no interest in government. Oh, he tried. He went to the meetings with his father, knew all the heads of the world by first name even. He grew up with them, Council members as his godfathers and "uncles", gifts on his birthday from those who helped rule the world. His holidays were filled with global hotshots, and the heads of Agro. He was born into it, even if he always secretly longed for something different. His father reminded him over and over what was expected. So he went to the Academy and excelled. He graduated top of his class, though whether it was because of his own accomplishments or his status, he questioned several times. He enrolled in the military service and would have no doubt been some high ranking general in no time had he had the opportunity. Early into service, though, his mother's heritage was scrutinized and he was honorably discharged for "reasons beyond his control". His mother's family hailed from a small band of outlaws who attempted to settle off border. He didn't know the details, as it was quickly brushed under the carpet. The press never even found out. And though it was in no way his fault, his father still looked at him with contempt whenever the military was mentioned.

His mother never explained. That bothered him greatly. Several times he had asked her why it was such a bad thing, why it was enough to keep him out of the military. She'd simply laugh it off and tell him not to worry about it. "It's nothing you or I can change, so does it really matter?" But it did. It did matter. Tenet wanted the gossip of it, true. But he also felt that it could explain his own streak of independence and defiance. His entire life had been spent secretly rebelling against everything his father wanted for him, and he never knew why. This ill-fated journey was simply the culmination of all those regressed incidents where something said to rebel, and he didn't.

Long days passed, then finally, when they were breaking into yet another barn, Scarab broke her code of silence. "Tonight we get about eight hours. You made good time today. Maybe there's hope for you yet."

He felt a pride he had never known. Over the days of thought and introspection, his body started to adapt. The footsteps that once made a clear trail right to him had changed into a more sporadic pattern, lessening with every step he took. He was getting the hang of walking. Not a great accomplishment, the very basic. But it was something.

His stamina was growing by the hour as well with her constant pushing. He never passed an opportunity to eat whatever it was she kept feeding him, and part of him actually began to look forward to it. Whatever it was boosted him, and that's all that mattered. Truth be told, he was starting to even like the taste. Another subtle change was how willing he was becoming to listen to her curt directives without arguing back. In one of her more talkative moments the previous night, she said simply, "Wraiths will be hunting soon. Be alert." He was shocked to catch himself actually doing that.

She opened the door and he walked inside, no longer shuddering at the idea of trespass. As she had done for every barn they stayed in, she made an autonote about what they used. He didn't have to ask to know that meant she'd be replacing the items. They always spent a careful hour combing the barns before leaving to make sure there was absolutely no sign that they had been there, and not once had he caught her snooping. This hunter, at least, respected the owners' privacy.

As had become the routine, Tenet walked past her while she sealed the door and found the emergency bin. He removed the supplies for her foot baths, which seemed to be her one indulgence in life, and his bedding. She never used bedding, sleeping upright in any chair she could find to remain half alert. What a horrible life, in Tenet's mind. If Summers were this rough, he couldn't imagine how bad the Winters were.

She slid her feet into the water, then swore softly.

Tenet finished getting out of his suit and walked over. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," she said testily. "Go to bed."

Tenet sighed. "Back to silence, huh?" Scarab said nothing and tried to wave him off. Enough was enough. "I said, what's the matter?"

"And I said go to bed!"

Tenet rolled his eyes and pulled her feet from the water. She squirmed and punched him, but when push came to shove, he was stronger. In an instant he saw what she was swearing about and his eyes went wide. The entire sole of one foot was a nasty burn. "Oh my god," he said, half to himself at the shock of such an extensive injury.

Scarab pulled and tugged, but eventually the pain of fighting when he had such a strong hold on her was too great and she sat brooding and deeply embarrassed. It was one thing for Tenet to have such injuries. He had no idea what he was doing, a complete newbie to off seasoning. She, on the other hand, was supposed to be a professional. Scarab was humiliated to the core. "It's not as bad as it looks," she said bitterly.

Tenet looked at her and cocked an eyebrow, but said nothing. He went to the first aid bin and removed what supplies were there. "Understocked," he said, setting the items in a pile next to her chair. "We'll have to do the best we can."

"I'll do it myself, thank you," she sniped at him.

He refused to let her foot go, just calmly held it until she settled back down. "Fine," she huffed.

Tenet looked at the wet burn and tried to decide what to do. He actually knew a lot about doctoring as his mother was their ranch healer. Even after she wed such a powerful man, she refused to give up the practice. "We can hire a laborer to do that!" his father had raged over and over through his life. But she insisted there was a touch that any old day laborer couldn't master. When his father wasn't dragging him from one political function or another, Tenet could be found learning from his mother. He didn't want to be either a doctor or, of more status, a ranch healer. But he was fascinated by it nonetheless.

The burn was bad. There was no doubt in his mind it was the worst he'd seen. Still, a burn was a burn and should be treated like any other, just on a larger scale. The first aid kit had been lacking in a lot of medicinal basics. The only salve it contained was for abrasions. A simple silver compound would have cured her foot in a matter of days. He cursed softly under his breath as he rifled through the supplies on hand.

"What?" she asked, acid still in her voice.

"I was muttering about fining whoever owns this place. Not even a silver salve. Can you believe it? How irresponsible can people be?"

Scarab scoffed. "Said by the kid who came on this mission half-cocked."

Instead of arguing, much to her surprise he agreed. "True. But I'm not responsible for an entire ranch of hands. I'm not putting anyone else in danger." He finally settled on a basic antibiotic ointment and gauze. It worked in the old days, it would have to work now. Surely the owners of the next barn they invaded would be more responsible.

Scarab crossed her arms over her chest. "You're putting me in danger."

Tenet shook his head and smiled. "Oh no. I admit I don't know a lot about bounty hunting, but I'm quite sure that you've done this to yourself. You didn't have to take this bounty. Your choice."

His words stung because they were true. She did this to herself. She lead this rough life out of choice. Scarab set her jaw and sulked in silence while her bounty worked on her foot.

Tenet probed the burn and shook his head again. "Look, there's nothing I can do until it's drained." The words were said sympathetically, and that added to Scarab's rage.

"Then drain it."

Tenet stood and said, "Let me just see if they have an anesthetic or a..."

"No. Just do it."

Tenet was about to object, but saw the determination in her eyes. Damn fool, but what could he do about it? Fine. Let her pretend to be tough. Carefully he took her foot again and began to probe. To her credit, and much to Tenet's admiration, she didn't even flinch. Though it had to be incredibly painful, Scarab remained stoic through the entire process. When it was finally done, and her foot bandaged as best as could be with the lacking supplies, Tenet started to apologize for having to do it, but she cut him off sharply.

"Save your apologies. Never apologize for doing what has to be done."

She didn't thank him, but she didn't yell at him, either. Tenet figured it was about as much of a display of gratitude that he was likely to get. He gathered up the unused supplies and headed back to the emergency bin, while Scarab made a note in her com about the ranch and supplies she would need to refill.

Tenet returned with his blanket and spread it out near her chair. Instantly she was offended at the protectiveness of the act. "Move."

Tenet sighed. "In case you hadn't noticed, this place is not only lacking in supplies, but incredibly filthy. The pen hasn't been cleaned in years, by the looks, and the empty grain cube's even worse."

Scarab turned to look and he was right. The place was a mess. She sighed and resigned herself to the fact that they'd be sleeping close for the night. "Hand me your suit, at least."

He lay down on his blanket and shook his head. "Already set it to charge. Yours too."

When had he done that?

"I've got to look at that boot, at least."

"Boot's scrap. I think you should use your spare."

How did he even know she had a spare? Did he actually have that much faith in her even after she let herself get so badly injured? "I can fix it," she said, growing more annoyed by the second. She thought he was going to ignore her, and started to stand herself.

He sighed. "Fine, I'll get it. But if it burned your foot that badly, it's ruined and you know it."

She didn't like his new-found competence. Just what had he been brooding about for days that brought it about? He tossed her the boot, then turned over on his blanket and went to sleep. She glared at him for awhile longer, then investigated the boot.

The boots were a simple design. Though the suits had wiring and required charging, and the masks ranged from basic to rocket science depending on the quality, boots were pretty much the same. Sure the newest ones were constructed of a fancy material to make them lightweight, but the design itself was the same. Make enough layers to withstand the heat, and add some locks that others couldn't break into easily. The locking mechanisms had been added when bounty hunters were found scorched from the feet up. As subhuman and appalling as it was, it happened. Bounty hunters would turn on each other and commit the most despicable acts simply because they could. With no law to stop them, no one to hold them accountable, bounty hunting did attract a certain sect of the population that abused the freedom. Every bit of a hunter's suit had some type of lock, but the locks of the boots were nearly impossible to open illegally without destroying the boots themselves. Even the most basic of equipment had it.

As Scarab inspected the boot, she discovered it was that lock that had failed. The mechanism looked like it failed simply because it was used too often. There were hunters that insisted on never removing their boots until they needed a new pair. Scarab always thought that was sheer paranoia. Now she wasn't so sure. Sighing to herself, she flipped it over and checked the soles. They were fine. It was definitely the lock. Sand had worked its way in through the broken lock, and probably for quite some time. She was lucky she got this far with them, but it didn't make her feel lucky. It just made her feel incompetent. She should have noticed a broken lock right after it happened. But at the end of a long, hot day, the thoughts of the cool foot baths she indulged in made her rush. Tenet shifted in his sleep, and she looked up to make sure she wasn't caught once again failing. He settled back down and resumed his soft snoring.

Scarab stood up and limped towards her sack. Damn but it hurt to walk! She knew that tomorrow morning would be better, especially in the new pair of boots she'd been saving. Tenet's doctoring skills had been surprising, and just added to her growing curiosity about him. He pretended to know everything he didn't, and kept secret what he actually knew. And despite the curt words born of embarrassment, she was truly grateful for his skill. She herself only knew the basics, and truly felt fear when she saw the condition of her foot. Still, it bothered her to no end that she actually had to rely on a bounty to come to her aide. Was she slipping?

She reached in her sack and removed the new boots, tossing them back towards her chair for lock programming. Then she limped on to the door with both of the old boots. Some hunters sold their old equipment to be refurbished, a practice Scarab thought was just plain wrong. Some new hunter with very little startup would get the equipment, and she knew first hand how truly second rate it was. Refurbishment weakened an already weakened product. Period. Lives depended on the equipment to be solid, no matter how old. In the past few off seasons, the practice had grown, and several young hopefuls had paid the ultimate price. She refused to be part of that shady business.

Scarab unsealed the door and tossed the boots as far as she could. Within a few days, the constant heat of the sand would break down the majority of the material, and the rest would be buried deep under the blowing dust or carried off by curious critters. The process was beginning already as she watched by moonlight. The insides of the boots weren't meant to handle any great temperature and as the baking sand filled them, they began to smolder. She watched them for a minute before a sound in the distance cut through her like a knife.

Wraiths. On the hunt. Two by the sounds of it. Tenet was correct when he said they had no vocal chords. Most of their communication was done by gestures and a series of huffy breaths. But that was when they were together, close and in sight. They had developed a way of long distance communication, a sharp and terrifying whistle. Their shrill calls back and forth could be heard for miles. She listened carefully, trying to judge their distance. It was difficult to tell how far away they were. With no trees or plants to muffle sound, it carried and echoed. Only her years of hunting had taught her how to pick out where they were, but even that took time. The hairs on her neck stood up as the calls went on for nearly half an hour. In the end, she determined that they were quite a distance away, and traveling in the other direction. They should be safe here, but just for the night. When the wraiths didn't find anything alive, they'd be heading northeast, just like Scarab and Tenet. She hoped that they didn't discover the tracks, and was tempted to get Tenet up and get moving.

But the breeze that night was strong, and she knew that any tracks that had been made would be blown over. She may be slipping as a hunter, but she still knew the basics. Eat when you can, sleep when you can, and push hard when you have to. She could go right now. Her bounty could not.

She closed the door and limped back to her chair. Wraiths. She stared at Tenet's back and wondered just how he'd take the news. A few days ago, she would have bet he'd run screaming for the hills, the whole time professing to know exactly what to do if he saw one. Now, she wasn't so sure. It was tempting to wake him and let him decide for himself if he was up to pushing through, but she shook the idea off. She was the hunter, it was her call. Let him sleep. Another bitter reality would be on him soon enough. She closed her eyes and drifted off into her half sleep.

**

"Get up," Scarab said again, shaking Tenet's shoulder.

"Mmmph," he grumbled, cracking open an eye. "Why can't you ever wake me up during a bad dream, huh?"

"Sky's cloudy today. We're in luck!" She grinned at him and stood up, already dressed for the day and raring to go.

Tenet sighed. "It was a nice one, too," he said as he sat. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and held his hand our for the water and mystery food he knew she had waiting. He took a sip of the water. "Wish it was coffee. Mmmm. Coffee." The very thought was heaven.

"You'll have coffee at base camp. Get up and we'll be that much closer."

Tenet gnawed on the food and drank down the water, then stood and stretched. "Boy, a full eight hours of sleep really makes a difference, eh? I feel great."

"Good," she said, tossing him his suit. "You're gonna need the energy."

"Still wish I got to finish that dream."

"Pretty girl, eh?" she asked with amusement as she puttered around to set everything right.

He shook his head. "No, actually. I dreamed I was a bounty hunter in Winter."

Scarab rolled her eyes. "Hasn't this taught you anything?"

"Yes." He pulled on his boots and locked them, then pulled on the gloves. The task had seemed almost impossible just a week before. Now, he felt like a pro. "It taught me that I'm tougher than I thought."

Scarab sighed and snatched up his blankets. "Don't go getting cocky on me again. I'm just starting to be less annoyed with you."

"I'm not being cocky. I really mean it. I had no idea I'd be able to do anything, let alone survive in Summer."

"Then..." Her curiosity almost got the better of her. She never asked her bounties their reasons. She was sure they had them, and equally sure she didn't care. In the end, did reason ever really matter? No. She still had to save them...or not. And the whys of it all were pointless. She almost asked. "Well, good. You'll need that energy," she said instead. "It's actually cloudy."

Very rarely, usually not even once a Summer, some huge storm would blow in and cover the sky with a beautiful blanket of blessed clouds. They never lasted long. The arid land would suck up the moisture all too quickly. But it was a wonder when it happened, and they needed to take full advantage of it.

"How's the foot?"

She felt the heat creep up her neck and was glad she was looking away and he couldn't see. "Fine. You ready?"

Tenet looked around. "We're not cleaning up more?"

Scarab shrugged. "Do you really think they'd notice if we did?"

Tenet laughed then, the first real laugh in many days. "No, probably not."

She actually smiled back at him. "Good. Let's go."

They enjoyed the morning stroll. That's what it felt like to Tenet; they were taking a break from the endless plodding in the scorching heat and taking a refreshing stroll in the shade. It was amazing to him how everything seemed different. Less of a death trap, and more serene. It was like night without the spookiness, and he found that he was truly enjoying it. The break in the heat also meant that they could move faster. As in night, the only temperature to truly worry about came from the sand. They kept on the masks, at Scarab's insistence, only because the sun could show itself without warning. Overall, it was a very pleasant morning.

They stopped for another dose of water. During the day, they had to drink it through the masks. It had been tricky to learn how to get the water in the mouth and not down the front of the mask to be gobbled up by the thirsty ground, but Tenet had gotten the hang of it. They even found a rock that was mostly in shade to sit on. It wasn't terribly hot, and Scarab said they could have a decent break. "Need any food?"

Drinking water through the mask was hard enough. Tenet had yet to master eating. Besides, he didn't feel that hungry. "No, I'll pass."

"Just checking."

He looked up at the cloudy sky. The clouds looked thinner by the minute. "They're leaving," he said, in a voice so dejected that Scarab laughed.

"Aw, just be grateful we've seen them at all. I've gone entire Summers without a single cloud."

"How do you do it?" he asked, still looking at the sky.

Scarab frowned. "Do what?"

He looked at her and waved his hands around. "This. The off seasoning. How do you do it year after year?"

The thought to not answer him flashed through her, but for some reason, she ignored it. Maybe it was the pleasant morning. Maybe it was the knowledge that she still had to tell him how close the wraiths were, and how far they still had to go to be safe. Maybe she really was just slipping. For whatever reason, though, she wanted to answer his question.

"I do it because it's what I know."

Tenet sighed. "Well that's not a real answer. Or, if you ask me, even a legitimate one. Certainly you could do something else. Everyone can do something else."

Scarab sighed. He was right. It wasn't really an answer at all. "I do it because it's what I like. Is that a better answer?"

He looked at her and cocked his head. "You like this? You like the heat and the cold and the constant mission of saving screw-ups like myself?"

Scarab didn't even know how much it took for him to admit that he, the son of the exalted Leader, head of his class and head of every other class to boot, was a screw-up. It made her suddenly feel like admitting something herself. "That's the problem with people," she said seemingly out of left field. "They say something big and grand and then expect you to do the same."

Tenet was truly confused. He didn't say anything big and grand, just said the truth. "So you're saying you don't like people?"

"Yes, I guess. I don't like people. There. That's why I do this." It wasn't. They both knew it. But before he could reply, a terrifying sound cut through their peaceful moment. Tenet had never heard anything like it. His life of privilege had left him little to be afraid of. He had never been hunted, nor truly in danger. In that moment, though, some primal part of him knew that noise, recognized the danger, and screamed "run".

Tenet bolted up and began to run, with Scarab hot on his heels. "Slow down," she yelled. He didn't listen, couldn't hear her. His racing heart was all he could hear. "Run, run, run," it beat in his ears. "Run...for....your...life."

After nearly half a mile, Scarab finally caught him and yanked on his arm. "Stop!"

He wasn't expecting the tug, and instinct took over. For a mad moment he struggled and tried to fight, until her voice made it though to him. "Stop now!"

He stopped and looked, panic clearing from his eyes. Scarab. It was just Scarab. He stood there and tried to catch his breath, while she swore at him.

"That," she said panting, "is the call of a wraith. A pair, actually."

Tenet shook his head, his heart still racing, trying to regain control. He calmed down and tried to get a hold of himself. Never in his life had he reacted so...so...cowardly. Shame filled him, and it must have shown on his face, because Scarab shook her head.

"Don't. Don't feel bad. Happens to everyone the first time they hear the calling."

"I...I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry..."

"No. It's alright. It happens to everybody. Usually I do a better job preparing, and usually the first call they hear is from behind a sealed door or when we're already on the move. You caught me by surprise is all."

"Everybody?" he asked skeptically. It was hard to imagine the criminal element she hunted reacting with such humiliating lack of bravery.

But she nodded and said with certainty, "Everybody. I don't know why. The toughest outlaws to the most scared Forgottens, everybody's first reaction is to run far and fast. Must be an ingrained survival instinct or something."

Tenet's breathing had slowed and his heart beat returned to almost normal. "What exactly was that? Wraiths can't scream."

She shook her head. "No. Maybe that's what takes everyone by surprise. They can't scream, exactly. It's more of a whistle. They use it for long distance communication. Listen. We're bound to hear it again."

Tenet stood and listened, scanning the horizon as he did. They were on a ranch far from his own, now, one he had never seen in his life. The hills rolled gently, and there were no signs of trees. They weren't even near enough to any structure to offer even a measure of comfort. The second call ripped through the air, and his heart started again. The combination of the most horrific sound of something hunting him and the knowledge that there was absolutely nowhere to hide made his feet twitch to take off again. The only thing that held him steady was Scarab's gloved hand on his suit. He couldn't feel the pressure, but just knowing it was there locked him in place.

"It's alright," she said, frowning. "We're alright for at least another day."

"How can you tell?" To Tenet, it sounded as if they were hot on their heels and closing in fast.

"Practice," was all she said. "Let's go."

They picked up the pace just as the sun burned off the last of the blessed clouds. They didn't talk all afternoon, Tenet out of fear, Scarab out of determination to get them to a safe place. As evening approached, instead of taking their usual rest before the last push to whatever barn they could find, Scarab offered him his meal and water on the move.

"No. I'll wait."

"You sure? We'll be on the move awhile."

But Tenet couldn't eat. He stomach was a fist of fear, and he doubted he'd be able to eat even safely in a barn. They pressed on.

The moon rose over the horizon, but this time Tenet didn't take any comfort in either the cooler temperatures, or the surreality of the scenery. Every shadow made him jump, every dip over the horizon in the dark brought apprehension. They walked for hours in the dark before coming upon any sort of structure.

It wasn't a barn, it was an outpost. The ranch they were on was obviously sheep land. Wide and mostly flat, with no rows that indicated Agro. The outpost was just another clue.

"We're in the Meatlands already?" he half asked, half stated with surprise.

Scarab nodded, surprised herself at his observations. "Yeah. Crossed into it today."

He tried to do the math in his head. "We've walked that far already?"

Scarab chuckled. "Amazing how fast you can move if you have to, eh?" They reached the outpost and Scarab quickly unsealed the door.

Outposts were a necessary part of a difficult profession. The lands not fit for farming food were used as grazing lands for sheep, cows, and chickens. The meat ranches tended to be large, with enormous herds of animals free to roam wherever they wanted. Because of this, every corner of the land, and many spaces in the center, had to be carefully watched. Every meat ranch had a team of highly trained staff, mostly ex military, whose sole mission in life was to kill anything that threatened the animals. Set up like military bunkers, the outposts housed the men around the clock. Many never entered a proper town again once they signed on, having everything they needed in one place and a solitary attitude to match. They had their own transports to the Winter lands, with the animals. It was a nasty, dirty, messy job. It was awful, but necessary. Tenet never felt too badly for those stationed in the outposts. It took a certain breed of man to be able to handle such a job, and anyone fit for that life should probably remain away from society.

The inside of the outpost shocked Tenet. Outside it looked like a bunker. Inside, it was downright cozy. Unlike the barns they'd been camped out in, these were homes. Couches, sets, dishes, photos... This was someone's home. The though of trespassing in it made Tenet shudder.

Scarab glanced at him and knew what he was thinking. "Don't worry. Unlike the owners of the Agro ranches, these guys know we're here."

"They do?"

"We have a pact. It's necessary. This particular outpost is the home of Burt."

Tenet quirked an eyebrow. "Burt who?"

Scarab shrugged. "That's all I know. Burt. And," she said, moving to the kitchen area, "if I know Burt...." She rummaged around the cupboard for a minute and gave a whoop of delight. "Yes!"

Tenet smiled at her exuberance. "What?"

"Coffee!" She took a little chip taped to the top of the can, then plugged it into her com. A rough old voice crackled through when she played it. "Here ya go, girlie. Sugar's in the tin on the counter. Hope your outlaw ain't givin' ya too much trouble now. If he's a rough one, don't share." The voice cackled into laughter, then said, "I left some goodies for ya. Real classic stuff. Don't forget to check you know where before you leave. Really, Scarab. When ya gonna give this up?"

Scarab smiled through the mild admonition, then recorded her own message on the chip. "When you do, old man. And thanks." She removed the chip from her com and taped it back on the lid. She turned to Tenet with a grin. "See? Told you he knew I was coming."

"How did he know it would be you?"

She shrugged. "This is my connection. Anyone else wouldn't have made it in the door."

Tenet was about to ask what she meant, but let it go. Burt obviously had an arrangement with her, so he relaxed and removed his mask. She did the same, but warned him not to get too comfy yet. "We can't stay long, but damn do I need coffee!" She got her gloves off in record time and easily found her way around the kitchen. When the coffee was ready, she jumped up out of the kitchen chair and almost ran to the pot. She filled two mugs, then dumped sugar in both. Tenet was about to object to the sugar, but who was he to complain? Coffee. In the middle of nowhere. Sugar or no didn't really matter. She reached up into the cupboard and removed two white lumps.

"What's that?"

"Try it," she said, plopping one in each cup.

"But..."

Scarab sighed and handed him the mug. "Just try it, alright?"

Tenet sat at the table with the coffee and took a sip. Heaven. That's what it was. A little slice of normalcy in an otherwise absurd situation. And Scarab was right. Whatever she put in the cup made it even more wonderful. He doubted any other cup of coffee for the rest of his life would ever taste so perfect. They may be great, but they would never live up to the pleasure of this unexpected oasis.

"Good, no?" she said, grinning and reaching for her second cup.

He decided to savor his, swirling it around in his mouth. "You have no idea." He watched her once again add the mysterious white lump into her cup. "So what is it, anyway?"

She looked at him for a second before mumbling an answer.

"What was that?" he asked, leaning forward.

"Cow's milk. Dried cows milk."

Tenet froze with the cup halfway to his mouth. "You've got to be joking."

She sighed. "Oh here we go."

"You...you fed me...cow's milk?" He was absolutely stunned that she would do something like that without his knowledge.

"You liked it before you knew what it was."

Tenet Bradwin, IV, had just eaten cow's milk. He slowly put the cup on the table and looked around for the sink. "I think I'm going to be sick."

Scarab rolled her eyes. "Oh, for the love of..."

He jumped up and leaned over the sink, sure that the coffee would come back up at any moment.

"Tenet, millions of people drink cow's milk."

He opened his mouth and waited.

"I bet you've tried it yourself."

He gagged a little.

"Come on. You mean to say that at your fancy parties they don't serve cheese?"

Tenet shook his head. "That's not the same. It's been treated."

"It's still animal product."

"Drinking the milk," he said trying to control his building anger, "is barbaric. It's stealing from babies."

"Ah ha. There you go. Cheese, as treated as it may be, is from milk, which is for the babies. Your kind eats cheese."

"As a rare novelty harvested from cows whose young have died or been weaned!" His temper was boiling now. How dare she accuse him of harming an animal for his personal gain? "It's a matter of not letting it go to waste, not stealing it from a poor defenseless baby, and I'll have an apology for the accusation!"

Scarab sighed and leaned back against the counter. It was far from the first time she had heard the argument, and she knew it wouldn't be the last. "I'm not accusing you of being anything but the most respectful citizen. Satisfied?"

But Tenet was not, and he refused to pretend. "You've had a tone of condescension about me. Fine. I understand that. I'm used to that. You get a pretty thick skin when you're a constant target. You want to think I'm high and mighty, that's just fine by me. But I'll not have it be said by anyone that I would ever, ever harm an animal. That has nothing to do with breeding or fancy dinner parties or anything other than a solid moral fiber that being wealthy does not negate!"

Scarab threw her hands in the air. "Fine. Forgive me for lumping you in with the rest of society's elite. Pardon me if most of your kind spend their days making a bad name for all!"

"And what it that supposed to mean? My kind?"

Now she was the one getting heated. "You high and mighty, you rich sitting on your thrones and spitting on the working class. You're all the same on almost every level..."

Tenet crossed his arms over his chest. "I beg your pardon?"

"I said 'almost' every level. So you don't eat meat or drink milk. Fine. Good for you. I'll give you a friggin' gold star for your imaginary contribution to society. But I'll take it right back again when you dare to have the audacity to look down on those whose only option for survival is to use what nature has supplied."

Tenet shook his head, dropped his arms, and took a step closer. "Oh, no. No. You're not giving me that garbage about cost of living a good and moral life! I've heard it before and I summarily reject the implications."

Scarab scoffed and took a step as well. "Summarily reject? How can you summarily reject the truth? You Agros with your friggin' power...you drive up the cost of what should be given freely and sit on your thrones built by the sweat and tears of those less fortunate."

Tenet leaned in. It wasn't necessary. There was no chance his words would be hard to hear. But in that moment, he was angrier than he had ever been in his life. "First off, missy..."

"Missy?" she squeaked, her face burning with rage.

"You have no idea how hard my family works for all they have. Bone weary, incredibly hard work. Secondly, we do not, in fact, drive prices up on anything. The prices are set by the global market and it is the consumer who is to blame for whatever value there is."

"And by 'the consumer', of course, you mean large corporations and the elite of society which..."

"...are the ones that do all the buying!"

"Exactly!" she said, throwing her hands in the air again. "You just made my point. You cater to you, and the ones like you, and screw whoever can't keep up!"

Tenet leaned back and threw his own hands in the air. "Oh, and that's my fault? It's my fault I work hard and produce a desirable product for all the others who do the same? What, I'm supposed to earn nothing for my efforts? What would you have me do? Give it all away?" He gave a bitter laugh. "Where's the fairness in that?"

"You tell that to the young father who's been doled out a crop by this sainted government of yours and busts his ass on friggin' alfalfa around the clock just to try and make ends meet. You look him in the eye when he has his first heart attack at thirty from all the stress and pressure and effort and you tell him that he just didn't work hard enough to get to eat your blessed corn."

The words hung in the air between them, and Tenet's anger instantly disappeared. Those weren't the words from someone societal outcast. Those weren't the words from someone speaking in the abstract. Those words were filled with too much pain to be someone else's story. He had no idea what to say.

Scarab swore softly to herself and slumped back in the chair. Too much. This annoying kid, this spoiled brat had gotten her too heated, let her defenses drop. Professionalism. She needed to regain her professionalism. "Look," she said, with an evenness she didn't feel. "Let's drop it. You're an Agro. I apologize about the milk, even though I personally find it ridiculous that you won't drink it. Doesn't hurt the cow a bit to use its milk." She raised a hand to stop the argument that was about to rekindle. "We don't see eye to eye. That's fine. Everyone has a right to their opinion."

Tenet swallowed a lump in his throat. She looked...defeated. "Scarab, I..."

"It's fine. No more milk. Got it." She took his cup and drank it down, both to prove her point and not waste it. She filled it again with just coffee and handed it over. He took the cup and tried to drink, but the coffee left an incredibly bitter taste. It really was better the other way.

They sat in silence for a while, the only noise an old-fashioned clock above the antique stove. He tried another sip of the coffee, but almost gagged. Silently he got up and added sugar. That was better, but nothing like the milk. He couldn't believe he even thought it, and didn't doubt that he'd never actually say it. But damn, that milk sure tasted good. He couldn't help but chuckle with the thought of the look on his father's face if he ever told him.

"What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing." She turned back to her careful study of anything but him, and he went back to his own thoughts. So she was a milk drinker. He wondered if her addiction to animal products ended there. Oh, now, he couldn't be faulted for the few times he had tried cheese. He had it first hand from the meat farmers that it was cast off milk, that some calf had died or something and left the mother crying to be milked. What was the worse sin? Using it, or letting it go to waste?

And she was wrong about the economy, so very wrong. People were assigned the crops they could handle, and that was a fact. If her father was given alfalfa, there was a reason behind it. It wasn't a lottery. Skills were assessed, and the career carefully chosen to highlight those skills. Most often alfalfa went to someone who insisted they wanted to be added to the Agro pool, but didn't quite measure up. It wasn't a death sentence. It wasn't even a punishment. It was simply the best system they could come up with. Her father had choices. He could have chosen to be a laborer. Or an accountant. Perhaps he was even highly intelligent and would have made an excellent addition to the science pool. People tended to stick with what they were best at, but sometimes their desire to be better at something else got the better of them. Was it an ideal situation? No. And, when you got right down to it, it placed the government in a real pickle. They couldn't force a born scientist to enter the science pool, and they couldn't make a scientist become a good farmer. If you couldn't decide where you fit in life, how was that the fault of the government?

And, to be even more honest, he'd never point out the glaring fact that a career is not a life long sentence. He knew of many people just in the Agro League alone who had swapped crops. One scandalous individual actually gave up top wheat to be a day laborer in their communications center. It wasn't impossible to change. It wasn't even that difficult. You submit and application to the Career Director's Board and they review your qualifications. He refused to feel any guilt at all that Scarab's father was too lazy to fill out the paperwork. He felt bad for her, sure. He never thought her life was easy before, and her inadvertent confession certainly added to her the picture. But he wasn't to blame. Those like him weren't to blame. And most certainly the government wasn't to blame. He felt bad, but it wasn't his fault.

"So, uh...how long are we here for?" Time to get on a safe subject.

"A little while longer. I'm waiting for the moon to set, then we'll continue."

"In total darkness?"

She shrugged. "It's safer. And it's not actually total darkness. Beacons come on late at night." Tenet reached for more coffee, but she shook her head. "No more."

"Why not?" he asked in a deeply disappointed tone.

"Goes right through you, and we can't stop to dump the bags."

Tenet cleared his throat, still embarrassed because of his upbringing at the very mention of something so personal as "the bags". Waste collection bags. It was a disgusting, but necessary, part of the suit which he normally tried to clean out of her sight. "Oh. Yeah." He cleared his throat again. "Beacons?"

"Yes, for the bounty hunters. They come on late, after the moon has set or on nights where there is no moon."

"Wait. If there are beacons, then the grid has to be on."

She shook her head. "Beacons run on a different system." She stood and grabbed his empty cup, rinsing it and the coffee pot in the sink. "It's actually an emergency system. The wiring for it is the old style...actual wires in a grid, both in the Winter and Summer lands."

Tenet had no idea such a system existed. "Real wires? How do they hold up in the heat?"

"They go very deep underground, encased in thick tubes designed to block out temperatures of up to 1,000 degrees."

Tenet whistled. "Wow. Now that's hot!"

Scarab gave a small smile. "You can say that again."

"How do you know so much about it?"

She shrugged. "Your life depends on it, you learn all you can." And with that understatement, she turned and walked toward a door in the back. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"Burt said he left me a treasure. Let's go on a little hunt."

Chapter 4

Tenet sat and twirled the gun over and over in his hand. Two guns, more of those mystery dinner lumps, and a gadget he didn't understand but Scarab was extremely excited about. That was the treasure. She assured him that the gadget was great, and he knew they needed the resupply of food. Those things, he could consider treasures. But at the moment, his curiosity over the gadget and his excitement over the food were tempered by the feel of the stone cold killing machine in his hand.

"I don't even know what to say," Scarab babbled in her excitement. "I owe Burt...well, I probably owe him the soul of my firstborn child by now!" She was pressing buttons on the little machine, oblivious to his inner turmoil.

A gun. A real gun. Empty, she assured him as she handed it over. Empty for now. Soon it would contain little hunks of metal that would be used to kill. Because of his anticipated military career, one of his main courses at the Academy focused on weapons handling. But not even the military used death weapons anymore, even in the poorest areas of the globe. The weapons he used stunned and incapacitated the opponent, but caused no lasting harm. To kill, to use a weapon that actually killed...he wasn't a bot. He wasn't a meat herder. He wasn't a barbarian. It sat heavier in him than the now curdling milk in his stomach.

"I won't shoot a person," he said quietly.

"What?" Scarab looked up from her new-found toy and saw the look on his face. She took the gun from his hands like it was just another hunk of junk and stuffed it in her sack. "You're damned right. You're not getting near that thing when it's loaded."

"I mean it," he said, not listening to her. "I will never take a human life."

"You would if you had to."

He wondered for an instant if she ever had to, then quickly left the question unanswered. He honestly didn't want to know. "How did Burt get those things?"

"The guns?" She shrugged. "He'd have to have some lying around. I mean, he's an outposter. Gotta kill for a living, and he's not going to get the job done with a screamer."

"But those...those aren't regulation."

"No. They're classics. In case you hadn't notice, Burt has a thing for antiques."

Tenet shuddered. "How do you program it to train on the right animal?"

Scarab looked up from her sack, once again astounded by how naïve he truly was. "You don't."

Tenet got up and tried to shake off the willies. "That's wrong. That's just wrong. What if you shoot the wrong thing?"

"Well, hopefully you're good enough not to." She finished putting the rest of her bounty in her sack and hefted it. "It's a little heavy. Don't suppose you want to take one of the guns in your sack?"

Tenet jumped back and put his hands up. "No way."

With some of her bounties, she hid the fact that she was armed. She knew just looking someone in the eye exactly what kind of criminal they were. Most were more of the pickpocket brand. Harmless, really, just lock everything when they're around. But there had been a few that had that look, that gleam in their eyes that said clearly they were just waiting for the opportunity.

Tenet couldn't even stand holding a gun. She could give him one fully loaded, and she couldn't imagine a situation in which she'd actually have to worry he'd pull the trigger. His aversion to weaponry was not surprising, but it was also not the relief it should have been. The wraiths were farther north than they should be, by easily a week. Chances were looking better and better that at some point, she'd have to arm her bounty. The look on his face told her that she had a lot of work to do in that department before the time came.

"Come on, Tenet. It's not even loaded. It's just heavy. I'm carting around the food and the water..."

"I'll take that. You keep the guns."

Scarab didn't like that idea one bit. Food and water were her responsibility, supposed to be under her control. This bounty was getting out of hand. "Take the gun."

He shook his head. "Hand me the food."

She reached in her sack and took out a gun, then sat there holding it out to him. "Take it. You're not controlling the food."

He laughed then. "What do you think I'll do with it, hm? Wait till you're asleep and choke it all down? My guts would kill me if I even tried!"

"I'm not worried about what you'll do with the food," she said coldly, "but what someone or something will do to you to get it."

That stopped his laughter. Without another word he snatched the gun out of her hand and shoved it as far into his sack as possible. She stood up and grabbed her new gadget. "Put your mask on. We're moving."

"I thought you said we'd be here till the beacons are on?"

"Don't need to now. I've got a tracker." She waggled the little machine for him to see, then sighed with relief. It felt great to have one in her possession again. Her last one had given up the ghost two seasons past, and she hadn't been able to afford a new one. Even though it wasn't even close to new, it looked to be in good shape and she knew she owed Burt big time.

Tenet glanced over. Trackers were useful items that Tenet had the rare opportunity to use on the few occasions when he volunteered with the migration efforts. Trackers contained information and displayed it. What kind of information depended on the type of tracker. The ones he used contained DNA analysis for everyone in the different sectors of the population. You got "tagged" when you got on the transport, and tagged again when you got off. The data was compiled, and it made it possible to ensure that everyone who was supposed to migrate did. But that didn't explain what she was doing with a tracker, or how it helped them.

"What good's a tracker in the dark expanse of nothing?"

"This is a Unit Two Off Season Special. UTOSS, in the biz."

"Fancy."

"Very." She secured the lock on her mask and motioned for him to do the same. They made their way back upstairs, and once she made sure the seal on the outside door was intact, they began to walk. "Look," she said, holding the screen towards him. "A UTOSS assesses the terrain in front of us and shows direction, obstacles, and any forms of life."

He looked at the small screen and could see...well, he could see nothing distinguishable actually. "You get all that from those blobs?"

"Yep. And a whole lot more. If we come close to an animal, we can tell what type by the heart rate. Well, mostly what type. What general species, anyway. Look. Over there's a coonskunk."

He peered at the screen, then looked off in the direction she pointed. He couldn't tell anything from either one. "I'm lost. What blip am I looking at?"

She sighed. "It doesn't matter if you know what it says. I know. And right over there is a coonskunk. Which tells us what?"

It obviously tickled her to play teacher to such an accomplished person. It did not, in fact, sit well with Tenet. "I don't know."

She clucked her tongue in annoyance. "It tells us, Brainiac, that their mating season has begun." She frowned and looked back at the gadget. "Wait a minute. That's clearly a coonskunk."

"Yeah...so?"

Her frowned deepened and she picked up the pace. "So, either we've just lost two weeks of time without noticing, or they're here too early."

Tenet still didn't understand. "What's the big deal? So they're getting busy a little early. Can't fault them for rushing. They're harmless, overall. I mean, sure they're known to bite. But that's only when..."

"Will you stop babbling and think for a minute?" She took deep breath and counted to ten. "If the coonskunks are two weeks early, and we already know the wraiths are early. Of course, I haven't seen any signs of raptor yet and thankfully no gilla...still..."

"Now who's babbling? So the animals are early. So what?"

"You frustrate me," she said simply. "Animals aren't like us. They have no calendar. Their time line is nature. If they're here early, they know something we don't."

It made sense. Still, it seemed like a silly thing for her to worry about. "So it's going to get hotter earlier."

"Exactly."

"I still don't get what the big deal is."

Scarab shook her head in disgust. "That screws up everything. If the nasties are early, then the bots..."

It all hit him at once. "Will be early," he said in a stunned voice.

"Exactly. And all the guns in the world can't fight them off."

"What are we going to do? Walk faster?"

She shook her head. "Can't possibly walk that fast." She bit her lip running through the list of options in her head. It was a frustratingly short list. "Okay," she said slowly after much thought. "This is the plan. We can't do anything tonight but walk. I need us to end up at a beacon, but we can't be anywhere near it in the dark."

"Why?"

"Unsafe. Coonskunks are attracted to light, and wraiths and bots are attracted to coonskunks." She fiddled with the gadget in her hand, then pulled out her com. "I'm going to have to tap in."

"Tap in? To what?"

"A beacon. I need to send for help."

"You can do that?"

She cleared her throat. "Haven't had to before," she admitted grudgingly. "I'll need to watch the UTOSS through the night." She handed him her com. "Hit that button and repeat what I say into it, alright?"

"Why?"

"Do you always have to ask why?" she snapped, more at the situation than at him. "Sometimes stopping to ask why will get you killed," she added in a kinder tone. "But this time, I'll answer. I need to record any life we cross in this sector. It's useful information the league will need."

"Ah," he said. "Got it."

They spent the rest of their night carefully picking their way through the dark. They made a wide circle around a beacon, and Scarab assured him they'd cross another by morning. He looked at it carefully as they passed. No wonder he'd never noticed them before. Though tall, they were tucked in among the trunks of trees. He imagined where the seasonal growth would come in, and unless you really knew what to look for, the leaves would almost hide the beacon completely. He added it to the long list of things most people never knew, and kept score in Scarab's com.

At the end of the night, they came upon another beacon as Scarab predicted. Just like she said, he could see a wiggle of movement in the hazy glow. He could also see the sun coming up in the horizon.

"Should we try to get to another?"

"No. He'll scoot on out of there to sleep when it gets a little lighter."

"How about wraiths?"

She shook her head. "I would have heard them if they were around."

"Still, if they catch scent..."

"Look, Tenet. I know you're trying to be helpful, but let me do my job, okay? We can't risk wasting another day without sending a message. We just can't. As dangerous at it might be to hover around a coonskunk sprayed beacon, it's definitely dangerous to waste any time."

Tenet nodded. "Alright. If you say it's safe."

His faith in her was still rock solid. She couldn't believe it. Had he not been paying any attention at all? She failed. Miserably. So miserably, in fact, that she had to call for help. And yet, he had faith in her. She shook her head and sighed to herself.

They waited until the coonskunk shuffled off, then gave it a half hour more to be sure. No wraith calls, no signs of movement. Scarab stood up from her perch on the rock and started to walk slowly towards the beacon, Tenet hot on her heels and looking in every direction. When they reached the beacon, Tenet was surprised at how very simplistic it was. It was nothing more than a long, thin pole with a light at the top.

Scarab removed her unitool and waved it around until a panel on the spire popped open. Inside was a cluster of buttons, and a flashing display which read, "Input unknown."

"There's a message here," she said.

"How do you know?"

She looked at him like he was an idiot, but didn't answer. She asked him for her com back, and clipped it into the circuit board. In a moment, a voice came through. "Early reports show peak three weeks earlier than expected. Report." Scarab swore softly under her breath.

"What does that mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. And, looks like we're not alone out here." It had been a long time since Scarab had sent a message through the beacons, and it took her quite some time to remember exactly what buttons to push. After a few tries, the message on the screen said, "Enter Input". "There," she said. "Finally. Man they make these things hard." She pressed a button on her com and in a moment, the message on the screen showed "Input received. Enter input."

"Okay. That's the info on our furry little friends. Time for our plea." She pressed a different button on her com and spoke clearly into it. "Scarab 03321 requesting immediate assistance. Sector 4B-22, bounty acquired. Food and water levels acceptable, animal population dangerous. Will check beacon 4B-28 for reply. I repeat, immediate assistance requested." She pressed the button and unsnapped her com. "That's that. Let's hope it works."

"What exactly are we hoping for?"

"A ride."

**

They pushed on through the day. At one point, a coonskunk darted out from under a rock and hissed, his gnarled fangs bared. Tenet jumped a mile, but Scarab just kept walking, never breaking pace. Tenet looked back at it as they passed and shuddered. "Close one."

"Not really. They don't usually attack. Just protecting some lady coonskunk he's shacking up with. Can't really blame him."

Tenet supposed he couldn't, either. Nature. Animal instinct. If you have a woman, protect her, even if she was a coonskunk and ugly as sin.

"Just keep your eyes open for tracks and you'll be just fine."

"What do they eat?" he asked out of the blue. It was something that was bothering him about the animal life in Summer. There was no food. No water. How was it possible for anything to survive?

"Oh, I don't know. Little gilla babies, probably."

"What do the gilla babies eat?"

Scarab laughed. "Are you really that bored?"

"Just trying to pass the time and not think about how screwed we are."

Scarab had to admit the idea had merit. It was certainly better than writing her own obituary in her head like she had been doing. "Alright. I'll play. The baby gilla eat the beetles in the sand."

"There are beetles?"
"Tons of them. They hibernate when the weather cools and come out in the heat."

"Huh. I had no idea." He thought about it. "Okay, then, they eat the baby gilla. They can't live on that alone."

"No, not at all. They probably eat some of the beetles, too. That's probably why they dig around so much."

He nodded. "Makes sense. How about water? They must need water."

Scarab nodded. "That I know for a fact they dig up. There's water in the earth, even earth hot as this."

"Like a desert oasis."

"Exactly."

He thought it over for another minute. "If you have a gadget that can tell heart rates, and we know that coonskunks will be near sources of water, it seems to me we can make a bot that factors in those two things."

Scarab sighed. "Back to that are we?"

He nodded. "I've been giving it a lot of thought. You have to be here because the bots can't do their jobs. We're putting human lives at risk just because we can't make a little piece of technology do what we tell it to. That's insane!"

"You don't say."

"I'm being serious. Drop the sarcasm just for a minute, okay?" She said nothing but nodded. "So, we have the technology. Why aren't we using it?"

"Ahh," she said, nodding. "The question we hunters have been asking all along."

"You mean I'm not the first to put it together?"

Scarab laughed. "Sorry to burst your bubble, Tenet, but no, in fact, you're not. We've been trying to get our own bots developed for years. Ones that take all of that into consideration and more."

"You said earlier that it wasn't possible."

"No. What I said was that under the current government it wasn't possible." She stopped suddenly and turned to him. "Look, do you really want another fight? That's where this is heading, you know. I'll tell you things about your government that you either know and deny, or have no notion of and still deny."

But Tenet surprised both her and himself when he said, "The government has problems. I know that. I accept it. But it's what we've got right now and we have to trust it. What other choice is there?"

Scarab cocked her head and raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Maybe he was learning something after all. She turned and resumed their journey. "You know," she said after awhile. "Someone could enter the government who can change it for the better."

Tenet gave a bitter laugh. "Sorry, Scarab. You're barking up the wrong tree. I feel bad for you hunters, but I'm not going into government."

"Really? I thought your path was all laid out."

He looked off into the distance. "It was. I'm on a new one."

Now that truly surprised her. In the brief research she had done before setting off on the mission, she discovered that Tenet lead a life designed to make him the next leader. Every class he took, every activity he participated in, and every club he joined spelled government. It didn't matter what his father wanted. This little screwup aside, the rest of the council and the world would forgive and forget. He was one of the chosen, after all. And yet, his words were far from idle. Just the look on his face told her he meant it. "If you don't go into government, what will you do?"

He shrugged. "I don't honestly know. I set off on this to prove something to my father. I think I'm just proving something to myself instead." She pulled a face and rolled her eyes, and he laughed. "Oh, I know. Trite. But even trite sentiments can be true. I don't know what I want to be. I have absolutely no idea. For the first time in my life, my path is a complete blank. And even running from all sorts of nasties that want to see me dead, and even in the very loose arrest of a bounty hunter, I'm overall happy. Can you imagine that? I've got nothing. I'm literally picking my way through the ashes. I've got no food, if you choose not to share, and no water. I'm carrying a gun and actually consumed cow's milk. I've been reduced to nothing. I'm a fugitive of the law, in the middle of a desert, and I don't care."

It was an enormous revelation, and Scarab knew he meant it. Once again, she felt a tug of obligation to share one of her own personal insights. This time, though, she resisted. He had brought up the fact that this was a hunt, and he was right. As much as she was starting to admire his streak of new-found courage, the facts were still facts. She was the hunter, he was nabbed. In a few short months he'd be turned over to his father to face the consequences of breaking the law. He was a job, a paycheck. And that, she told herself quickly, was that.

"Well, come on, Mr. Freedom. Your captor wants to get you into custody."

He laughed, and gave a little bow. "Anything you say, huntress."

She bit her cheek to keep from smiling. Huntress, eh? He had a way with words. She'd give him that. They picked the pace back up and could see the next beacon in the distance.

"Is that it?" he asked when he saw it as well.

She shook her head. "No. We push past and get to..." She stopped dead in her tracks, and Tenet crashed into her back.

"What's.."

"Shh!" She tried to hush him, but knew it was pointless. They were already caught. Slowly she nodded her head to a group of rocks a few yards ahead of them. Tenet looked, but couldn't see anything.

"What is it?" he whispered.

Scarab slowly shifted her sack around the front. She had to stay calm. She could do this. She'd done it over and over. She had this one. She had to stay calm for both of them. In a few minutes, Tenet would be useless. She reached her hand into her sack and brought out one of the guns. Fumbling with the ammo, she finally got it loaded. Slow and silent, she told herself. Slow and silent.

Tenet kept looking ahead, but still could see nothing. Her movement made him look down and instantly his heart was in his throat. She was loading a gun. Oh, god! She was actually loading a gun! The implications of what that meant slammed through him and stopped his breathing.

"Breathe," she whispered. "We've got it."

He wanted to run, but his feet wouldn't move. He wanted to scream, but no sound would come. He wanted to nod to at least let her know he heard, but he couldn't believe her words enough to make that happen.

"Tenet," she said very calmly. "This is now your gun. You fire it like a screamer. Point at the target and pull the trigger. It's exactly the same."

His head could move afterall, and he shook it for all it was worth.

"Tenet," she said, an edge of panic creeping in to her calm tone. "Chances are that you won't even have to. But right now, we can't take chances. Take this gun. Do it now."

His panic drove him to follow her calm orders without any further questioning. Whatever was up ahead wanted to kill him. Maybe even eat him. His bounty hunter wanted him to shoot it. He took the gun with a shaking hand, as Scarab loaded the other.

"Watch the rocks. Watch the back side of them."

He tried to swallow, but it was useless. His mouth had gone as dry as their desert prison. "Wraiths?" he finally squeaked out.

Scarab didn't answer. She didn't have to. Just as he was asking, the pale face of a hungry wraith peered out from behind the rocks. Tenet nearly lost control as the hideous creature smiled. It actually smiled. It smiled right at them as if they were already on the plate. He thought the dead ones were terrifying. They were nothing compared to the living.

The wraith moved slowly, grinning at the fortunate meal that walked right into its trap. It gestured above their heads, a frightening, human-like move that let Scarab know it wasn't alone. They had to face at least a hunting pair. "Tenet, back to back," she hissed quickly, hoping he at least knew what that meant and knowing there was no time to explain.

Tenet's weapons training kicked in. He whirled in his spot and backed up to Scarab, her in charge of dispatching whatever was in front, him being responsible for any rear attack. He scanned the rocks around them, looking for any signs of movement. Finally he saw it, a foot sticking out in the sand just a yard ahead. He heard Scarab cock her gun, and he tried to do the same, but his hands were shaking too badly to work the simple mechanism.

"Panic later, Tenet."

Her words cut through, and he got the gun cocked just as the wraith in front of him slinked out from behind the rock. The movements were deceptively quick. One second, just the foot was visible. The next, the entire wraith stood in the sand right before him. It made no movement towards him, just stood there smiling. In its mind, it had already won, and Tenet had no doubt that it was savoring the idea of fresh blood. It stood there and smiled, its teeth stained brown by the countless blood meals it had already enjoyed in its life. The most unnerving thing about it was how very human it appeared. The dead ones were cold and lifeless. It was easy to see the differences in the structure of the faces, especially when they were laid out on a science table. In person, and alive, he began to doubt that the myths of wraith trickery were really myths. They stood nearly as tall as a person, with lanky arms and legs, no doubt an asset for speed and agility necessary for hunting. Their fingers were long and curled, with thick, sharp looking nails. Tenet couldn't stop the idea of being ripped apart by those nails and shuddered.

"Keep it calm," said Scarab. "Wait until they jump."

"They jump?" he squeaked.

"Steady," she reminded him. "Steady."

Her voice was full of steel, and he wondered just how she did it. As it was, he'd already have to insist on a stop to clean the bags in his suit. He raised his gun a little higher and held his breath. Any minute, this garish humanoid would leap and he'd have to be ready. At the first twitch of movement, time slowed. In horrific slow motion, the smile on the wraith morphed into a sneer and it was airborne, just like that. One moment on the ground, the next in the air, mouth open, a spine-chilling hiss the only sound. Without thought, Tenet pulled the trigger.

The force of the weapon shocked him, returning time to rights with the physical jar. Had Scarab not been at his back, he would have tumbled out of shock alone. He felt the kickback of Scarab's weapon and braced himself for her impact.

"Shoot it again!" she screamed.

The wraith lay twisting on the ground, its face skewed in silent screams of pain and outrage. The blood began to seep from the shoulder area. It was a direct hit, but not fatal. Nowhere near the heart, miles from the head. Carefully he cocked his weapon again and held it up. But the wraith was far more clever than he ever imagined. It stopped its writhing, instead giving him a look of anguish and pain that, for an instant, tore at his heart. He heard the report of Scarab's weapon once again, and wondered how it was she could kill so easily. This wraith was in pain. True and honest pain.

The wraith seized its advantage. Carefully it pulled its broken body up and began to limp towards him, its hand outstretched in a silent plea for mercy. But it was the wraith's eyes he couldn't look away from. The eyes. The pain and fear shone through right to his core. This was no snarling beast. This was a creature so close to him genetically that it could be mistaken for human. Was it impossible to think that it was only doing what he himself was? Weren't they both just trying to survive?

It got within reach of Tenet and he was about to lay his weapon down in protest of the barbarity when he saw something change. It was a small change, really, and had he blinked he would have missed it. But he didn't blink. He was staring right in the wraith's eyes when they showed, for the briefest of moments, the taste of victory. Had it been any other emotion, Tenet would have laid down his weapon and let happen whatever would. If it was gratitude, or relief, or even hatred, he could have looked away and let it win the battle. It was the look of sure victory that made him pull the trigger just as one razor talon slashed through his suit.

He watched its eyes, the change of emotion as it knew, for the first and only time in its life, the bitter taste of defeat. First there was disbelief, then anger, and finally resignation. The talon slipped from his suit as the eyes rolled back, the wraith sliding lifeless to be eaten by the raptors or baked in the sand. Tenet turned away. He couldn't look. He couldn't stand to look at it and know it almost won, know he almost let it get the better of him. Never in a million years had he dreamed that an animal, a stupid, filthy animal, could out think him.

"Are we done?" was all he could ask, feeling numb.

Scarab scanned the rocks and said carefully, "I think so. They hunt in pairs mostly, especially early in the season."

Tenet nodded, but wouldn't let himself react. Not yet. Right now, the only thought his brain would allow to reach tangibility was "run". There was no room to think about the gun he just used, no time to assess whether or not he crossed the line between survival and murder. There would be time later for all the guilt and the questions and replaying it over and over in his mind like he had no doubt his subconscious had planned. Later. At the moment, they needed to get to that beacon as fast as they could and get the hell out of there.

Without a glance he moved away from the dead wraith and the safety of Scarab's back. He was just securing his weapon in the sack when Scarab's scream ripped through the air.

Chapter 5

With shaking hands he pressed the buttons on the beacon control panel over and over, desperately trying to remember the sequence Scarab had used. He had to figure it out. He could figure it out. He passed all his electronic classes with flying colors, and a simple com console wasn't about to beat him! He had to breathe, calm down, and think.

He tried again. "Invalid Operation." And again. "Invalid Operation." On the third try, a message flashed on the screen. "Operator Instruction, Press 7." He could have cried he was so relieved. He scanned through the options. He wanted to check for messages, then send a new one. He scrolled through the list until he came upon and option marked "Instant Com". Instant com. Could there be a standard com service with the grid off? If so, why had Scarab sent a message? He looked down at her, a crumpled heap at his feet, and decided it was worth a shot.

He broke the lock on her sack and removed her com. No doubt she'd be angry beyond words, but he could deal with that later. He plugged the com in, reread the instructions, and punched in the code. In a moment, there was a buzz and a voice said, "Central command, what is your emergency?"

He pressed the button on Scarab's com and said, "Help, help. Immediate assistance required."

"What organization?"

"Uh, I guess bounty hunters."

"We're sorry. This port is for governmental assignments only."

"No wait!" he yelled. "Please," his voice hovering on the edge of tears. "Please. You gotta help. We're stuck out here and every thing's happening a lot faster than it's supposed to and I don't know anything about surviving out here and the bounty hunter who nabbed me has been incapacitated and very likely about to die and..."

"Name?"

The calm voice made him take a deep breath. He almost lost it there for a minute. "Name of who? Me? Or the bounty hunter?"

"Bounty hunter."

"Scarab. I don't remember the numbers she used after."

"Scarab 03321?"

He almost jumped for joy! "Yes! Yes that's it!"

There was a long pause, and he was afraid he lost the connection. He was about to try again when a different voice came across, a man's voice. "This is central command. It is my understanding that you have with you a bounty hunter by the handle of Scarab 03321. Is this correct?"

"Yes."

"And you claim her to be incapacitated?"

"Yes. See, we were attacked by wraiths..."

But the man didn't seem interested in the details. "And your name?"

A little voice deep inside screamed for him to lie, and though he had absolutely no reason to, he listened. "Carl Mcaf. I'm the son of a feed farmer, Agro League." He knew that Carl Mcaf had safely migrated. He relied on the lack of communication between government departments for them not to realize that.

Again there was a long pause, and then the voice said, "We're sorry. We have no record of that bounty being consigned."

He had to think fast. "Wait! Come on, now. This can't be the first unassigned bounty you've every heard of. My dad probably didn't want to file and involve the government. Now I know I screwed up and maybe I deserve what trouble I'm in." He was laying it on thick, but at least the guy on the other end of the line didn't terminate the connection. "But this poor bounty hunter shouldn't have to pay the price for my stupidity!" The last was said with a conviction he truly felt to his core.

Again, only silence.

"Sir?"

"I'm sorry, young man. But there's nothing we can do. I suggest you find shelter and try and make it." The click when the com terminated was deafening. Tenet couldn't believe it. He absolutely could not believe it. He got central command, part of his own government. Chances were good that he knew the operator that spoke with him. And there was nothing they could do?

The rage that built in him was a welcome emotion. Anger. Work with the anger and mask the despair. He quickly scrolled through the help options again until he found instructions for sending a message. Much to his relief, the code for the bounty hunter league was listed. He punched in the numbers, cleared his throat, and recorded his message. "Mayday or help or whatever it takes to get you people to listen. This is Tenet Bradwin, IV. I'm the bounty of hunter Scarab 033-something. We have been besieged by a herd of wraiths. Scarab is seriously injured, and I'm in no great shape myself. What did she say? Oh. Food and water supply fine. Everything else is shit. We were supposed to check for messages at a different beacon. We never made it that far. I can't tell what beacon number this is, but we're two past the last one we sent a message from, whatever that was. We were there, we passed one, and then this is the next. Uh, I think we're going northeast still, but I can't honestly say. Again, this is absolutely urgent. I will attempt to find some cover for us near here and check back if I can. Help, please. In any way you can."

It would have to do. He hit send, then slumped to the ground. Night would be on them soon, and he had to find cover. He reached in the sack and pulled out a lump of food and some water. He removed his mask and downed them, not really feeling hungry, but knowing he needed the nourishment. After he was done with his meal, he opened Scarab's mask. He stared at her in the fading light, trying to determine how serious her injuries were. Her eyes were moving slightly under the lids, that was good. Her pulse was there, however light. He could see no blood on or around her head, but had no idea what she looked like under the suit.

He held the bottle of water to her lips and tried to get her to drink. Most of it dribbled down her chin, but some, he felt sure, got in. He wiped her face with his glove and replaced the visor. Moving his hands down the length of her suit, he looked for the tears he knew were there. When she had screamed, he turned around just in time to see a wraith completely covering her. It was a blur of shredding claws and razor teeth, and he hadn't even had a second to act. He pulled the trigger, grabbed her and ran. He didn't wait to fire another shot, and he certainly wasn't going to wait around to hunt for more. He killed, grabbed, and ran.

As his gloves ran up and down the suit, he found he was right. Several small tears were evident, but upon further investigation, he determined that most of them were only surface damage. That was fine for now. It was almost night, and if he could find another outpost, he could easily repair them. The one he was worried about, though, was right across her chest. It was a deep gash which seemed to tear right through the suit, almost slicing it in half. He carefully stuck a finger in the slice and held it up to examine in the dying light. It was slick and shiny. He swore softly to himself when his fears were confirmed. Blood.

There was no time to waste. First thing was to get out of the light of the beacon. Last night's moon was barely a sliver, which meant tonight there may be none at all. He wasn't about to be part of the buffet. Tenet secured his sack and hers around the front of him. It was a bit awkward, but he'd have to carry her on his back. He carefully propped her into a sitting position against the rock and crouched down in front of her. "I can do this," he said, hoping hearing it would make it true. He fumbled behind him until her arms were secure in his hands and with a mighty heave, they were up.

He stumbled in the loose ash and dirt, trying to find his balance. He leaned against a rock and kept shifting until he could stand on his own. "God," he said, almost out of breath. "For a little beetle, you're sure heavy." He wished he had left his mask off. It was cool enough, and he'd love to wipe the annoying beads of sweat from his brow. But he had nowhere to put the mask, no other way to carry it. Oh well. He supposed he'd just have to be annoyed. With one last look at the pink sky over the horizon, he set off.

Tenet pushed through the encroaching darkness. Every step seemed harder than the last, and it was made more difficult because Scarab would slip down as he went. He was crawling at a snail's pace when he should have been running, and he knew it. The frustration was almost overwhelming. After awhile, though, he became both resigned and determined. "I have to do this." Step, step, step, hop up to settle Scarab, step step step... It became almost a song to him, the rhythm of walking. When the sun's last glow had faded, he felt like he'd walked miles. He turned and squinted, and could just barely make out the form of the beacon only a hundred yards back. He sighed. That's what he got for looking. Tenet resolved right there to never look back.

Because it had gotten dark, there was a new challenge. Though he had no idea what the blips were or what buttons to push, he had to at least attempt to use the little gadget. He knew in advance and had it tucked carefully in one of the tears in Scarab's suit, right on the arm he held in front of him. He giggled over his own cleverness, and with more than a little panic. If he could find something to laugh about... Carefully he bopped at the unit with his mask until it turned on. He studied the screen right in front of his face, looking for any clues as to how to use the contraption.

He stopped walking and just studied the screen. Slowly, things began to make sense. Well, on the most basic levels anyway. There were blips. Some moved. Some did not. He figured the ones that did were animals and the ones that did not where solid structures. He had no idea how to tell the distance, but there seemed to be a large unmoving blip ahead and to the left. "Leftward ho," he told Scarab, and stumbled off in that direction.

Step, step, step, shift and hop, step step. The beat formed a little tune in his head and he found himself humming. It caught him off guard, and embarrassed him, even though there was no one around to hear. He laughed at himself for the blush he felt, and started to hum softly again. He hummed, plodded, and shifted his way across the barren wasteland towards the blip he hoped would be their savior.

Humming got boring. Walking got tiring. And if he stopped the humming, he could hear the cries from all the muscles in his body begging for him to stop. "Just a minute," they seemed to say. "Just a little rest." That was no good. So Tenet began talking to Scarab to keep his mind and legs moving.

"I wish I knew more about this," he admitted, grunting when he shifted her back into place. "You're absolutely right, you know. This was really a half-cocked escapade. I'd give anything to take it all back. Rewind time and just migrate with the rest of them." He squinted at the screen, adjusted his path slightly to avoid a small moving blip, and kept on. "Do you suppose my mother's worried? Judging by your silence, I'd take that as a yes. I never meant it to go like this. I never thought of how it would worry her or my father." He gave a small snort. "Actually, I doubt my father's worried at all. I bet he's pissed, though! For all I know, he took the bounty out on me."

Tenet stopped to catch his breath for a second, shifted Scarab back in place, then kept going. "No, no. It's true. I bet he did, so don't try and defend him. You don't know him. Nobody knows him but his family. How he really is. A great man, they say. A demanding man. Everything must be perfect at all times." Tenet gave a bark of laughter then and it echoed around him. The echo sobered him a bit and he said in a quiet voice, "I know. I'll calm it down."

Scarab wasn't answering. But as he kept talking, he could hear her words in his head. Delusions or dehydration, the sudden drain of adrenaline or the growing exhaustion. Maybe it was just that he was getting used to her, her words, her reactions. Whatever it was, in his eyes, he was having a real conversation. And he liked it. It kept his feet moving.

"Sure he's a good leader, I suppose. I don't really know any other leaders. He's been it my whole life."

Must suck to have your dad also be the exalted Leader.

"How?"

You've got him controlling every aspect of your life.

"Not true. Not this, anyway."

That why you really did this? A big "screw you, dad?"

"I...I guess. God, I'm really a joke."

No. Everyone has to break away sometime.

Tenet sighed and shifted her. "Yes, but I didn't have to do it with such flair. That's me, though," he said in a bitter voice. "That's Tenet Bradwin, IV. Always one for the dramatics."

Oh, really.

"You don't sound surprised."

I've been in close company with your for long enough to figure that out!

"Point." Tenet felt a pang of guilt rise. "Uh, while we're on the subject, I'd like to apologize for our fight..."

Let it drop.

"No. I mean it. I overreacted. In fact...I'll say it. I was an ass."

Yes you were.

"But in my defense, you were being particularly stubborn."

I have one view of the world, you have another. In fact, you can't even say we're from the same world, for all our differences. Let it rest, alright?

"Alright," he said, not really wanting to drop the subject. He shifted her again, and almost tripped over a rock. With a great burst of energy he didn't know he had, he managed to regain control without dropping her. He stood panting, Scarab thankfully safe still on his back. "Wow. Sorry. That was close." With all the gashes in her suit, there was no telling what would have happened if he lost control. The hot sand would have claimed her exposed skin and... He didn't even want to think about it.

The gadget in her suit had shifted. He couldn't see much of it, but he could see that they were getting closer to the large blip, so that was alright. They were getting there. Slowly but surely.

"How do you judge distance on this thing?"

Practice.

Tenet sighed. He didn't know what he expected. "You're as unhelpful in your sleep as you are awake, do you know that?"

So I've been told.

"What's it like?"

What?

"Doing this year in and year out?"

Hard. Lonely.

He knew if she was truly answering, the words would be much different. Odds were that she wouldn't have given an response to the question at all. But for now, she could say what he thought she was really thinking. "Then why, Scarab?"

I'm doing what I know.

"People can break away."

Where's this going, Tenet?

"You told me that I can change my future and all that. I'm telling you the same. Do you really want to be doing this the rest of your life?"

Yes.

Tenet sighed. Even in his own head he couldn't quite get her to say what he wanted. He laughed at his lack of imagination.

What is it you want me to say, Tenet?

Tenet thought for awhile. That was an important, if complicated, question. "I don't know. Maybe I want you to say that you hate this life and just can't see the way out of it. To say that you'd love to be back in the world, but people scare the hell out of you. To tell me that you're searching for that one thing that would make it possible."

Why? Why do you feel the need to hear me say any of those things? Why can't you accept the fact that this is my life to live how I choose?

"Why this, though? Why the hell did you choose this?" A wave of frustration hit Tenet as he finally voiced the words he'd been thinking since the night in the first barn when she looked so young and innocent enjoying the simple perfection of cold water for her feet. "There's nothing wrong with you."

And what does that mean? That anyone who picks this kind of life has to be a...a...castoff? That we're freaks?

"Yes!" he yelled, full of conviction. There. He said it. "Yes. Anyone who intentionally chooses to beat up their minds and bodies with this rough, solitary life...yes, I think there has to either be something wrong with you, or a piece of the puzzle you're not telling me. What is is, Scarab? Tell me the missing piece so I can understand why the hell you do this."

Even in his head, she was silent. He had pissed her off so badly in their pretend conversation that his mind wouldn't even invent an answer. He cursed softly at himself for even pretending to take it to that level. "I'm sorry," he said weakly. But she didn't answer.

Tenet sighed. Back to silence, the cadence of the step and shuffle the only thing in his ears once again. Off in the distance, he heard the familiar whistle of the wraiths. His heart sped for a second, but mostly from the shock of hearing it cut through the silence. A bird could have chirped and he would have had the same instant reaction. The fact that it was a wraith, or even an entire herd of wraiths, didn't bother him. He faced them and he won. He wasn't cocky about it, just resigned. They were out there. They wanted him for their dinner. But now he was confident he'd at least have a fighting chance. Besides, the whistling could barely be heard. However many there were, they were a good distance off.

He checked the UTOSS again, bumping it around with his mask until more of the screen could be seen. A swift moving blip was bearing down on them, but it was small. He wasn't going to panic. He just didn't have the energy left for it. He watched it get closer and closer until it was almost on them. He peered ahead in the darkness and tried to see whatever it was.

When it finally came into view, he laughed with relief. It was a gilla, a baby, thank goodness. No bigger than a football, it nonetheless waddled right up to his boot and gave a defiant chomp. Had he not been carrying Scarab, no doubt a flick of his boot would send the animal flying. It chomped his boot again, leaving no marks. It wouldn't have its big teeth in until it was larger than a dog. Then, it might be a different situation. For now, though, he just looked at it and actually found it almost cute, with its large eyes and stubby tail. Almost. The face was still ugly, and he had seen enough of the mature gillas to know what it would become. Still, for a lizard, it wasn't half bad.

"Go on, little one. Go before something..."

A screech shattered the silence. Before Tenet could react, a large raptor, perhaps the largest he'd seen, swooped right in front of him and snatched up the baby gilla. Just like that, it was there, then gone. Tenet knew the dark played tricks with size and scope, but he also knew he had to struggle to remain upright when the force of the wind created by the raptor's wings slammed into him. It was the first Summer raptor he'd seen, and it was far larger than any he had seen in season. Those were small, no bigger than an eagle, and tended to feed mostly on field mice. This one picked up a whole baby gilla and ate it as if it were nothing.

Tenet swallowed hard and didn't wait to see if the raptor would be back for seconds. He had no doubt that in a time of famine, he would have been the one in the beak. He said a silly little prayer, both of thanks for the gilla's impeccable timing, and the poor little critter's sacrifice. But mostly he thanked his lucky stars that his inattention hadn't once again cost them. He pushed on, his eyes darting between the screen he saw as his lifeline, and the dark haze ahead.

Thirst started to get the better of him. He wanted to keep going, because he feared if he stopped, even long enough to take a quick drink, he'd be stopping permanently. He tried to work his tongue in his mouth, tried to summon any moisture. Every step dried it out even more, until his mouth felt like the ash they walked on. Swallowing became impossible. His mouth was so dry it ached. And yet he walked. He had to get to that blip. Once he got to that blip, it would be fine. Everything would be fine. He could drink all he wanted. He could drink gallons. Hell, he might just indulge and pour the fresh water all over himself. His mind went to his favorite swimming spot, the one he and his sister, Nada, discovered in a far back corner of his land.

Thinking of Nada hurt. She was the only one he truly missed. Only a year apart in age, they were thick as thieves, two musketeers against "the man". He wondered idly what she'd be doing at that moment. Probably sleeping, but maybe not. She was of age, after all. Maybe she was at a grand party, one of those events he hated to his core, but she lived for. He pictured her finally getting to wear that new gown he bought her the previous season when he was on a diplomatic mission with his father. It wasn't expensive, as they bought it in the Third Worlds. But the color of it, and the style...she must have looked like a princess.

He wanted to cry. What had he done to her? Would he ever see her again? He sobbed then, heaving, tearless spasms that wracked his whole body. He hadn't even wished her goodbye.

Stop your blubbering and listen.

Tenet was brought back to his senses by the nonsense in his head. His subconscious had picked up on a noise, and it used Scarab's voice to sound the alert. He sniffed and strained, listening for whatever wanted them dead this time.

He was hoping for a wraith call. Or even the screech of a hungry raptor. He didn't even care if it was bigger than the last. The one thing he didn't want to hear was a bot. Anything but a bot. He strained to make out the sound, and then groaned when he heard it clearly. Of course it was a bot. Of course! He listened to the unmistakable whir and hum and had no idea how close it was. A new blip registered on the UTOSS, but he had no idea if that was the bot, or what it was hunting. Did bots even show up on these things?

The large stationary blip he prayed was an outpost looked like it was close enough to reach...if he didn't have Scarab on his back. He swore again and almost cursed her. "I didn't mean it," he said quickly. He pushed hard, making his steps as wide as possible while still keeping her balanced. "Come on, Scarab. Help me out here." He pushed harder than he would have thought possible, but as the buzzing hum got louder at an alarming rate, he knew it wouldn't be enough.

In swift succession, Tenet saw two things. The first flooded him with relief. It was a darker blob in the darkness of night, but it was most definitely a structure. A square, dark shadow and he could have cried. "Almost there! Hang on, honey." Though every muscle in his body threatened to quit, he grabbed Scarab's arm and went faster still. Not stopping to adjust her, half carrying, half dragging her as fast as he could, the dark blob started to take form. Definitely an outpost. And just within reach.

That's when the second thing came into view, a scene he doubted he would be able to forget for the rest of his life. Out of nowhere, and right near what he thought to be his saving grace, the pale glow of a wraith in night charged from behind the building. He had no time to register the danger, because almost as soon as he saw it, there was an enormous flash of light followed by a terrifying scream. Tenet blinked, stunned by the sudden brilliance that invaded his dark world. He blinked again and again, trying to figure out what had just happened, when the second flash went off. And then another, and another. He squinted in the flashing lights, trying desperately to make out what was happening. In the flashing light, he could see it. A wraith writhed in agony on the ground, and the bot hovered above, pulsing beam after beam of electricity directly into the wraith.

Tenet watched, transfixed by the scene. The bot sent wave after wave through the beast...far more than was necessary, and far longer, too. The wraith was obviously dead. It probably died after the first or second hit. Yet the bot continued. It would zap, then move slightly, and zap again. Over and over, each hovering movement more frantic. No, not more frantic, Tenet. More excited. A shiver went through his whole body as he watched the bot enjoy the kill. It was impossible. As he and Scarab had already discussed, and as he knew from his extensive schooling, there was no way the bot could "enjoy" it. It didn't possess the capabilities to feel anything.

Scarab was right. She was absolutely right. This wasn't a package delivery bot. This wasn't a harmless member of society. Hell, this wasn't even a soldier on duty, guarding against a building hoard. This bot, this twisted mass of wires and basic programming...this bot truly seem to enjoy the kill.

Tenet felt sick watching the gruesome scene. A second wraith jumped into view, trying valiantly to beat the bot out of the sky. Tenet felt like screaming to the wraith, warning it to run. Nature on nature was one thing. This was something else entirely. This wasn't in the natural design, this was man's intervention run amok. Half of Tenet wanted to get in there and fight the bot himself.

It was that thought that brought him out of spectator mode and kicked in the self preservation. What was he doing just standing here and watching? Any second that bot would get sick of zapping the dead and hunt for more living. The truth slammed into him, and his legs moved on instinct. It would be looking for the living, and that was him.

Scarab slipped almost completely off his back, but he didn't even notice. Driven by blind panic, he peered in the dark for something, anything to hide behind. He had to make it. He had to make it. To where, he had no clue. He had to make it, as his heart pounded in his ears. He had to make it, as every ragged breath he drew hurt just a little more than the last. He had to make it, as his eyes searched the darkness. Panic welled up within. This was grazing land for livestock. By design, rocks and obstacles had been removed. He hadn't passed over so much as a small hill all night. There was nothing but the lone structure he spent hours trying to reach, and that was now taken over by the bots. He suddenly became aware that the flashing had stopped from behind him. Could he drop and pretend to be dead? Would it be possible to trick the bots? Could he burrow into the scorching sand for cover? He had to do something.

A brilliant flash in front of him dropped him to his knees. Scarab tumbled off, and he covered her body with his. This was it. This was the end. He failed. He heard the zap. He heard a distinctive crashing noise. He whispered one last confession to Scarab, and waited for the pain.

"Boy get up outta that sand and get yer ass in here!"

It took a few seconds for the voice to register in his mind. A voice. Another voice? Was he dead?

"Hark, show some compassion," came another, softer voice. "Bet he's been through a lot."

"Enna, them bots don't give a shit what he been through. Get him in here. I'll get the metal."

He looked up then and saw the face of an angel.

Chapter 6

Tenet rocked back and forth in the bumpy, ancient transport. The creaks and squeals of the outdated technology filled the compartment, muffling the arguing voices of his rescuers. Once in awhile, the rocking would stop, as Hark got out to "fix the ol' bitch", but Tenet was immune to it all. Once safe inside the rig, as safe as he could be in such a run-down hunk of junk anyway, his mind finally allowed itself to register the shock and exhaustion of his day and night of terror, and of his entire journey through hell itself.

"Hark's just changing the tire again," said Enna, trying to get some sort of response out of Tenet. The boy looked bad, Scarab even worse. She had to know what happened, they all did. But she also knew it would take a little time. She herself had seen enough tough calls to be a little patient with the poor kid.

Hark got back in and slammed the door, throwing the machine in gear and leaping forward into the night. "You gotta pay for that bot, boy. I ain't got the money."

Enna sighed. "Oh, for heaven's sake, Hark. Let him be for now."

Hark knew the gravity of the situation demanded that Tenet start talking, and start talking fast. "Boy, snap out of it."

Tenet sat there and stared blankly at Scarab's unmoving form beside him. He was responsible for this. He shouldn't have dropped his weapon until he was sure all was clear. Hell, he shouldn't have even come on this trip to begin with! How many lives were now in danger because of his pointless rebellion? The enormity of his actions slammed into him all at once, and he began to sob.

"Shit," swore Hark. "There he goes."

Enna batted at Hark's arm and turned in her seat to give Tenet a small smile. "Don't listen to him, son. Let it out."

Tenet grabbed Scarab, carefully picking her up to him and holding her while he sobbed out his apologies. After a few minutes, his heaving wails subsided and he got himself under control.

"Feel better?"

He looked around him for the first time. He was in an ancient transport with two angels.

"You done your bellyachin' yet?"

Well, one angel. He nodded, feeling the heat of embarrassment creep up his cheeks.

"Don't pay him any attention, boy. You needed a good cry." Hark harrumphed and shook his head, but kept his mouth shut. "Now. Let's start at the beginning. I'm Enna, and this prickly bear is Hark."

"I...I don't know what to say. Thank..."

"No, save your thanks. This is what we do." Enna gave him another smile. She was older, perhaps even into her fifties, and the lines on her face told of a rough, hard life. But her eyes were kind, and her words gentle. Surrounded by the hell of Summer, in a rusted old vehicle that didn't look like it would stay together standing still, let alone on the rough barren terrain, the shock and relief of finding a gentle soul made Tenet want to cry all over again.

"Scarab, she's hurt..."

Enna shook her head. "I know. We've get her somewhere safe enough to take off that suit. She's breathing, so that's something." Tenet sighed and held Scarab a little tighter.

"Now, boy, get to talkin'," barked Hark.

Enna rolled her eyes, but made a motion to urge Tenet to speak.

He cleared his throat. "I...where do you want me to start?"

"Name."

He wasn't going to lie this time. These people were obviously members of the hunters league and had gotten his location from the desperate message. Even if they weren't, they were definitely not members of the government. "Tenet Bradwin, IV."

Hark swore under his breath and shook his head, and Enna flashed a quick, worried glance in his direction. It was brief, and her smile was back in no time, but Tenet was sure he saw it.

"Ah, is there any way you can confirm that for us?" asked Enna carefully.

Tenet frowned. "Why? What's going on?"

"Nothing, dear," she said quickly.

"Like hell it's nothing!" roared Hark.

"Hark..."

"No, Enna. Enough. Stop pussyfootin' around it and let's cut to the friggin' chase already." Hark looked into the mirror and locked eyes with Tenet. "Boy, this is serious business, so no yankin' our chains now, you got it?" Tenet nodded. "If you're Tenet Bradwin the whatever, we got problems. If you ain't, we got bigger ones."

"I am," said Tenet, wondering just what was going on.

"Can you prove it?"

"I don't know how..."

Hark hit the wheel of the old vehicle in frustration. "Dammit boy! Think! We gotta be one hundred percent sure."

Tenet looked down at his suit, his sack, looking for anything that could prove his identity. The thing was, before he set out he took careful measures to conceal who he really was. He looked at Enna with questioning eyes.

"An ID holo?" When Tenet shook his head, she shook hers back, letting him know she was out of ideas herself. They both looked to Hark.

"Do I gotta do everything?" he asked in annoyance. "You got no holo? How 'bout your Agro card?" Tenet shook his head. "A photo of you with your family?" Again, the shake of his head was Tenet's only hopeless answer. "Shit, boy. Didja write your name on your underwear? Somethin', anythin'!"

Tenet had an idea. "Hey! Do you have a tagger?"

Hark swore and beeped a horn on the wheel. "Now where in the hell you think we'd get ourselves a tagger? Hm?"

But that got him thinking. There was a way to prove who he was. He was about to ask if it was safe to remove his gloves, then noticed they weren't wearing any themselves. He figured it was alright, and unsnapped the glove on his right hand. He took it out and looked at it; the family mark on the back side of his hand, burned in when he was born. In real life, he hated the blatant symbol of privilege, and all the scorn it brought. Here in hell, it was hidden most of the time by the thick gloves and he was, finally, a nobody. He didn't even think Scarab saw it, but it wouldn't matter if she had. Of course she knew it had to be there. That mark had opened a lot of doors for him, and he hoped it would open just one more.

Enna looked at it an nodded. "Alright, sir. Nice to have you on board!"

Hark scoffed. "Sir? It's 'sir' now just cuz he shows a little tat?"

Enna hit Hark on the arm again. "Behave yourself! This is the first time we've had royalty on this..."

Tenet interrupted her. "No, ma'am. Please. I'm not royalty."

"Of course you are!" Enna looked truly shocked that he'd say something like that.

"No," insisted Tenet firmly. "I was born into a powerful family, that's it. I'm not royalty...hell, I didn't even have a say in it! And when you get right down to it, I haven't done anything to earn any of the fake 'power' I have."

"Tell 'er, boy!" cackled Hark from behind the wheel. He looked at Tenet in the mirror again with a little respect, not for his status, but his words.

Enna sighed. "Fine. I won't call you sir."

"Good."

"I'm sorry it's such a sore subject."

Tenet shrugged and looked out the window at the darkness. He had no idea himself just how sore that subject really was. After a moment, he sighed and turned back to her caring face. "So, what does it matter who I am?"

Enna looked incredibly uncomfortable, and even Hark shifted nervously in his seat. They glanced at each other, and Enna made a motion for Hark to do the talking.

Hark cleared his throat. "Uh, jus' how much do you know about that bounty that got issued on you?"

Tenet shrugged. "Nothing. I assumed that my father issued it, but for all I know it could easily be governmental. They're slow, but the more I think about, the more sure I am that they're not that slow, especially when it comes to...my family."

"You didn't ask Scarab?" asked Enna.

Tenet gave a small smile. "I couldn't get anything out of her."

Hark swore softly. "Well, that's Scarab. Always secret. Back in my day, you told the little bastard you was chasin' why you was chasin' him."

Enna swatted Hark with the back of her hand.

"Er, no offense meant."

Tenet smiled. "None taken."

"Well, since she didn't see fit to fill you in, guess that lies on our shoulders." Hark glanced at Enna, who gave a small nod. It was obvious to Tenet that they were a well seasoned team. Hark nodded. "Alright, boy. Hang onto your britches. You ain't gonna believe this. You got one of them dual bounties."

Tenet frowned. "Dual bounties? I've never heard of them."

Enna filled him in. "A dual bounty is a bounty that's issued by more than one party. It doesn't happen often, but we've all hunted on them once or twice. You see, if there's a 'forgotten', the parents, most often, issue the first bounty, and the government is almost always satisfied with that."

Tenet cocked his head. "They let the offense go?"

"Sometimes. They look at the person, see if they can determine the reason behind the breech of law. Most often, it's just some young kid looking for a taste of freedom." She looked at Tenet carefully then, searching to see if that was his reason. He left his expression blank, and she gave a little shake of her head. "Anyway, in those cases, is consigning some kid to a life of servitude really the best punishment? No. Usually the humiliation of failing to live in the off season, having a bounty, and being publicly dragged through the mud on their return is enough to hammer home the point."

Tenet was surprised. He was starting to think there was no such thing as sentiment or understanding in his government. "I never knew that, but it makes sense I suppose."

"Usually. Then sometimes you have the family who takes out a bounty on their kid who has committed a criminal act. They still try and protect him...or at least try to force him to do the right thing. Those are usually the dual bounties, because the government also wants the criminal. Governmental bounties trump private. Usually."

Tenet frowned again. "I see where you're going. I guess it makes sense when you think about it. My father issued the first one, but I'm also a concern for the government..."

"Enna, tell him," said Hark quietly.

"I'm getting there," she said quickly. "Yes. Yes, you are. Bounties are worded differently depending on the issue. For instance, a bounty consigned by a family usually clearly states, 'payment guaranteed for live delivery'." Tenet swallowed hard, not knowing where this was going exactly, but knowing wherever it was wasn't good. "Governmental bounties on criminals give the option of bringing them in alive or dead."

Tenet shook his head. "No. The government does not approve of murder."

"Son," said Hark as kindly as he had it in him to say. "Sometimes, there ain't no choice. You get a man or gal facing federal charges, sometimes they'd do anythin' to get out of it. Even killin' you. Sometimes you do whatcha gotta do. If it came down to you or him livin', I hope to hell you'd do what it took to win."

It annoyed him that Scarab had said something very similar. "Still, governmental approved murder?"

Enna shook her head. "No. It's not murder. It's a hazard of the job that even the idiotic government has to make allowances for. It's rare, but it does happen."

"I don't get what it has to do with me."

"Show him the bounties."

Enna reached into a compartment in the front of the vehicle and took out two cards. Tenet had seen them before, official bounty contracts. He'd helped his father take one out on the thief they discovered was working for them. Enna handed them over. "Put them in your com and have a listen."

He reached around and took Scarab's com out of her broken sack. Enna quirked an eyebrow at his familiarity with Scarab's belongings, but he just said, "Long story." He snapped the first bounty card in, the one from the government. He wanted to get the bad over first.

"Bounty contract for Bradwin, Tenet, IV. Last seen T-Minus 14:00 launch migration. Questioning of friends and family indicates subject planned an intentional off season and is not considered a forgotten. No warrants. No indication of weapons. Subject considered harmless. Payment upon live apprehension."

That surprised Tenet and he laughed. "I seem downright yellow bellied, don't I?" He shook his head. "Well that's a relief." He popped the card out and put the other card in. "If that's the worst I'm in for, I'd say I'm pretty damned lucky." He laughed again, and hit the button.

"Bounty contract for Bradwin, Tenet, IV. Last seen T-minus 14:00 launch migration. Questioning of friends and family indicates subject planned intentional off season to escape prosecution." Tenet had been listening to the same preamble. However, that last part threw him for a loop and he paused the playback. "Prosecution? What the hell?"

Enna bit her lip. "Keep playing it, son."

He didn't want to. He didn't want to know. He reluctantly hit the red button as if it might bite him. "Warrants pending. Weapons stash acquired pre-escape. Subject considered armed and extremely dangerous. Repeat, subject considered armed and extremely dangerous. Payment standard upon delivery, live apprehension. Payment incentive upon proof of death."

Tenet felt sick. He felt like he swallowed a ton of lead. He felt alone and unwanted and...rage. At the base of it all, he felt rage. If he was to be truly honest with himself, and there was no better time to start, he wasn't surprised. Still, hearing it for himself was a shock. "Live or dead" would have been sickening enough. But his father actually offered a bonus if he was killed. Numbly he removed the card and handed them both back to Enna without a word.

Hark cleared his throat. "So, you see why we need to know who you are. The value of the bounties...it's big. I ain't gonna lie. It's real big. If you weren't Scarab's, well now...I jus' might try for you myself."

"Oh, Hark!" said Enna outraged. "Not now."

"Did Scarab know?"

Enna shook her head. "No. Not about the governmental bounty. That was just issued."

Tenet felt the bile rise in his throat. "But...she knew about..."

"Course she did, boy!" said Hark, coming to Scarab's defense. "And from what I seen, she woulda given her life to see you returned alive!"

Tenet looked down at Scarab and felt...betrayed? Was that what it was? She was going to bring him in and turn him over to a man who wanted him dead. Betrayal. As heavy as the weight of it sat in his stomach, that's what it felt like.

Enna saw the disgust in his eyes. "Now you listen here, boy. No one told you to set off on this foolish mission. You did that to yourself. And she's a hunter. Her job is to come out in this god forsaken hell and misery to drag the likes of you home safe, even if it takes her life to do it. And by the looks of her, she might have done just that! Anyone else would have taken the incentive, and if you stop and think, you'd realize that. She's a hunter, she hunts. You're a kid with his whole life ahead, and you threw it away. You want to cast daggers at anyone, you cast them your own way." Giving him one last huff of indignation, she turned ahead, her back stiff, her posture no longer friendly.

And it worked. She reprimanded him more sternly than anyone ever had in his life, his mother and bastard father included. Her words were filled with the passion and anguish of someone who spent their entire life in a thankless, but absolutely necessary, existence. He felt truly small in that moment.

"I...I'm sorry," he said quietly, to all in the vehicle, even Scarab.

Hark sighed. "It's alright, boy. Just think at who you're mad at before you go off half-cocked with them thoughts of self importance. Everyone's somebody. Everyone's gotta live. Shit, if I got that bounty on you, I'da shot ya." He was looking at Tenet in the mirror again, and gave a nod when he said it. Tenet had no doubt he meant it. "Most of us would. Easier to deal with, an' the money..."

Tenet held his hands up. "Alright, I get it. I'm meat."

"No," said Enna with a touch of sympathy again. "You're just a job."

Tenet remained quiet for a long time. Just a job. Once again, he was someone else's pay. That's what he was to his father when he got right down to it. Groom the next leader, and the rest of his father's life would be secure. He'd keep his ranch, never have to work or struggle, and fade into old age on the back of his son. His mother didn't think like that, but she certainly didn't try and stop it and was happy to let someone else carry the load. His mother, for all her free thinking and wandering spirit, pushed him to do whatever his father wanted out of him, despite how many times he confided in her that he loathed that kind of life. "It's your path, honey." The words echoed in his head and made him feel sick. She let him. She let his father control him for his entire life and never once stood up for him. She never once stopped the misery when she could have with just a word. She didn't even stop him from taking out a bounty on her only son!

The combination of his thoughts, the ordeal of the night, and the endless jostling in the old vehicle made his stomach lurch. "I'm going to be sick," he said, frantically pulling at his mask.

"Hark, stop," said Enna quietly. Hark pulled the vehicle to a lurching halt, and Tenet had just enough time to fumble the door open and tumble out before he lost it. He knelt in the sand, his stomach heaving despite having nothing to dump. Over and over, he heaved until finally a small amount of water came up. When he was done, he sat panting for a minute to catch his breath, then got back up and climbed into the rickety transport.

Without a word, they started back up, and finished the night off in silence.

**

Hark cackled again. "You crack me up, kid. I'll give you that."

Tenet frowned and tried to ignore him, working furiously on closing up the wound across Scarab's chest.

"Dontcha know you ain't supposed to help the one that caught you?" He laughed again, as if it was the funniest thing in the world.

Enna sighed. "More gauze?"

Tenet shook his head. "Not yet. It's not bleeding anymore." He worked the needle into Scarab's skin again and pulled another tight stitch together. Ten so far, about as many left to go and it would be done.

They were camped for the day in a large storage barn on the outskirts of the meat farm sectors. As he understood it, the vehicle wouldn't make it far during the heat of the day. They were obviously familiar with this particular barn, as it was easily large enough to house not only them, but the vehicle itself. Once inside, Tenet hadn't even waited for the doors to close before he took Scarab out and laid her on a table. Enna had been a step ahead and had the supplies ready as the last of Scarab's gear was hitting the floor.

No one uttered a word as they looked at her, naked and scarred and dangerously pale on the table before them. The gash was worse than Tenet had expected, and he was worried that it was beyond his skill. Half of it turned out to be dried blood, and by the time Enna had Scarab rinsed off, Tenet went into doctor mode and had a plan.

"Almost done," he said when the last stitch was going in. He pulled it tight and Enna wiped the whole thing down with an antiseptic. He looked at the work critically, then nodded. "It'll scar, but it wasn't as deep as it looked right off." Enna nodded her agreement, then applied the salve and bandages.

"This here's good stuff. She'll be right as rain in a matter of days."

The fact that this farmer, at least, was responsible enough to have a good medical supply was a big relief to Tenet. Scarab still had a burn on one arm where one of the seemingly harmless slashes in her suit had actually managed to go through all the layers. At some point, perhaps in the final drop to the ground when the bot hit, sand got in and scorched her on contact. While Enna finished bandaging the chest wound, Tenet focused on that. "Silver compound!" he said with a grin. "Something's going right!"

Hark cackled again. "Quick, boy! Knock on wood before you jinx us all!"

Tenet allowed himself a smile. He knew Hark's chuckling was a way to relieve tension. No one had been more frightened for Scarab when the suit came off than Hark. To please the old man, Tenet knocked on the table quickly.

"Carbon. But it'll have to do."

The old man cackled again and began puttering around, getting together the supplies for a real bath for their patient. He didn't have to stand watch. The boy was actually fairly competent in his skills, and he wouldn't have to kill him after all.

Tenet gently wiped the burn, drained it, then applied the ointment. After that, he carefully applied a bandage, and checked her over one last time before announcing it was all they could do.

Enna nodded, then tossed her head in the direction of the vehicle. "Go on now, boys. I've got to wash her up properly and get her dressed."

The two men looked at each other and shrugged. They had just been looking at all that nature gave Scarab for the last hour. By now, they'd seen everything. But if Enna said to go, they figured it was probably a good idea. They walked over to the vehicle and let Enna take over with Scarab.

"You did a fine job there, boy," said Hark, the compliment said honestly, if not grudgingly.

"Thanks. My mother...heals."

Hark nodded. "Yep. Figgers. You had to pick it up somewhere."

Tenet looked at the vehicle in front of them. Covered in dust, and mostly a series of slapped on patches, it didn't look like any transport he'd ever seen. And it had wheels! Wheels, just like the work carts on the farm. "What is this, anyway?"

Apparently that was the question Hark was waiting for. "Well, I'm glad you asked that, boy. First off, this here machine is a she, not a it."

"She. Gotcha."

"What you're lookin' at is a 2012 series army issue jeep..." And with that, he was off and running, filling Tenet in on every spec, every alteration, every nook and cranny of the hundred year old beast until Tenet's head was swimming with information he doubted he'd ever need. As the lesson in antiquated technology continued, the weight of the night slammed into him, and it was all Tenet could do to keep his eyes open and remain on his feet. It came as a great relief when Enna called them back over.

"Your turn, boy."

"My turn?"

She motioned to him with her hand. "Off with the suit."

Hark cackled again. "I'd do it, boy. Trust me. You don't wanna get on her bad side."

"Been there yourself?"

"You have no idea," said Enna. "Now strip."

For some reason, Tenet wasn't embarrassed to take his suit off. He was so exhausted that he really didn't care anymore. Let them see it. If it meant that he could get a meal and a nap, he'd let them see it all.

Enna gasped when he took his arm out of his suit. The gash made by the wraith earlier in the day (had it only been one day?) looked angry and swollen, pus already starting to ooze. "What did this?" she asked.

"Wraith," he said distractedly, poking at the wound he had forgotten was even there.

"Shit," said Hark.

"What?"

Enna clucked her tongue. "Filthy beasts. Covered in germs from head to foot. Sit there," she pointed to a chair near the table, "and get your arm up next to our other patient."

"This ER's fillin' fast," said Hark, grabbing a handful of towels and passing them to Enna.

"Now, this might hurt a bit," said Enna as she poured antiseptic over the wound.

Tenet didn't even feel it. The chair, the cool air of the barn, their safety in the competent hands of their rescuers...it settled around him and gave him a welcome sense of peace. He looked at Scarab on the table before him. Her breathing seemed normal now. She might just make it. His good hand lifted of its own accord, and without even realizing what he was doing, he slid it into Scarab's limp hand. That was all it took. That small amount of comfort was all that was needed to drift to sleep.

Enna looked to Hark, who nodded. He helped her finish cleaning and bandaging the cut, then he picked the boy up and eased him onto a pile of blankets on the floor. He stood up and stretched, his back popping with the effort. "I'm getting' too old for this shit."

"Oh, hush. You're fresh as the day I met you."

Hark rolled his eyes, but gave her a loving smile. "Flattery goes right to my head, ya know."

Enna sighed and slumped down in the chair. "What are we going to do?"

Hark pulled up a chair next to hers. "Sleep. Drive. Get em home. Same as always."

Enna shook her head. "Oh no it's not, and you know it. Can't take them to base camp."

Hark sighed heavily. "No. Guess we can't. Everyone's gonna be gunnin' for us."

"It's not us I'm worried about."

"You and your damned soft spot for hopeless causes."

Enna laughed. "And you're lucky I have it!"

"I say we get 'em Borderland, leave em with the Cons."

Enna gasped. "Oh, Hark! No! We can't do that and you know it."

"What else can we do?" He knew it was a bad idea, for the two of them, anyway. But that wasn't his concern. He needed to keep Enna safe. The fact remained that the entire world was searching for this boy, and, because of that, Scarab. The sooner they dumped the boy, the better, and the Cons were the only ones dumb enough to house him. Shit, they'd house Satan himself if the coin was there. "Hon, listen to me..."

"Oh don't you go sweet talking me on this one, Hark! Look at them. Kids. Both of them."

Hark slammed his fist on the table. "They ain't kids, Enna! That one's a fugitive," he said pointing to the snoring lump on the floor. "And that one's a seasoned bounty hunter. I ain't havin' you killed just because they can't get their shit together!"

Enna patted Hark's arm lovingly. "Honey, I know you want to protect me. I love you for it. But I'm also a bounty hunter, in case you've forgotten. I'm not a child. I can decide my own fate. And right now, my heart is screaming that we have to help these kids out."

Hark snorted and shook his head, but held his tongue. She knew she was getting through.

"Let me ask you this. What would have happened all those years ago when we met if Old Nan hadn't put herself on the line?"

Hark held his hands up. "Hold up now, woman. Big difference."

"How?"

"First off, I weren't your bounty, and you weren't mine."

"True, but she went out of her way at great personal risk..."

"Second thing," he said, not letting her make the point he knew damned well to be reasonable and true. "We were in love. You couldn't stop makin' those moony eyes at me."

Enna smiled and rolled her eyes. "Well, dear, has it ever crossed your mind that these two kids are in love?"

Hark frowned. No, in fact, it hadn't. "Impossible. He's her bounty."

"She didn't kill him."

"Doesn't seem like her style to kill just for a few more bucks."

"A lot more bucks," Enna corrected.

He shook his head. "Love. You need more than her lettin' him live to make me believe it was love that done it. Seems to me she ain't got it in her to join up with anyone."

Enna gasped. "Hark! What a horrible thing to say! Of course she has it in her. If you, the prickly old goat that you are, can love, well so can she! You take that back right now!"

Hark's eyes went wide. "Whoa. Where'd that come from?"

Enna wiped away honest tears. "It's not fair, Hark. Don't be one of them saying those things about her. I've known her seven years now, since she was a young pup first on the field and I've never seen anything but compassion. Don't you be like the rest of them and hang her for being a hunter. Don't you ever be like that."

Hark squirmed in his seat. Damn it, but he didn't remember. The years together had erased the harsh words and wild rumors he'd heard about Enna before he met her. The years of happiness made that all fade from his memory, but apparently not hers. Not many women were hunters, and most of the ones that were only started hunting to try and escape themselves. Bitter women, driven by a hatred of their lot in life. The things said about Scarab echoed the words that still rang in Enna's ears all these years later. "Enna," he said, taking her hand. "Love. You're a rare duck, and you know it."

"Am I?" Instead of calming her down, the words turned her pain into outright anger. "Am I really, Hark? How do you know? You men. You're all the same. You look at a woman doing a man's job and you condemn them without ever taking a minute to see them for what they really are!"

Hark sighed. He really stepped in it. "Enna, I ain't sayin' nothin' against Scarab. You know how much I like the girl. But even you gotta admit that she's tough. Tough as nails. Has been since we met her, probably long before that. I'm just sayin' it's gonna take the words outta her own mouth for me to believe it. Especially with a bounty."

Enna sniffed, somewhat mollified. "Fine, then. When she wakes up, we'll ask her."

Hark sighed, knowing full well what a bad idea that was, but not having any other plan himself. He glanced around the barn to plan out his hiding spot in advance.

Chapter 7

Scarab drew a deep and painful breath. Her years of experience told her the worst thing to do would be to sit up and look around. Better to assess while any possible enemy still thought she was out. She drew another and tried to think. Cool. The air was cool. She could feel a flat, hard surface beneath her, and those two facts meant she was inside. She could also feel something over her toes, and decided to risk flexing them. They moved easily, so she was sure they were not in boots. Someone broke her new boots. Cool air, hard surface, pain in her chest, and no boots. Any enemy would have killed her in the field if they wanted her dead. Killed her, stripped her, and let the sand turn her to ash without a trace. Friend or foe, they wanted her alive. She decided it was time to look around.

Scarab slowly opened her eyes and blinked to clear the haze. A barn. They were in a barn. She released a deep sigh of relief, wincing as she did so. Damn but her chest hurt! She tried to remember what happened. Wraiths. There were wraiths. Think. Think. One went down, Tenet dropped his. She remembered the feel of Tenet stepping away, and remembered turning to look. She remembered a thump on her chest, and then nothing. There must have been a third. Scarab balled her fist up and gave the table a pound, cursing herself for dropping her guard. "Dammit," she said, her voice soft and raspy. How the hell could she have let that happen?

She sighed again, wanting to feel the pain. She deserved it. How had she gotten here? Surely Tenet wasn't able to...Tenet! Her eyes flew wide and her heart stopped with the panic. Without thinking about the pain, she sat up quickly and had to prop herself with her hand to keep from passing out from the rush. When the world stopped spinning, she looked around her, searching for her bounty. There he was, a lump on the floor. She knew it had to be him. No other lump she had ever met snored that loudly.

The relief was almost overwhelming, and she laid back on the table blinking back the tears. What a failure. Never before had she done a job so miserably that her bounty had to fend for them both. She shook her head and tried to stop the tears, but they kept flowing. Get it together, Scarab. She took a shaky breath and sat back up, more slowly than before. This time, the earth stayed stable. She looked down at the snoring lump and had to laugh. He saved her? That wimp of a boy who didn't even know to wear clothes under his suit or bring his own water....he saved her? She sighed again, and shook her head. She'd never live this one down.

She scanned the rest of the barn and saw a familiar rig parked in the bay, with two more snoring bodies inside. Enna and Hark! She felt the warmth of gratitude flow through her. She should have known they were behind the rescue. Scarab carefully swung her legs to the side of the table and steeled herself against the pain before she hopped down. She stood on her shaky legs for a minute before she felt strong enough to move. Making her way across the barn, she went into the small bathroom unit and looked at herself in the mirror.

She rubbed at her unfamiliar face with a mixture of disbelief and disgust. Not only was she pale, but she looked like hell. Sure, it had been quite a long time since she'd actually seen herself in a mirror. But could she really have changed so much? She looked like a stranger.

With shaking hands, she wet her face and scrubbed at the dirt. The cool water added a little life back to her, and she decided it was the best she would be able to do. She stepped back and lifted her shirt. A large bandage crossed her chest, and though she didn't really want to, she knew she had to see what happened to her. Going slow, she carefully peeled back the bandage. Stitches across an angry red welt. She poked at the stitches and had to admit they were pretty good for emergency doctoring. That, she knew, was all Tenet. She covered the wound again and dropped her shirt. Her stomach growled, and she padded to her sack to look for food.

Her lock was broken. No, not just broken. Smashed. And her UTOSS was missing. Upon further inspection, she couldn't find her com, either. What the hell was going on? She looked at the sleeping Tenet and it all made sense. He waited until she was out, then tried to rob her blind! Forgetting the pain of swift movement, she marched over and kicked him in the ass.

"Hey!" he shouted, jumping to his feet.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do, mister!"

When the fog of sleep cleared from Tenet's eyes, and he realized who had woken him up, he didn't even care that she was boiling with rage. She was alive! And feeling good enough to pick a fight! He was so happy, he didn't even care if she beat him senseless. He couldn't help picking her up and swinging her around.

"Put me down!" she screamed, pounding his chest.

"You're alive!"

"You're not going to be unless you put me down right now!"

But Tenet didn't. He couldn't. She was alive! He didn't kill her. She was alive and mad and it was wonderful. He twirled her as she called him every name in the book, and eventually set her down gently. But he didn't let go.

"Let me go."

"No."

"Let. Me. Go."

"I can't." He held her, tight enough that her struggles were useless, but not tight enough to hurt. He needed to hold her, even if she was mad as hell.

Nothing made sense to her, and it was her confusion more than anything that fueled her rage. He was glad she was alive? Not glad. He seemed absolutely elated. Odd for a thief. Odd for a bounty. Just what the hell happened out there? She finally stopped struggling and stood there, letting him get it out of his system. It was pointless to struggle. Just let him do it and get it over with. And then he'd pay. "Are you done yet?" she asked, her voice muffled by his shirt.

"Nope."

She sighed and tapped her foot. "Come on. That's enough."

Tenet grinned over her head, reveling in the feel of her in his arms. "No, no it's not." He shifted, keeping one arm around her still, but pulling her back so he could look at her. She tilted her head up to meet his gaze with a glare. Instead of taking it like the threat it was meant to be, Tenet threw his head back and laughed. "God, it's good to see that look again!"

Scarab was completely at a loss. She had no idea how to handle this...this...situation. She looked into his eyes and was filled with a mix of emotions ranging from deep rage to confusion to frustration...and something else. "Tenet," she said in the most commanding tone she could muster. "Let me go."

He looked at her again and shook his head. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Scarab." Without any notice at all, he brought a hand up and gently caressed her cheek.

Scarab's heart slammed into her chest and her mouth went dry. No one touched her. No one was allowed to touch her. Ever. And certainly not a bounty, no matter how much he meant to... Scarab's eyes went wide with fright at her thoughts. She liked it, didn't she? She liked how good his hand felt on her cheek. She liked that look in his eyes. And she certainly liked how he held her, like she really meant something, like she was worth something. Her fear caused her to act in the only way she knew how. She brought her knee up and sent him reeling to the floor.

"Don't...don't you ever..." she was shaking so badly she couldn't even speak.

Tenet tried desperately to suck air into his lungs, but the smile never left his face. No doubt he'd be limping and singing soprano for awhile. But boy, was it worth it! He felt alive. He truly felt alive. He rolled and gasped on the floor until finally his lungs obeyed and allowed a gulp of air back in. "Nice shot," he squeaked out weakly.

"What the hell's goin' on out...Scarab!" Hark waddled over to her and gave her a thump on the back. "Well now girlie, good to see you back on yer feet." He looked down at Tenet and laughed. "Nice to see you back off yours, boy."

Tenet waved a hand, struggling to get up off the floor.

"Gal's got a good kick to her, eh?"

Tenet grinned and stood hunched over, catching his breath.

"Scarab!" came Enna's voice. She rushed over and threw her arms around Scarab, almost crying herself with relief.

Scarab stiffened at the contact, but allowed the woman the embrace. She was still too stunned from Tenet's reaction to do anything else.

"Oh, it's good to see you up!" Enna said, pulling back and wiping the tears away. "You, young lady, gave us all quite a scare!"

Scarab swallowed the lump in her throat. She always had a soft spot for Enna. In many ways, Enna was more of a mother to her than anyone she had ever known. "I'm...I'm sorry. I guess I really screwed up this time." The admission shocked all in the room.

Enna knew that if it was said with such misery, it was felt with even more. She waved a hand. "You always beat yourself up so. You didn't know what nature had in store this year. None of us did. Nothing like this was predicted."

Scarab quirked an eyebrow, finding it hard to believe that no one knew this was coming, and convinced that Enna was just trying to make her feel better. "No one?"

Hark shook his head. "She's right. We had no idea. Weren't in none of the off season specs. Nothin' in the sky nor sea to indicate."

Scarab felt a bit weak and took a seat next to the table. Tenet hobbled over to her sack and got into it as if it were his own. "Get out of my stuff," she said as sternly as possible.

He ignored her, taking out a bottle of water and a lump of food for each of them. She glared at him and he rolled his eyes. "Oh calm down. You'll pop those stitches." His voice was a little higher than normal, but otherwise he was none the worse for wear.

Scarab crossed her arms over her chest and turned her head back to Enna and Hark. Tenet sighed and put the water and food in front of her, taking another chair. He would have sworn she smirked when he winced from sitting.

Enna shot Hark a look that clearly said she was right about something, and Hark rolled his eyes. Both of them grabbed chairs and sat around the table. Tenet offered them food and water.

Scarab scoffed. "Since when have you been in control of my food and water?"

Tenet scoffed right back. "Since your manners seemed to have gone with your concussion!"

Scarab was embarrassed, which only fueled her anger. "You didn't even give me a chance! Just hopped up and got into my sack as if it was your own!"

Tenet was getting annoyed himself. "Well pardon me for not asking your permission to get into our food supply and offering a small token to the people who saved both of our asses!"

Hark and Enna watched the exchange back and forth in silence, their heads turning from side to side to follow the argument.

"That's not the point! I don't mind if they get into there and take it all! They know that. They're my friends. They don't have to ask."

Tenet threw his hands in the air. "Here we go. I'm just a paycheck blah blah. Look, lady, in case you didn't figure it out, I had no choice but to get in that bag. Life or death, sister. I'll replace the friggin' lock if that's the problem."

"Sister?" Scarab squeaked. "Excuse me, Mr. Know -it-all-high-and-mighty, but the only reason you 'had' to 'save our asses' was because you screwed up in the first place!"

Tenet stood up and leaned across the table. "Don't give me that. You didn't have to take that bounty."

"And you could have stayed nice and safe in your pampered life where everyone caters to your wants and needs. But nooo. Not the great and mighty Tenet Bradwin, IV. You had to piss it all away to prove what a big man you are!"

Hark sucked in air through his teeth. "Hey, now, Scarab..."

Tenet was getting good and mad. "Oh yeah? Is that what you think?"

"No. That's what I know! You had it all and you pissed it away. Now you actually want me to feel bad for you that things went south?"

"I never asked you to feel bad for me. Not once."

Scarab threw her head back and let out a bitter laugh. "Oh really? Now who's making things up? Funny, but I seem to remember a certain spoiled little brat who lay helpless because of a silly little rock."

Enna's eyes went wide. Though she didn't know the story behind that one, she could tell by the look on Tenet's face that whatever it was shouldn't have been told. "Alright, kids. I think..."

"Fine," Tenet conceded. "Point taken. I was a spoiled rotten little brat. But this spoiled rotten little brat happened to keep you alive. I carried you on my back through the desert for seven straight hours. And let me tell you, honey....you're no lightweight!"

Scarab's eyes burned with rage. "Honey? Honey!? You don't get to call me honey. You never get to call me honey! No one ever, ever gets to call me honey!"

Tenet stared at her, the wind knocked out of his sails by the level of her anger. She sat there breathing hard, truly enraged...at "honey". Tenet suddenly felt tired and for some reason, overwhelmingly sad for her and the life she must have lead to have that kind of outraged panicked reaction to a small, casual term of affection. "Fine. I'm sorry. I...I didn't mean anything by it."

Scarab took a deep calming breath herself and tried to regain her composure. "Look. I appreciate what you did for us...for me." She had to choose her words carefully. "But the fact remains that I am a hunter and you are my bounty."

Tenet took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "Yep. I'm your bounty. You caught me fair and square. And you're going to bring me back to my 'pampered life' with my 'perfect father' who wants me dead."

Scarab's eyes went wide and she looked to Enna. Enna couldn't do it, so it was Hark who fessed up. "Uh, about that. We kinda figgered you'd told the boy..."

Scarab let it go. True, they had no right telling her bounty about the terms of consignment. But could she really say anything to the people who just saved her sorry ass? She looked away from the squirming man and tried to get Tenet to look her in the eyes. "I'm bringing you back alive, Tenet. That was the plan all along."

Tenet looked at her, and he suddenly looked years older. "Doesn't matter, does it?"

"Well of course it matters," she said quickly. "Otherwise I would have shot you a long time ago."

Tenet looked up at her then and sighed a heavy sigh. "Maybe you should have." He turned and walked away, closing the door very softly to seal himself in the little bathroom.

The three remaining at the table were silent. Scarab didn't know what to say. She had let the fight go too far, taken it too deep. And for what? Because she was offended at his feelings? Because he got a little too close? Because of her own wounded pride?

Hark cleared his throat. "Enna there. She's got a notion that you've taken a likin' to that young man."

Scarab's eyes flew to his. "He's a bounty."

Enna said quietly, "I've never known you to argue with a bounty before, dear."

Scarab shook her head. "He's a bounty," she repeated. "That's all. We've been in a couple tough spots, and I suppose that would make us a little...different..."

Hark nodded. "Makes sense."

Enna clucked her tongue. "Sounds hollow to me. Seems to me tough spots or not, you've always been able to keep it a little more separate."

Scarab looked at Enna with hurt in her eyes. "Are you taking his side?"

"I'm doing nothing more than trying to get you to be honest, if only to yourself."

Scarab opened her mouth, but closed it again. There was nothing to say, no argument that Enna would believe. Enna gently pushed the food and water towards her. "Eat. We'll be leaving soon."

Hark took his cue to round up Tenet and get the vehicle in order for their night long journey. Scarab tried to choke down the food when Tenet passed by, but found she couldn't even swallow. This was ridiculous. So what if she hurt him? She said what had to be said, and she wouldn't feel guilty about it. It wasn't her fault if he couldn't be realistic.

"You know, dear," said Enna quietly so the men wouldn't hear. "It's not the worst thing in the world."

"He's a bounty," said Scarab miserably.

"I know. A paycheck."

Scarab nodded and suddenly felt like crying. "I...I'm slipping, Enna."

Enna gave her a soft smile. "No, you're not.

"Yes," she said bitterly. "On every level. Look where we are! I couldn't even get one stupid kid back to his family."

Enna put her hand on Scarab's arm. "Now that's about enough of that kind of talk! No one knew what this season would be like. No one. It wasn't in one damned report, not even the migratories. You can't fault yourself for being a victim of nature any more than you can control it. Sometimes, Scarab, there are things in this world that no matter how tough you are you just can't control. I know that's a bitter thought in your stubborn head. But the bitter taste it leaves doesn't make it any less true. You didn't fail. Whoever wrote those damned reports failed, and they failed us all. We've lost seven. Seven already, Scarab, and you would have been eight if it weren't for that poor kid who's more than half in love with you." Enna held her hand up to stop the argument she knew was on the tip of Scarab's tongue. "I said it and I meant it. That boy's sick with it, even though I get the feeling he doesn't even have a clue just yet. And if you weren't being such a stubborn jackass, you'd have seen it a long time ago." She gave a curt nod to emphasize her point.

"And just what the hell's so bad about that anyway?" she rushed ahead, cutting off any argument from Scarab. "Whether you like it or not, everybody in this world deserves to be loved. And that includes you!"

The words both stung and stunned Scarab. Never in all the years they knew each other had Enna spoken to her with such blunt honesty. If Scarab hadn't heard it for herself, she wouldn't have thought Enna possessed either the insight nor the guts to say something so bold to her. "I...I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything. Just think about it. I've never asked your background. It's part of the code I respect to the core. I've never asked, and you've never said, and that's just fine. But you're carrying around some serious and ridiculous notions about yourself that I think it's high time you stop and have a good look at. Whatever you're looking for...it's not here. It's not in the deserts of Summer or the tundras of Winter. It won't be found huddled alone in a different barn every night, and it certainly won't be found if the only person you have for company is yourself." Enna took a deep breath. "I'm not criticizing. It took a long time to find my reason for living this life, and god knows you're probably too young just yet to figure it out. But you don't have to know why you want this life. Just why you don't want the other."

Scarab looked away and fidgeted in her chair, half of her squirming with discomfort at such a personal conversation, the other half wondering what was wrong with her for feeling it. She idly picked up her food and chewed, washing it down with water out of habit more than an honest desire to eat. She'd never been able to get close to people. Scarab truly thought of Enna as the only person in her life she was close with, but if she were honest about it, she'd have to guess that Enna never knew. Words beyond idle chit chat never felt safe, never felt natural. From her mouth, they always sounded forced and trite.

This out-of-the-blue conversation was the deepest and most insightful they'd ever shared. How many times had they stayed together at base camp? How many mid season vacations did they take as a group? As hard as Scarab tried, she couldn't recall one personal thing she ever told Enna. But, she wanted to. She always had. She never had anyone in which to confide those things that sometimes really need to be said. She had them, every one, bottled up in side and the little voice she spent her life trying to ignore urged her to take a chance and open up.

She watched Tenet hand tools to Hark. "He really carried me for seven hours?" she said out of the blue.

Enna was unfazed by the shift in conversation. "At least that, judging from the time line we worked out."

"All by himself?"

"Yep."

"Was he injured?"

Enna nodded. "By a wraith."

Scarab sighed and put her head in her hands, imagining the horror he must have gone through, the terror. How many times had she felt that herself out there? Hunted at every step, burdened by the safety of another. "He's my bounty," she said again, even more miserably than before. "I...I've got no choice. I took the contract, and the best I can do is bring him in alive. I can't renege on a contract. That would be my head and his."

Enna nodded slowly. "Yep. Looks like a real mess. So what are you going to do? The legal thing? Or the right one?"

Scarab had never before questioned a bounty. It was what it was; a job. She got paid to find people, and that was what she did. It didn't matter why someone wanted them found. It didn't matter what they'd face when they were dragged back. Criminal, stupid kids with blown up egos, or forgottens. She found them, she got paid and she moved on. This contract hadn't set right with her from the start, and had hounded her every step of the way, a feeling of unease that only grew the more she got to know Tenet. "I just don't know."

"You've never questioned a bounty before."

Scarab shrugged. "I told you I'm slipping."

Enna patted her arm again, and for once, Scarab didn't even try and pull away. "Maybe you're just growing up."

"It's not right!" Scarab slammed her hand on the table, the frustrations of this particular bounty that had mounted over time spilling out all at once. "It's just not right, Enna. What kind of father does that? And that's the man who's in charge of us? Hell yes this is a mighty fine mess...and I'm screwed no matter what I do."

"There's a way out of this..."

But Scarab had been thinking very hard about it. All the days of silent brooding had been spent trying to come up with a plan that ended well for both of them. Try as she might, she couldn't think of an acceptable solution. It made the hopeless feeling threaten to swallow her up. "I never should have gotten you involved."

Enna shook her head. "Oh no, none of that. I would have killed you myself if I found out you were in a jam and didn't ask for our help." She patted her young friend's arm. "We'll figure something out. We always do. There's got to be a way through this."

"I'd like to believe you, Enna. Trust me, I really would. But think about it for a minute. Tenet's screwed, no matter what happens. I take him home to his father...there's an incentive for bringing him back dead. Dead! A father wants his son dead. And it's not even like Tenet's a criminal. I might be able to understand a father who has, say, a thief for a son not wanting him around anymore. Hell, I've met some royal pains in the ass, and even those...it wouldn't be right, but at least there'd be something that made sense." She stopped and shook her head, running her hand through her hair. "But I've done the research. On every level, this guy's a good guy. A little whiny, at least at first. And he's certainly got a pretty naïve outlook of the way things really are. But there's nothing, nothing at all, in his past or in his person that a father wouldn't want."

And it was Tenet that was naïve? Enna smiled sadly. "Hon, he embarrassed his father."

"So what? That's what kids do!"

"Think about it this way. You're the kid of the highest ruler in the world, and you break the law. You break THE law, the biggest and most important law there is. His father's career might very well be ruined..."

Scarab scoffed. "Oh, for heaven's sake. He didn't kill anyone..."

"Doesn't matter. The public will be screaming for his father to make an example out of him, to prove that no one is above the law."

Scarab knew it, but hearing someone echo her thoughts made it more real than ever before. It was sickening. Disgusting. Absolutely appalling. And she put herself smack dab in the middle. "What do you think his loyal subjects would say if they knew the whole story?"

Enna's eyes went wide. "Oh no. No, no."

Scarab almost regretted even saying it. The number one unbreakable code in the Bounty Hunter League was privacy, on every level. Hunters would gather and tell abstract tales of their adventures and missteps in the course of a bounty, but only to each other. The public at large was never, under any circumstances, to be told of a bounty. It wasn't right, it wasn't fair...the potential damage that could be brought about by that kind of sensitive information could crush a family if it became known. Even the most lowly of hunters respected that rule, if nothing else. To even suggest taking such sensitive information public..

"You would be done," said Enna quietly.

Scarab snorted a bitter laugh. "I'm going to be anyway. You think someone who'd be willing to kill his own child wants any chance that it would leak out into the public? At least talking first would be going down swinging."

Enna's breath hitched in her chest. "Oh, Scarab. Do you know what you're suggesting?"

Scarab knew exactly what she was suggesting. And she fully believed it. She looked at Enna's pale face. "That's enough of this," she said suddenly. "We're still a ways off...I'll think of something." She stood and stretched, then looked around. "Let's get this place in order and head out."

Enna felt the fear and dread all the way to the pit of her stomach, but could think of nothing else to say. In the end she watched her brave young friend for a minute before pulling herself together and joining her in the cleanup. Sometimes there really was nothing anyone could really say.

Chapter 8

To say the air was thick with tension in the small compartment of Hark's prized vehicle would have been a grand understatement. Tenet stared out the side window into the nothingness of the night, and nothing anyone said could get his attention. Enna and Hark tried to spark conversation several times, only to be met with a grunt or, if they were really lucky, a one syllable answer. The only saving grace was that Scarab chose to work on the downed bot in the hatch area instead of sitting right next to Tenet.

"You worked this one over good," she called approvingly to Hark.

"Thanks," he called back, beaming with pride.

Scarab pulled at the tangled, scorched wires, trying to free the processing chip. If a hunter dropped a bot, they were required to turn the bot back into the government. If the chip was still intact, there was no fee. Bot bodies were cheap, and the government wrote it off the loss as a nominal loss. However, if the chip was damaged in the scuffle, the hunter who downed it was responsible to pay for a new chip. Since they weren't cheap, it was standard practice for the bounties captured on the mission to pay the cost. However, since it was Hark that downed it, and he wasn't on an official mission, he'd be responsible for the cost if it was beyond saving. Scarab dug through the wires with her unitool and swore when she saw the chip.

"Well, hope you've got this covered," she said, holding the chip up for Hark to see in the mirror. It was completely split in half, a total loss.

"Shit," said Hark.

"I'll pay half," offered Scarab. "I'd say I'd pay it all, but there's no way I'll have it by the time they make the demand."

Hark waved a hand. "Nah, don't worry about it. We got it covered."

"I'll pay for it," said Tenet, still staring out the window.

"Not your problem, son. But I sure appreciate the offer."

Tenet looked up. "It's only fair. I'll pay. I can afford it."

Hark knew better than to argue, and they all went back to their silent thoughts. With nothing better to do, Scarab continued to disassemble the bot. Her unitool slipped, cutting her gloveless finger and she swore.

Tenet whipped around, saw the blood, and jumped to her aid. "Let me see."

"I'm fine."

He gave her a look that told her he wouldn't put up with any argument. He looked at the cut and decided it wasn't deep, just a bleeder. He reached around and grabbed a shirt out of his sack. In seconds, he had it wrapped around her finger and watched to make sure the blood stopped.

Scarab sighed. "It's not that bad."

"Can't be too careful."

Scarab lowered her voice. "What the hell is it with you, anyway? Do you know that since I've been on this assignment, I've had more injuries than in all the rest of my life combined?"

Tenet looked up and expected to see more accusations or anger in her eyes, but was surprised to see nothing but amusement. "Well, now, I hardly believe that."

She shrugged. "It's true. You make me clumsy."

Without thinking, he said, "Well now I know you're full of it. I did the stitches. I've seen the old scars. You were clumsy way before I came on the scene!" He meant it as a lighthearted barb. Her silence let him know that once again he said the wrong thing. "I'm sorry," he said, not knowing for sure why.

Scarab was looking at her wrapped finger, dying of embarrassment inside. Not only had it never occurred to her that she had to be completely unclothed to be repaired, but he had seen the scars that crisscrossed her whole body. He had seen them, probably all of them in his search for injury. She was absolutely mortified.

"Scarab? I'm sorry."

She couldn't look him in the eye, but tried to make her voice light when she said, "I meant on a hunt. I've never been this accident prone on a hunt. You must be my bad luck charm, eh?"

"You've never been injured on a hunt before?" Now he truly was confused. He bit his tongue before he could ask what the scars were from, if not from wraiths. If she wanted him to know, she would tell him.

"Nope." She gave a small laugh. "I know it might be hard to believe, but I usually am pretty good at my job. Never been injured, never missed a bounty, and never, ever let one get away."

"I really didn't think you had."

She looked up at him then and saw he was serious. "There you go with that unfounded faith in me."

He quirked an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"You. You have this faith in me and my abilities that I really don't deserve. At least on this mission."

"I think you've done an excellent job..."

She shook her head forcefully. "That's just because you have no idea how it's supposed to happen."

Tenet shifted, placing his back against the vehicle and his hands behind his head. "So tell me how it's supposed to go."

Scarab kicked the hunk of bot out of the way and stretched her legs. "Well, first of all, it doesn't usually take so long to find a bounty."

"So long? You found me in what? Four, maybe five days?"

"Three, actually, from the time I received the bounty. Not good, especially when you consider you hadn't gotten off your own land yet. That's what threw me, if you want to know the truth. A bounty will usually run. They run far and fast, and usually pretty much in a straight line."

"What are they running to?"

Scarab cocked her head. "Nothing. They're not running to...they're running from."

"What about the forgottens?"

"They usually stick with what they know. But you have to remember, I only got one bounty on you. The one that..." she looked away uncomfortably. "You know. That one showed no indication that you were a forgotten. That left some kid on a foolhardy mission, or a criminal."

Tenet sighed. "That's me, alright. Shadiest of the criminal element."

"Well I knew you weren't that," she admitted.

"How?"

She shrugged. "You do this enough, you get a sense for people. After we take an assignment, we do background and investigations. Brief, but enough to see a pattern over time."

This was more interesting than he thought it would be, and he found out he liked to hear about the life of a bounty hunter. And, truth be told, even if it bored him to tears, he'd have done or said anything to keep her talking. "What do you look at?"

Scarab shifted and leaned back, comfortable with talking about what she considered a safe topic. "Oh, a bit of everything. Education. Family need. Those are two big ones in the criminal cases. Any history of violence, of course. If those don't turn up much, we get a little more in depth. We look at activities, hobbies...anything that might help give us clues."

"To what?"

"First and foremost, if who we're looking for is dangerous. Once that's determined, we try and piece together a rough plan of where they might go."

Tenet thought about it for a minute. "Makes sense. Detectives."

"Basically."

"So how about me, huh? What made you so sure that I wasn't the raving maniac my father described?"

The words were said casually, but Scarab failed to believe he could actually be taking it lightly. "Oh, I don't know. Your schooling. Sure, you took weapons courses, but I couldn't help but notice that for your electives, you chose crafts."

Tenet frowned and sat forward, his face turning beet red. "They weren't crafts! I'll have you know, those courses taught survival skills!"

Scarab bit her cheek to keep from laughing. "Candle making, blanket weaving, and wood carving?"

Tenet crossed his arms over his chest. "Yes. In an emergency situation, those skills will come in very handy." He sniffed and looked away. "Laugh now. That's fine. If this weather pattern continues to change at the current rate, we'll be set back hundreds of years with technology. I choose to be prepared."

Scarab held her hands up. "I'm not criticizing. I happen to find crafting to be very soothing myself."

Tenet looked at her and was about to agree, when he noticed the impish gleam in her eye. Playfully he balled his fist and feigned a punch, making her giggle.

"Aside from your crafting," she said, getting back on the subject, "Other things in your life told me you were harmless."

He didn't take offense to being called "harmless". He was, and through this journey so far, that, at least, he had come to terms with. "I hated killing those wraiths," he said, sobering suddenly.

Scarab nodded. "I know. But you did well."

He sighed heavily, both from the weight of the memory, and finally being able to talk to her about it. "Did I?"

Scarab looked him in the eye and said with conviction, "Absolutely. Don't ever doubt that. You'd be dead if you hadn't. We'd both be dead."

"But they were just doing what nature programmed them to do." He couldn't get the thought out of his head that, in that moment, out there facing nature with his tools of man, he was just like the bots.

"And you were doing the same. Look, Tenet. Yes, you had a gun," she said, knowing exactly what he was thinking. "But think about it this way. Your brain is developed enough to make and use a gun, theirs is not. Don't ever feel bad that you can think better than they can."

"Oh no, I can't. I almost didn't. They...trick you. That first one...it had me feeling sorry for it. It was this close," he held his thumb and forefinger close together, "to me, and I was honestly going to let it kill me."

"But you didn't."

He sighed. "One more second and I was dead, and it had...I don't know...convinced me somehow that I was supposed to die. It made me believe that I should be its dinner, that I was already on the plate, and that's what nature intended." His voice was almost pleading with her to admit she'd had moments like that as well.

She couldn't. The fact was, she saw them as animals, and nothing more. She never once felt pity for the savage beasts. Of course, she also ate meat. He was coming from a completely different mindset, one she couldn't ever quite understand no matter how many times she ran up against it. She had to choose her words carefully. "I know everything in you is going to rebel against this idea, but just hear me out. We are at the top of the food chain. Even if you don't eat meat, you're supposed to." He opened his mouth to protest, but she held up her hand. "I'm not talking morals here. I'm saying that since we were cavemen eking our way through life with nothing but spears and rocks, the human body was designed to process meat. You can't argue that. If it weren't true, your body wouldn't need protein."

Tenet conceded the point. "Technically, okay."

"So nature knew this. We were made to eat meat. And we were given brains large enough and cunning enough to make sure we'd end up on the right side of the plate. We haven't got the teeth and claws of a wraith, the eyesight of a raptor, or the speed of a tiger. We're soft, pink little blobs who are almost completely defenseless. Almost. So we use what we have...brains. That's our weapon. We can't tear open flesh with our claws, but at least we're smart enough to make knives."

Tenet shuddered at the idea of tearing open flesh with anything. "Still, it doesn't feel right. What makes me different from that?" he asked, waving a hand at the twisted bot.

Scarab motioned around them. "This. Right now. This conversation. The misplaced guilt you're feeling for killing anything, even a wraith. The fact that even if there's no guilt, there's always thought after."

Tenet frowned and looked unconvinced.

"Look," she said, trying again. "I can guarantee you that no bot ever stopped to think about their actions. I guarantee you that none of them once questioned what they did. They kill, kill, kill simply because that is their programming. They do it, then move onto the next. No bot ever had a bad dream. No bot was haunted by the intelligence of the animal they just slaughtered." He was looking away, but she really needed his full attention. Without thinking, she reached out a hand and gently guided his head around to look at her. "You're not a bot, Tenet. Not even close."

He could barely breathe for the intensity in her eyes. He believed her. That quickly, with just one look, he believed what she was saying. Hell, in that moment, he'd believe anything she said. He swallowed hard. "Scarab, I..."

She dropped her hand and called to Hark, shattering the moment. "Isn't it about time for a tire change?"

"Not for awhile yet. You two done makin' up?"

Scarab rolled her eyes and climbed back over the seat, with Tenet following behind. "You worked that bot over good," she said again, choosing to ignore his remark. "What did you use?"

"Oh, lord. Here we go," said Enna, obviously sick of the conversations about Hark's new toys.

"Little somethin' I picked up in the Third Worlds."

"When were you in the Third Worlds?"

Hark shrugged. "Oh, on about last offer. Had a bounty out that way that was slick as shit. Took us around the world an' back fore I caught the bastard."

"So what is it?"

"High output electro-magnetic thingie they call "The Disassembler"." He cackled with glee about his new machine. "And they ain't kiddin'! Picked that thing outta the sky like a gnat."

"What's the fuel?"

"Why, I'm glad you ask," he said with a grin.

Enna groaned. "Why, Scarab? Why do you have to get him going?"

Scarab grinned, Enna sighed, and Hark went on for hours about his new toy.

**

Tire changes had to happen. No matter how much searching Hark did, no matter how many prototypes he made, he never found that secret blend of materials that would make a tire that could get them through a whole night. It was a dangerous time, having to stop in the middle of nowhere, wraiths, raptors and those that hunted them out there hungry. In a normal Summer, it was bad enough. But in a Summer that simply made no sense at all, the task became an absolute nightmare.

When they stopped, Hark changed from a rambling old man to a seasoned general. He barked orders at everyone, including Enna, and no one took offense.

"Tenet, get yer gloves and mask on. You help me outside." Tenet nodded and donned his gear. "Scarab, you get the gun. Just aim and shoot." Scarab shifted to Enna's seat, and Enna slid over to the driver's. She already knew what to do. If things got too hot, gun it. She hated the idea, and in all reality would never, ever abandon Hark. Chances were good that Hark knew full well how it would truly play out, but they were both more comfortable with the lie.

"It's good to have some help," said Enna. "You two be careful out there."

Hark gave a nod, then said to Tenet, "I can do this myself in five minutes. Never been under that. Let's break a record tonight."

Tenet nodded and followed him out into the night.

"First thing to do is listen." Hark held up a finger in the general area of his mouth behind his mask and Tenet listened to the night. A wraith group, way off. He heard a snorting, then rememberd the noises the coonskunk had made. It wasn't close enough to be a worry. Then he heard the buzz of a bot, and his eyes went wide.

Hark shook his head and whispered, "Far off, and a lotta other targets by the sounds. Don't wanna end up one of em, so let's get to it." He walked around the vehicle, quickly pressing on all the tires. He came back to Tenet and told him two needed replacing, and one needed a patch. He motioned to the back of the vehicle, and Tenet followed.

There was a small compartment that held deflated rubber tubes. Hark pulled two of them out, then grabbed a small kit. He handed the items to Tenet and they walked to the front. Pulling a unitool out of his suit, Hark quickly encircled the front tire. The tire's side opened, and Tenet could see the failing tube by the light of the unitool. With a speed born of both necessity and practice, Hark removed the floppy tube and took a new one from Tenet. Once around the rim, he pulled a small cord and the tube inflated in seconds. A wave of the unitool was all it took to get the side back on, and they were off to the next. When that was done, Hark took the patch job and instructed Tenet to get the supplies and the repair kit back into the compartment.

They climbed back in the vehicle and Hark checked the time. "Hot damn! Three minutes and seventeen seconds flat! And that was work on three tires. You want a job, kid?"

Tenet smiled and took off his mask and gloves. "Sure! But I want benefits." The old man cackled and kicked the rig into gear, lurching them into the night.

"You sound like you enjoyed it," said Scarab, settling back into her seat.

Tenet thought about it for a second. "You know what? I think I did."

Enna rolled her eyes. "Oh, no. Not another one."

"Hell yes he enjoyed it! Feels good gettin' yer hands dirty, don't it, boy?"

Tenet grinned. "Yes, sir. Yes it does."

The group pushed on through the night, filling the small vehicle with a light banter that belied the serious situation they were in. Anyone privy to the conversation, which ranged from idle chat chat to downright raunchy jokes told by Hark to the secret delight of everybody, would have thought the group was on a vacation, rather than a bounty in the hell of Summer. The rig bounced and jostled across the barren land, all inside enjoying the rarity of company in such a place.

The relaxation was short-lived, as they all half expected. A pod of bots picked up on their movement. Enna spotted them first, uttering an string of swears that sobered the crowd when coming out of her mouth. Without discussion, she dropped the scope on their weapons system and Hark slowed.

"Can't you gun it?" asked Tenet, picking up on the situation.

"No," answered Scarab, donning her gear just in case things didn't happen as planned. "Trying to outrun the bots is useless. Get your gear on."

Tenet fumbled with his gear, thrown for a loop by just how quickly everything changed. One minute, laughing with friends, the next in mortal danger. He snapped the locks of his mask into place and glanced at the trio of pros around him. Scarab peered into the night, scanning around them for signs of a multi-directional attack. Enna sat on the edge of her seat, the soft and gentle person replaced by a cold, hard hunter. Tenet felt fortunate that he wasn't her bounty after all. Hark pulled on his gloves while trying to maintain the vehicle. They bumped and jostled, but never stopped.

"Do they just detect movement? Can't we just stop and..."

"What, hide?" Scarab scoffed, the condescending tone back in her voice. "They'll detect us. This thing can't be fortified enough to hide our print."

"Why not? A few more shields on the outside..."

"Dammit Tenet! This is not the time for you to flex your new mechanical muscles! If it was possible, don't you think Hark would have done it already?"

Hark felt a little bad for the dejected boy. "Takes too much juice to run them things, son. Can't stop and recharge enough. Transport grid's out, remember?"

Tenet gave a small nod and looked out his side. With one stupid comment, he was right back to being the incompetent idiot again. He decided the best way to help would be to stay out of the way. He was just a bounty, after all. He looked into the darkness, brooding to himself about opening his mouth when he saw a shadow in the sky getting closer at an alarming rate. "Bot!" he screamed.

"Calm down before you give us all a heart attack," said Enna, swiveling around in her seat and targeting the bot. Almost as an afterthought, she added, "Dear."

"See it?" asked Hark, trying to look over her shoulder.

"You worry about the steering, I'll worry about the shooting." Enna looked at the horizon and could see it just out of range. She sat there and calmly watched the machine of death close in.

"Shoot," urged Tenet, unable to help himself.

"Not yet. Just wait."

Tenet's muscles tensed in his suit. He could clearly make out the bot, now, right down to the painted-on sneer. He shot a quick glance around and noticed that no one was panicking. In fact, no one even seemed the least bit nervous. He looked back out the window and felt his heart begin to race. He leaned to the edge of his seat, ready to bolt out the door. Shoot, Enna, he silently begged. Why aren't you shooting? His brain screamed for him to run, to scream, to kick the others into action. The bot was close. Any moment it would open up and they'd all be fried in their mobile casket. His breathing quickened, and he was about to jump in the front and take over the weapon controls when Enna calmly said, "Close your eyes."

He squeezed them tight, but that did little to stop the flash of brilliance from cutting right through and punching his eyes. He turned away a second too late, blinking to try and clear the explosive image from view.

"Turn away beforehand next time," said Scarab, still searching for more bots on her side.

Tenet reeled from the pain of the light and shook his head, desperately trying to regain his senses. "Is it over?" he asked weakly.

"Left!" yelled Scarab. Hark yanked the wheel and Enna turned the machine to follow. "Right in front."

"I got it," said Enna. "Fire in the hole."

This time, Tenet put his head down and covered his mask with his hands. He waited for the sound of the blast to die down before he picked his head back up. He glanced frantically around, looking for any more, still seeing the image of the laser burned into his eyes.

"This don't feel right," said Hark, shaking his head.

"We'll get philosophical later," said Enna in a commanding tone. To Tenet's surprise, Hark only nodded. "Right turn." Hark yanked the wheel, and Enna told them to duck. Everyone looked away just before she fired. Flash, crash, look for more.

After the third, Hark slowed, and peered out. "Anyone got anythin'?"

"No."

"Looks clear."

"Not this way."

"Good." He pulled the vehicle back around and shined the lights in front across the cloud of ash they just kicked up. "Wait till it settles, then get out there and get em."

It took a couple agonizing minutes for the ash plume to settle to earth. When it did, only two bots could be seen. "Shit," said Hark, flipping a switch that illuminated a wider section. "Where in the hell'd it go?"

Enna flipped the scope back down and used the magnification to search into the night. "Can't see it."

"Shit," said Scarab softly.

Tenet didn't want to say something stupid, but he wanted to help. In matters of hunting, he was in way over his head. In issues of basic survival in the horrible Summer it was the same. But the bots, that was a matter of money, and he had it covered. "Leave them. I'll pay whatever the cost."

Hark shook his head. "I'm still gonna try an' get 'em."

"Why?"

Hark thought for a second before answering. "I said it ain't right, and it ain't. You just don't get this many bots in one sector this early in the offer. What's on them bots...well, they can do a whole lotta question answerin' and might just keep a few of us kickin'."

"I still only see the two," said Enna, snapping the scope back in place. "Let's get those and forget about the other one."

"Two's better than none," Scarab pointed out, hopping out of the vehicle. "I'll get them."

"Careful, missy!" called Hark. "Damn girl's gonna get herself killed runnin' off like that."

Tenet watched Scarab drag the first bot over, but she just left it in the ash and darted out for the next. She was almost to it when a gilla snarled into view...and this one was no baby.

"Shoot it!" called Tenet.

"She got it, boy," said Hark with a calmness that Tenet knew he didn't feel. He was gripping the steering wheel, his body tense and ready for flight.
Scarab looked at the gilla and assessed quickly in her head. A gilla this large meant no wraiths in the immediate area. That was a good thing. The only good thing. A wraith was nothing compared to this beast. And boy, was he a big one! More mouth and fangs than body, it stood nearly as tall as herself. They must have stumbled into its new territory, because the gilla was definitely in defense mode. Scarab swallowed hard. If she ran, it would eat her. If she got closer, her movement would help the nearly sightless creature find her better. But it wouldn't be long before it really picked up her scent and charged anyway.

The seconds ticked by. Tenet watched helplessly from the window, wondering why no one was helping her. "Enna, do something!"

Enna shook her head. "I can't. This thing's too powerful. It would kill them both."

Tenet swore under his breath and grabbed his sack. If they wouldn't do anything, he would. He rummaged through until he found the gun Scarab had given him. He checked it, still loaded.

"Wait!" called Enna, a second too late.

Tenet was out of the car and running before he knew what he was doing. "Hey!" he screamed as loud as he could, trying to get the gilla's attention. The ploy worked. The gilla and Scarab both whipped around. "Run!" he called to Scarab while the gilla was distracted.

But Scarab didn't run. Instead, she took the moment of inattention to leap ahead and grab the remains of the bot.

"Forget the fricken bot! Get in the car now!"

The gilla reared up on its back legs, easily taller than both of them combined. In the lights from the transport, its teeth glinted with saliva, and it let out a piercing hiss, the sign it was about to attack. Tenet kept running, leaping in front of Scarab. "Go!"

She ran as fast as she could, dragging the broken bot behind her. Hark jumped out of the car and met her halfway, swearing a blue streak at her while he helped throw the hunks of metal into the back.

"Get back here!" Scarab shouted.

Tenet couldn't move. The monster's attention was completely focused on him, now, and it was hungry. But Tenet wasn't afraid. Part of him knew he should be. Part of him knew he should be wetting his pants and saying his last prayers. But, he didn't. He stood there with the gun trained on the savage animal and felt nothing but calm. He would kill it if he had to, and the thought wasn't at all appalling to him. In that moment, he understood. Sometimes it really was kill or be killed, and he didn't plan on losing.

Tenet took a large step backwards, keeping the gun trained on the beast. The gilla got back down on all fours and took a prowling step forward, readying itself for the attack. Tenet took a deep breath, slowly, carefully. Another step back, and the gilla crouched. Another step back. A few more, and he'd be safe. "Open the door," he called over his shoulder.

Scarab and Hark scrambled back into their seats, and Scarab leaned out, ready to grab Tenet as soon as he got close. "Start the engine," she said to Hark.

"Already on it."

One step. One step. Just think about the one step. Tenet was almost to the car now. He heard Scarab tell him he was almost there, and then the gilla pounced. Tenet fired a shot, leaped backwards, and was nearly overwhelmed with relief when he felt strong hands grab him and pull him in to safety.

"Floor it!"

Hark lurched forward just as one of the gilla's mighty claws swiped the side of the vehicle.

"Shit! There goes a tire!"

"Don't worry about it now, just hit it," ordered Enna.

"Yes ma'am. Hold on, everyone." The rig bounced and jostled back and forth across the sands, making all inside try to grab hold of anything stable. The downed tire made steering next to impossible, jerking them constantly to the left. Hark yanked the wheel sharply to the right, spinning them in the ash. Cursing for all he was worth, he battled the nearly uncontrollable vehicle until he had a pattern going, turn, jerk, slide, turn. It wasn't the best mode of travel, and it couldn't last for long.

"We gotta get inside," he said.

Enna punched the buttons on a tracking unit mounted in the transport. It was an older model, and showed mostly structures and landmarks, as far as Tenet could tell. "Slide us left," she said.

"How far?"

"Few hundred yards. Alla Ranch."

"Alla?" Scarab swore under her breath. "How did we get that far off course?"

"I'm doin' the best I can, missy!" yelled Hark, cutting sharply to the left. "You wanna come up an' try it?"

"What, and take away all your fun?"

Hark cackled. As nerve-wracking and terrifying as it was, a large part of him was enjoying the turn of events. Made him feel young again.

"Keep left," Enna instructed, bracing herself in her seat with her foot planted on the dash.

"I ain't got a choice." The transport slid and jumped, twisted and turned until the barn was in sight. "I see it," he said, batting Enna's hand out of the way when she went to point it out. "Open 'er up." He stopped the vehicle and Enna jumped out, racing to the barn door with her unitool already in hand. Faster than Tenet would have thought possible, the large hangar door opened and Hark limped the vehicle in. Tenet and Scarab sat there, both breathing hard, while Hark got out to inspect the vehicle.

"What the hell were you thinking?" asked Scarab, breaking the silence.

"What?" Tenet couldn't believe she just said that. He ripped off his mask and stared at her. "What the hell was I thinking?"

"Yes," she said, grabbing the gun out of his hand and dumping out the ammo. "I want to know just what in the hell possessed you to get out of the car and faced down a gilla? You could have been killed!"

Tenet threw his hands in the air. "I don't believe it. You run out on your own, no protection, no thought...and I'm the one in the wrong for saving you?"

Scarab scoffed. "I didn't need your help."

"Oh, really?" said Tenet, his voice squeaking. "Really. So I suppose I was just imagining that two ton gilla with its sights on you, huh?"

Scarab sighed. "I had it under control. I've faced a gilla or two in my day..."

"Unarmed?"

Scarab frowned, not liking the turn the conversation was taking. "Well..."

"There you go." Tenet crossed his arms over his chest and shot her a look of triumph.

Scarab huffed with indignation. "I had it under control. I had plenty of time to get back to the transport."

"No, you didn't."

Scarab gritted her teeth. "Yes, I did."

"What was your plan then, huh? Were you going to bat your eyelashes? Woo him with a little song?" He shook his head. "Face it, you were toast."

Scarab's stubborn streak and injured pride kicked in. "I don't know what I was going to do, but I would have thought of something. I always do."

"Is that a fact?"

"Yes."

"And you don't need any help?"

"That's right!"

"From anybody."

"Ever."

"Especially not from me."

Scarab opened her mouth and slammed it shut again. She unlocked her gloves and yanked them off with her teeth, not sure of what to say.

"Scarab," said Tenet in a soft but firm tone. "Everybody needs help. Everybody. If I can admit that, you can, too."

"I don't need help from you," she spat, wishing to god he hadn't hit the nail on the head with such accuracy.

"No one else was jumping to your defense."

It didn't hurt her that the others, people she called friends, her only ones, hadn't come to her aid. "They had faith in me."

Tenet laughed. "One minute you yell because I have faith in you, the next you yell because you think I don't. It's not a matter of faith, Scarab. That beast was about to have you for dinner, and I couldn't sit back and let that happen."

Scarab scoffed. "Sure you could have. Hell, you probably should have. I'm taking you in, remember? Stop trying to save me all the time." She pushed the door open and jumped out of the car slamming it tight behind her. But Tenet couldn't let it go at that.

He got out and walked around to her. "Why?"

Scarab sighed. "Why what?"

"Why should I stop trying to help you?"

"Because it's not natural!" she shouted, causing Enna and Hark to whip around.

"Not natural? It's not natural to want to help you?"

"No, Tenet. It's not. I'm your hunter. I caught you. You should be trying to get away from me, or at least let me fail where I will."

"You want me to run?"

"Yes!" Scarab stopped fiddling with the supplies in her sack and looked up at him. "No. I don't want you to run, but I want you to...to..."

"Kick and scream?" He tried to hide the smile, but failed.

"Something," she said, throwing her hands in the air. "Scream, yell, kick. Tell me what an unfair bastard I am and how the system let you down. Go back to whining. That would be fine. Do something normal for someone in your position. Anything!"

"You caught me fair and square. It is what it is. Why should I kick and scream and make an ass of myself?"

Scarab was frustrated almost beyond words. Why didn't he get it? "Because it would make it a helluva lot easier when I have to..." She snapped her mouth shut. Damn him!

Tenet's breath hitched in his chest. So that's what this was about? Guilt? Was she actually feeling guilty for having to turn him in? Scarab, who was cold as ice. Scarab, coolheaded in any situation. Scarab, who never wasted a chance to remind him that he was only a paycheck. He ran a hand through his hair and released a shaky breath. "I...I'm not trying to make anything harder."

Scarab sighed, going back to rifling through her supplies as an excuse not to look at him. "I know."

"It's my own fault, and I'll freely face the consequences."

"Even if the consequences are unjustified?" She looked up at him then, trying to judge his reaction.

He nodded. "Yes. Even then."

She shook her head, a bubble of frustration building, this time at the injustice of it all. "Why? This is absolutely insane. The bounty on you...the meaning behind it...it's downright barbaric! Why is it that you'll give up so easily?" Her voice cracked as a wave of helplessness took over her.

"It's not giving up," he explained quietly. "It's owning up. I did this, I deserve whatever punishment I get."

"Even death?"

He paused for a second, then nodded. "What other choice have I got? I skip out on the bounty, they'll look for you."

"So? I've been on the chopping block before."

"But you won't be because of me."

She was about to tell him to screw himself and his grand gestures, that she could take care of herself. But the intensity of his gaze stopped the words before they formed. He meant it. For whatever stupid reason floating around that pea sized brain of his, the idiot meant it. He'd see it through to protect her.

It was a weight of responsibility Scarab never had placed on her shoulders before, and the burden of it should have felt crushing. His life was completely in her hands, far more than any other bounty she'd ever taken under her control. This man was handing himself to her in a way he probably didn't even understand. He chose her life over his own. The poor, misguided, naïve boy.

She cleared her throat and spoke slowly. "Tenet. I appreciate the gesture. But my life was placed on the chopping block by me and me alone. I knew when I took this assignment that there would be no way out for me."

Tenet squatted next to her, taking her hands in his. "No. Look at me. My father wants me, not you."

She looked at him sadly. "Think about it for a minute. If your father wants to erase your mistakes badly enough to order your death, what makes you think he's going to let me live? To his knowledge, I'm the only other human on the earth that knows."

Tenet shook his head fiercely. "No. My family, my friends..."

"Could easily be convinced that you were simply forgotten. They probably already have. There's probably a public search for you, the poor, selfless boy who went back one last time to check the seals or grab the family pet or make sure little Jinny down the way made it in time." Tenet kept shaking his head, willing it not to be true. No matter how hard he denied it, though, he knew there was probably a lot of truth in the words. They tasted bitter, but that didn't make them any less true. "I knew it when I signed it, Tenet. I'm not getting out of this one. Not without a miracle."

Tenet sat back, leaning against the car for support. "You..you really think..."

Scarab nodded. "It's the way the world works, Tenet."

"I wish you weren't so jaded," he said softly.

She laughed. "Then we'd both be naive!"

He thought about their options. If she brought him in, they were toast. "What if I gave you the slip?"

She shook her head. "Then someone else would steal the bounty. We haven't seen many yet, because we're in so deep. In a day or two, we'll start running into others. Most of them work alone, but there are several teams and unions, like Hark and Enna used to be before they started rescues."

"And you're sure they'd find me?"

She nodded. "Trust me, they'd find you. They're better equipped. The temperatures don't get nearly as high, and the more sensitive equipment won't melt down. Plus, most in the upper zones have transports of their own."

"Oh."

"Trust me, you wouldn't last long." She shook her head.

Tenet sighed and rolled his eyes. "So, what if I just head back?"

"What? Have you not been paying attention? I won't even go back, and I'm a pro. Things are too hot too fast this year, and nothing's running like it should. No way there should have been that many bots out there tonight, and no way a gilla of that size made it this far south so soon. Do I need to remind you about wraiths?" Tenet shook his head. "Can't give me the slip. You wouldn't make it, and I'd be caught anyway along with whatever hunter took up the consignment."

"Shit." She'd be damned if he did, damned if he didn't. An idea occurred to him. "Hey," he said, sitting up. "I've got it!"

"What?"

"I turn myself in. We get close to a station, and I turn myself in. They have no idea you have me, right? As far as they know, you're still out there looking."

"I don't know. I sent the message from a beacon, and they're governmentally monitored..."

"Right, but think about it. You didn't mention..." Tenet's voice trailed off, and his smacked himself in the forehead. "Shit! Shit shit shit!"

"What?"

He sighed heavily. "I screwed us over once again."

Scarab quirked an eyebrow. "Mind filling me in?"

He waved a hand. "When you were knocked out. After the wraiths. I got to the next beacon and sent another message for help. If they have yours, they have mine."

"You figured out how to send a message?"

"There was a help menu."

"What? A help menu?" She slapped her thigh and swore. "All these years of randomly pushing buttons and there's a friggin' help menu!"

Tenet didn't laugh. He couldn't help but feel responsible for this entire mess. "What are we going to do?" Scarab rocked her head back and forth slowly, then shifted around to lean against the car beside him. They sat there in silence, searching for the answer they knew they wouldn't find.

Hark took the pause in conversation to hobble over. "If you two gloomy gusses are all done bemoanin' yer fate, I think we got a plan that just might work."

Chapter 9

The foursome jostled silently in the rig. They had stayed at the barn only long enough to fix the vehicle before deciding to push on through the night, and for as long as was safe in the morning to get back on the right track. The new right track, that was.

Scarab couldn't believe the plan Hark and Enna had worked out. She couldn't believe it because she didn't want to. To say it was risky would have been putting it lightly. Insane, was the word she said to them over and over. It wouldn't work. And even if it did, what kind of life was that?

Tenet was oblivious to the ways of the world in many more respects than he'd care to admit. What once was years of solid fact completely known to him without question had, in a few short weeks, been kicked aside as meaningless fairy tales. The rose colored glasses were off, and though he still didn't know much about it, he didn't like the plan, either. Parts of it, sure. But the overall picture didn't paint a great future, even in the very best of scenarios.

Enna and Hark knew the plan would work. Despite the initial outrage from Scarab, and the innocent protests of Tenet who didn't know better one way or the other, it would work. It had to. It was their only chance.

Hark looked at Scarab's scowl in his mirror and sighed. "Come on, missy. You got a better idea?"

"It'll get us killed."

"It might," conceded Enna. She pivoted in her seat, turning around so she could talk to them. "I can't sugarcoat it. It very well might get you killed. Today, tomorrow...ten years down the road. You have to decide which is worse: trying it and maybe failing, or sticking with your contract. Scarab, you've been at this a long time, long enough to be able to trust your instincts."

Scarab scoffed. "Lot of good my instincts have done so far this trip."

"Enough of that. Say you didn't take this bounty. Okay, you take the next, and end up dead like the other seven hunters already this season. You get eaten by monstrous gilla, or set upon by wraiths when you've got a bounty who's not nearly as capable as Tenet." Tenet smiled at the compliment, and Scarab scoffed and rolled her eyes. "It's a crazy season. Nothing is right this time. Absolutely nothing." Enna took a deep breath and sighed heavily. "We might all be done. Maybe the bounty hunter will be a thing of the past."

"Don't get on the philosophy, woman," said Hark gently.

"My point is that you can't predict what will happen, so you have to go on instinct. What does your instinct tell you?"

Scarab didn't want to answer the question. Her instinct screamed to grasp at any straw she could, even the crazy scheme the older hunters cooked up. But she didn't want to. She didn't want to change her life. She didn't want to give it up. She wanted to drop Tenet off...somewhere...and then continue just as before.

"The Cons won't take us," she said firmly.

"Not like this, no," conceded Enna.

"I need that part explained again," said Tenet. "I've studied the world for years now, top marks in my class..."

Scarab tossed her hand in the air. "Here we go again."

"No, this time, I mean it. I was being groomed for government, and privy to some fairly high level security information. I've never heard of them. Not once. Not even in a whisper. Not even in the back rooms and secret meetings. I admit there are things I've been blind to over the years, didn't want to see or know about...but there has never, ever been any mention of these Cons."

Hark let out a bitter chuckle. "Course not, boy. They don't want you to know 'bout it. They don't wanna think anyone knows about it."

"What are they? Rebels?"

"Not really," said Enna. "In fact, most of them were born and raised in the Borderlands, going back for generations, before the Great Change."

Tenet frowned and shook his head. "I thought the Borderlands were uninhabitable?"

Scarab sighed. "I told you they weren't."

"Then why aren't we there? Why isn't that huge section of the world part of our world? Why do they teach us it's a horrible, nightmare landscape with hurricanes and tornadoes and constant shifts in the weather? What possible reason would the government have for closing it off and lying about it?" He shook his head and waved his hand. "Sorry. I just have a hard time swallowing it. What possible benefit could there be in closing it off?"

"It's not about benefit," said Scarab. "It's about history. When the asteroid shifted the earth, what happened?"

"Well, aside from an overwhelming percentage of the population dying and the climates drastically changing, a new government rose from the ashes..."

Hark's cackle interrupted his ingrained speech. "You a professor or somethin' kid?"

Tenet cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed. "She asked, I'm answering."

"Throw away the book learnin' and think about it," Hark said. "So the ones that was left, stuck on this rock, with climate changes they never imagined. Way up north freezes solid, even colder than ever before in winter, but heats itself right back up in summer. Can't live up there in Winter, boy. Nothin' can; almost nothin'. But can't live here in Summer. Gets too hot...winter's nice down this way, though."

"Right. I understand that."

"What you don't seem to get," said Scarab, "is the fact that world became divided in ways it never was before. Before it all happened, the earth was divided into hemispheres, with four seasons. Winter meant cold, but not too cold, and summer meant hot, but not too hot. Around the equator was always hot, but folks could still live there. And of course the poles didn't have much in the way of life."

Tenet was impressed. Not a lot of people knew the pre-modern history of ecology. "Where did you go to school?"

Scarab gave him a bland look, then kept talking. "Then the crash. Now, we've actually got two separate worlds. North and South. Above the equator and below, same thing. Only now we're separated by an equatorial desert that can't easily be crossed."

"Watch it, professor. I think someone's stealin' yer class..."

Tenet didn't care. He never imagined that Scarab would be so...so...learned. He sat back and enjoyed the surprising lecture.

"So we've got four 'hemispheres', really, when you think about it. North is divided into two, so is South. Let's look at North. We've got our government..."

"South's part of it," interjected Tenet.

"In name only, and don't you tell me any different. It's not as if we could actually do anything if they decided not to be. Can't launch a war across the desert."

"Technically, it would be possible..."

Scarab was fully into the conversation and began getting heated. "And how would we accomplish that, huh? Just where would we get the resources for an attack of that magnitude?"

"If every sector contributed," said Tenet quickly, getting heated himself, "it would not only be possible, but wholly plausible. Everyone combining forces..."

Scarab scoffed. "Oh. Yeah. Like that's going to happen! The sectors can't even agree on simple Agro prices, for God's sake. And you think we're organized well enough to mobilize an army?"

"You're getting off subject," said Enna, smiling about the friendly argument.

Scarab realized she was getting carried away. "Oh. Yes. Well, let's just agree to disagree on that one."

Tenet gave her a grin. "I'll agree that you're wrong."

Scarab quirked an eyebrow, but got back on topic. There would be time to argue about the finer points of government later. "Anyway, as I was saying, for all intents and purposes, we're two different worlds." She shot Tenet a glance to see if he'd argue, but he held his hands up and motioned for her to continue. "North. Divided into two hemispheres. South, the same. When you think about it that way, we actually have our own equators, the land that always has sun, always has heat. Unlike the equator, though, it also has cold. The Borderlands are temperate."

Tenet applauded her lecture, but had to correct it. "I concede that the Borderlands have both climates. However, I wouldn't call them temperate. On a strictly scientific level, what happens when you mix hot and cold?"

"Warm."

He sighed. "I mean when you factor in all that weather has in store. Storms. Hot front meets cold, you have a storm."

"True. I'm not saying any different."

"Well, now, yes you are. You'd have me believe that it's some...some..." He waved a hand, searching for the right word. "Some utopia. Best of both worlds. I can't swallow that. You've seen what it's like when the sun hits here. I mean really hits. The first weeks before migration bring such a violent time, weather-wise."

"But that's such a drastic clashing of heat and cold," countered Scarab. "Look at the equator of old. Not now, but before it was a desert."

Tenet shook his head. "You keep saying North has its own equator, and that's not actually true. The equator of old had the sun on it all the time. What about winter, when the sun's on the other hemisphere? I mean South, of course. Not these psuedo hemispheres you're talking about."

"Well, then, the Borderlands get cold. But not that cold. They are still habitable."

He frowned and thought for a second. It was logical, he supposed. But it still didn't make sense with everything he'd always learned. "Then why? If it's such a great place, why aren't we there? The ecology lesson is nice and everything, but it still doesn't answer my initial question."

"I was getting there when you sidetracked me."

"Oh." He motioned for her to proceed.

"After the asteroid, people banded together. Most people found the extreme North to be the best place to live when it was Summer, and the worst in Winter. Thus began the migration."

Tenet sighed. "Well, you're forgetting a whole lot of factors. The main purpose wasn't comfort of life...it was survival. Yes, we had a significantly reduced population...but it would grow. We needed a way to feed everybody. You can't fault people for figuring out that the migration would allow the entire population to have two crops a year instead of one." His tone was instantly defensive, and Scarab wondered if he'd ever outgrow the need to jump to the defense of a government that no longer wanted him.

"No need to get defensive. I'm not 'faulting' anyone. I'm not even criticizing the system. Overall it's worked for us. How many generations have benefited from it? Who knows. Maybe it's what had to happen. And most of the population was on board with it."

"Of course! Food around the year, in a new climate such as this...the promise of it, of a secure future..."

"I get that. However, not everyone wanted to be a part of it."

Tenet sighed. "Oh, I suppose we're going to get into the Great War, now..."

Scarab crossed her arms over her chest. "What's that tone for?"

Tenet shrugged. "I can just guess what side you're on in that one. I guarantee, I'm on the opposite."

"You think it was right that the new government wanted to force people to be a part of their plan?"

Tenet decided not to rise to the bait. He pressed his lips together tightly and determined not to continue a pointless argument. He sat there a few minutes until it built up and he couldn't take keeping his point of view- the right point of view- to himself any longer. "Alright, I'll say it," he blurted out. "Yes, I do think they were right. Every person was a member of this planet, of the human race, and they all had an outright obligation to advance the survival effort."

Scarab shoved her hand through her hair in frustration. "I knew it. I knew you'd take that position. I happen to think that no one should tell someone else what they have to do."

Tenet scoffed. "Hollow words coming from the likes of you! Your entire life is spent forcing people to do what you want them to do!"

Scarab's eyes went wide. "How dare you!? I apprehend those breaking the law. The law! They did it to themselves. They had a choice, they chose to break the law, and they have to suffer the consequences! I don't force them to do anything. I arrest them for breaking the laws of this planet and that's all."

"There's my entire point!" Tenet's voice squeaked. "You just proved my point. There are laws people have to follow, and that is that."

"I'm not saying there aren't. All I'm saying is that it's just not right for this new and perfect government to cut off the people who wanted to stay on their homeland, to stay year round in the place they knew."

"If the Borderlands are so great, and you truly are the rebel you pretend to be, why don't you live there?"

The question snapped Scarab's mouth shut.

"She can't, boy," said Hark on Scarab's behalf. "She was thrown out."

The revelation stunned all in the car. Enna knew nothing of Scarab's past. Scarab didn't know anyone knew. And Tenet...he felt like he was looking at a stranger.

After a moment of stunned silence, Enna cleared her throat and looked at Scarab. "Is it..is that what happened?"

Scarab looked out the window and bit her lip. She suddenly wanted to cry, to die of humiliation, to beat Hark and all of them looking at her like that.

"Scarab?" said Tenet, urging her her talk.

"They gotta know," said Hark, looking at her in the mirror. "They gotta know before we do this."

Tenet touched her arm, and she jerked away. She couldn't feel his touch through the suit, but just knowing his hand was there when she felt so naked and vulnerable was too much. "They don't 'gotta' know anything."

Hark scowled in the mirror at her. "The kid's got a right to know what he's facin' up there."

"Which is why your plan won't work," she said quietly.

"I told you. We've got Weevil. He'll help."

"And what's he going to do, huh? Erase the past? Erase me?"

Hark nodded. "Yep. Somethin' like that."

Scarab scoffed and shook her head.

"Missy, start talkin'." It was an order. Not a request from an old friend, but the order of someone who could, and would, do away with her if he had to. In his day, he was the hunter, the one who knew it all because he started most of it himself. When Hark spoke in that tone, you listened...or else. Didn't matter who it was.

Scarab ground her jaw tightly. He wanted her to talk? Fine. She'd spell it all out for them. "Yes, I was thrown out. I was born in the Borderlands, thrown out with the rest of my family when my father committed the unforgivable sin of slaughtering someone else's cows." She turned to Tenet, trying to shock him. "You see, we weren't starving or anything. He just liked beef."

Tenet wanted to gasp with disgust, and get as far away from Scarab as possible. But the challenge in her eyes told him she was expecting it, waiting for it. Part of her probably wanted that reaction. He looked at her levelly and waited for her to continue.

She turned away and glared out the window. "It didn't matter that we were children. It didn't even matter that my mother was innocent. In a land that can only farm Agro for half the year, a large part of survival is meat. And when my father killed that cow just because he felt like steak and not tough, gamy goat for dinner, he threatened the survival of the McGees. The McGees could have ordered his execution. By law, they had the right. My mother, though," Scarab paused and shook her head. The next words were spoken bitterly. "My stupid mother wouldn't let them. She saw nothing wrong with what my father did. She never saw anything wrong with what my father did. Threw herself on the mercy of the McGees, and we were banished. All of us." She stopped suddenly and looked directly at Tenet. "Do you know what that entails? Have you ever sat in on one of the Border meetings to determine the fate of those who have been kicked out of one land, but weren't really acceptable in the other?"

"Of course not."

"Of course not," she repeated. "How could you be? You're not part of that branch of the government."

"I'm not part of the Borderland."

"The ones who determined my fate were your government. We got banished. Stripped of everything. And I mean, everything. No possessions, not even the clothes on our backs."

Tenet's eyes went wide, but Scarab continued. "A woman, a thief, and their children brought to the edge of the Borderlands, told that we'd have to try for a life after walking over a hundred miles and begging entry to the other side."

Tenet couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe the horror, the pain. He wanted to hold her, to scream at the injustice, to do or say something. But nothing he could say would do.

"My sister was young and fragile, too soft for that kind of trial. She didn't make it very far. My mother couldn't take it. We reached a large mountain, and instead of pushing on, she took her life." Enna gasped, but Scarab had to get it all out and didn't even pause for breath. "That hill, the one she jumped off like a coward, that was the last. At the base of that mountain was the start of these lands. So we straggled in, my father and I, broken, beaten, half alive. We straggled in and begged to be part of your society.

"The border guards asked my father's crime. When they discovered that we lived on a diet of mostly meat, we were given the option of joining their society if we repented. We didn't have any other choice, so we went through their conditioning program and did our penance."

Tenet frowned. "What does that mean?"

"You stitched me up. You saw the scars. Figure it out."

The scars that criss crossed her body...Tenet felt sick. "You were just a little kid," he said hoarsely.

"And I paid for being a meat eater. I paid for what my family put on the table to keep me alive."

The words hung in the air between them, a heavy weight of knowledge that Tenet both wished he never heard, and wished she had told him sooner. All those bitter words, the arguments. If he had only known.

"Don't feel sorry for me," she said, hating the look on his face. "I learned my lesson. I learned that there was no one but me. My father was assigned an Agro crop on the outskirts of society. Alfalfa. And he was told to make it work, or there'd be nothing for us here. So he did what he had to. He farmed that horrible chunk of land that was more rock and hills than actual fields. He did what he could, and he tried to make it. I'll give him that. He tried his damnedest to atone for his sins. He worked the fields day and night trying to somehow make up for the pathetic excuse of a life we had. In the end, he was no farmer. The crops failed year after year, and he died alone and miserable in them."

"What..." Tenet swallowed the bile rising in his throat. "What happened to you?"

"I was ordered to live with a neighboring family. They were nice enough, I suppose, but liked the free labor more than having another child. Still, they fed me, clothed me, gave me somewhere to play. And had me tutored. I never had any education before I got there. I couldn't even read. When I came of age, they summoned the Guard, said goodbye, and said how much they'd miss me in the harvest."

"Ouch."

Scarab shrugged. "I appreciated their honesty."

"So what next?" He had her talking, and as painful as it was to hear, as much as he didn't want to know any more horrible stories, he wanted to know her. They all did.

"I had very few options. The Guard brought me before the Career committee. I was asked a series of questions, to make sure I had completely changed my ways, to assure themselves I wasn't a threat to their livestock, and to make it absolutely clear that I was under their control. I was given the choice of two professions. I chose the only one that wasn't a test."

"A test?"

"They offered me military service."

Tenet frowned. "I don't understand how that's a test."

"They wanted to see if I was still the bloodthirsty little demon I was when my father dragged me here."

Enna sighed heavily. "Oh. Oh, Scarab. I had no..."

"No," she said fiercely. "I don't want sympathy. I don't ask for it, I don't expect it, and I don't want it. Everyone has a rough part of their life. My story was no different from lots of peoples'."

Tenet ran his hands through his hair and sighed deeply. "And this Borderland...this unforgiving world who would banish their own children...this is where you expect me to go?"

Scarab whirled around and stared at him. "The Borderlands? You blame the Borderlands?"

"They sent you out. How can such a place be so..."

"It's not their fault my father broke one of the cardinal laws. How can you blame them for enforcing it?"

"How can you not blame them?"

"For the same reasons I am a hunter. What's right is right, what's wrong is wrong. I have never held a grudge. They could have executed us on sight for that. How can they take the chance that we wouldn't grow up and be just like the parents that tried their damnedest to teach us it was acceptable to put the lives of the community at risk on a whim?"

"But still..."

She wouldn't have it. "No," she said firmly. "There's nothing else they could do. I don't blame them. I curse them sometimes for the necessity of laws like that, I curse the McGees for being 'kind' enough not to have my father executed and us rehabilitated. But I don't blame them. Our family was in the hands of my father and mother, and they dropped the ball. My mother, she was just as guilty as my father. I remember it, you know." Scarab turned away and looked out the window. "I remember how excited my mother was when he brought home the steaks. And the skin, the leathers. She went on and on about how sick she was of weaving sweaters with the goat fur and how wonderful she'd look in a beautiful leather dress." Scarab scoffed. "Hell, maybe that's why my father did it in the first place. Maybe it was her all along."

"People make rash decisions, Scarab," said Enna gently, wiping tears from her eyes. "Don't blame them for being human."

Scarab looked at Enna. "I don't. I blame them for being too human," she said bitterly.

Enna turned away, deeply affected not by the words, but the unforgiving tone.

"So you see," she said with a tight voice. "I can't go back. I'd be shot on sight."

Everyone was silent, letting it all sink in. Hark knew the story, from bits of information handed to him through the years. He had never heard all of it, and never even a word about it from Scarab herself. He had heard similar stories through the years. It happened. Banishment from one society to the other happened. But to hear it, cold and distant right from her mouth... It made him ache to kill someone for the injustice of it all.

"We'll get to Weevil," Hark insisted with determination.

Scarab gave a bitter laugh. "Hark, forget it. I'm tagged, by both sides. There's no way..."

"Will you at least talk to him? He's the best, Scarab. Please?" Enna's pleading voice cut through, and Scarab knew she couldn't say no.

Scarab threw her hands in the air. "Fine. I'll talk to him. But it's just a waste of time. No way he can erase me. Even if he can, he can't erase Tenet."

Enna shot Hark a look of triumph. "Oh, we'll just see, dear. We'll see."

Chapter 10

By the next morning, they were entering inhabited lands. Tenet was in awe at the tiny little community of hunters. He had assumed that they had camps here or there, no real homes. But this was a stable community, complete with stores, restaurants, and an old-fashioned barber shop.

"I had no idea you people lived like this."

Scarab gave a harsh little laugh. "No, our kind could never have actual houses. We roam the deserts in wild packs like camels."

Tenet ignored her sarcasm. "Why didn't I know about this?"

Scarab shrugged. "Hunting's far from the most admirable of professions."

Tenet looked at the community and sighed. "Is there anything I actually know?"

Hark cackled with laughter. "Oh, now, professor. Don't feel bad. No one knows about this that don't have to."

"Who built this? Isn't this supposed to be dead land?"

"Almost. Borderland's less than two hundred miles north. This is as far as is settled. Government built it for the likes of us."

They pulled their rig in front of a large building, and Hark ordered them to put on their masks. "Can't go flauntin' who I got just yet," he said. He left his mask on, and rolled the window down even though it was full daylight.

"It's much cooler here," Scarab whispered when Tenet questioned the safety. "Just keep your mouth shut and look tired."

Tenet nodded, then dropped his head, not enough so that he couldn't see what was happening, just enough to make himself look defeated. A bounty that had been apprehended.

In a minute, a tall man walked up to the car and looked inside. "Well, I'll be! How's it going, Hark?"

"Better than it was yesterday!" the old man cackled.

"Enna? My god," said the younger man at the window. "How long has it been? You're looking great!"

Enna grinned. "Hello, Mank. Nice to see you again."

"What in the hell brings you up here?"

"We had a rescue." Hark tossed his head toward the backseat. "Poor kids had a nasty scuffle out with wraiths."

Mank nodded sadly. "Rough season."

"It ain't right," said Hark. He leaned in closer to the man and said quietly. "We're just stoppin' here to bring you all a little present."

Mank's eyebrows went up. "That so? Whatcha got for us?"

"Go on back an' take a look-see in the hatch."

Mank walked around to the back and peered into the window. Hark chuckled when he heard the boy gasp. He raced back to the window and leaned in closer, whispering in an excited rush, "Those what I think they are?"

"Yup."

"Three?"

"Hell yeah."

"Chips?"

"One shot. Two intact."

Mank looked like a kid at the holidays. "Oh, wow! I can't believe it!" He stepped back and motioned towards the building. "Get your ass in there. Weevil's gonna give you a freebie for this!"

Tenet looked at Scarab and cocked an eyebrow, and she shook her head. "They're rough," she whispered. "Expect a little...bad language."

The vehicle lurched forward into the big hangar, and Hark called to Mank, "Find us for a drink later. On me. You can fill me on on the local gossip."

"Sure thing! Nice to have some class in this place," he said, winking at Enna.

They entered the hangar, and it took a minute for their eyes to adjust to the dim light. "Ok, kid, listen up. Keep the suit on. Keep yer head down. Missy, you follow my lead."

They got out of the car and Scarab grabbed Tenet's arm. "Out, you," she said, loudly enough for a worker nearby to stop pushing his cargo load and stare. She jerked his arm, pulling him out of the car.

"Hey!" he said.

She kicked his leg and said, "Shut up." She turned to the worker and shook her head. "Friggin' bastard lead me halfway to Border South."

The worker whistled and shook his head. "Fricken bounties. You'll get yours, ya little bastard." He shook his head again and resumed his work.

"You don't have to enjoy it so much," whispered Tenet, his shin throbbing.

"Move it." She pushed him behind Hark and they walked towards a room in the back.

"I gotta see Weevil," said Hark to weak-looking man at a desk.

"He ain't in." The man went back to fiddling with a stack of com cards on the desk.

Hark looked to Enna, his eyes wide with surprise. "Why you impudent little..."

Enna grabbed his arm to keep him from teaching the boy a thing or two. "Young man, this happens to be the bounty hunter Hark." The boy's eyes went wide and they had his full attention. "I suggest if you want to keep enough of yourself together to do your job you get off that insolent ass of yours and tell Weevil we're here to see him!"

Again there was a flash of the hunter she could be, and Tenet hoped the boy listened. It sounded like a coin toss just which one, she or Hark, would do the ass-kicking.

The boy had enough sense to be interested in self preservation, and took off like a rocket into the room behind him. In seconds, the door flew open and the most unusual person Tenet ever saw came flying out in a mad flurry of crazed hair and flailing arms.

"Enna! Love of my life!" He launched himself at Enna and threw his arms around her. "Oh, darlin'! How long has it been?"

Tenet looked over to Scarab, but she just elbowed him and he dropped his head again.

The man spun around and saw Hark. "Hark! The love of my life!" He threw himself at the old man, who batted him off, cackling with delight.

"Weevil, you odd ass son of a bitch! Glad to see you haven't changed!"

"I haven't changed? Shit. Gotta work on that." He stopped and stared at Scarab, giving her a little wink. He obviously recognized her, but said nothing to blow their cover. He then turned his gaze on Tenet, looked him up and down, and then his eyes went wide. His whole demeanor changed. "In my office. Now."

The boy shuffled past them as they filed into the office. "Not one friggin' interruption, you little worm," Weevil said as he passed. "Not one or I'll slice another toe off!" Weevil shook his head and said to Hark, "Can't find good help. It's a wasteland up here."

They walked into the office, and Tenet was stunned. He figured it was a small room, judging by the rest of the hangar. He couldn't have been more wrong. Easily as large as the hangar where they parked, Weevil's "office" was a two story spread of machines, computers, and gadgets, humming and beeping, a modern mad scientists lab.

"Like it, kid?"

Tenet turned, surprised to find Weevil was staring directly at him.

"Take off that mask. I know who you are." He turned to Scarab. "Oh, the real love of my life!"

She took off her mask and unsnapped the top collar of her suit. "Can it, Weevil."

"My best beloved from all my lives, what brings you here? Finally accepted the lap of luxury I've offered in vain so many times?"

Scarab couldn't help but smile. "We're screwed. Why else would we be here?"

Weevil placed his hand over his chest, a look of pain crossing his face. "I'm hurt, Scarab. Wounded to the core. You mean you're not here for my sweet, sweet loving?"

Tenet gritted his teeth over the familiarity.

Weevil threw a glance in his direction. "Ah, the boy objects to my freedom with you. Oh well." Tenet's face turned bright red and he looked away. But Weevil wasn't long on the subject, his tone changed in a heartbeat. "Yes, dear. You're screwed. You're screwed on a scale you cannot comprehend." He raced over to a desk and rummaged around in a pile of com chips. "Dammit! Get in here you weaselly little waste of air!" The door opened and the boy from out front rushed in.

Weevil turned on him. "Were you playing in my com stacks again?"

"I...I was trying to organize..."

"People who lie find themselves without tongues, you snotty little slug trail. Haven't we talked about your snooping before?"

"Yes," came the annoyed answer. The boy crossed his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes, unimpressed with the threats.

"Then I suggest you stop searching for porn and get your ass over there," Weevil pointed to his mess of a desk, "and find me the com chips I was using earlier!"

The boy walked slowly over to the desk, shuffled around in the pile, then held up three chips. "Here, slave driver."

Hark raised his hand to send the little twerp flying, but Weevil stopped him. "I appreciate the offer, my friend, but I have my own punishments. He'll pay for his insolence in the bedroom."

Tenet's eyes went wide, making Weevil burst out in laughter. "Until Scarab stops crushing my tender heart, it's all I got, boy." He flipped his switch again, becoming all business. He inserted the first com chip into the dock. "The lesson for the day kiddies is how to bring a world of shit on yourself."

The voice on the com playback filled the room. "Government issue bulletin. Attention all bounty hunters: Missing persons open bounty issuance for hunter Scarab 03321." Weevil looked over and winked at Scarab, smiling as if he was enjoying the horrible words on the com. "Payment upon reliable information as to whereabouts, incentive for live apprehension. Repeat, incentive for live apprehension only. Contact..." Weevil switched off the com chip and traded it out for another.

"Blah blah call us to tattle. You got yourself a bounty, my sweet desert rose!" He snapped the other com chip into place. "But wait. It gets better."

"Government issue bulletin. Attention all bounty hunters. All hunters are hereby notified that aiding and abetting a consignment results in loss of league license. We would also like to remind you that accepting a consignment without a license is a capitol offense. If you suspect any illegal activity in your chapter, contact..." Again, he switched it off before it was finished.

"I don't see what that has to do with...." Enna began to object.

"Aha!" Weevil said, holding up a finger. "The last piece of the puzzle. Never had a bulletin like this one." He snapped it in place, then turned up the volume so everyone could hear it clearly.

"Government bulletin. Attention all bounty hunters: It has recently been brought to the attention of the exalted Leader that his outlaw son, Bradwin, Tenet, IV, who has several warrants out for his arrest may be evading authorities under the guidance of a corrupted hunter."

Weevil paused it and pointed to Scarab. "You naughty little vixen, you." He un-paused the playback and turned the volume up even louder.

"It has further come to the attention of the government that the pair was last seen in the aid of another hunting team of unknown origin. Assistance in this flight from the law has indicated a rampant disregard for regulation by the Bounty Hunter League at large. As a result, the government has no choice but to suspend any consignments and bar future bounties until the matter has been fully investigated. Your cooperation with our investigation is mandatory. Failure to comply with investigatory requests will lead to permanent suspension of license and felony charges to be brought to trial before the Council."

Weevil looked over to Scarab and rolled his eyes, then turned it up even more. "The important part."

"Anyone who sees the bounty hunter Scarab 03321, Bradwin, Tenet, IV, or knows the names of the pair aiding and abetting their illegal activity is hereby ordered to contact your local sector headquarters immediately. Do not attempt to apprehend any involved. Early reports indicate that all are armed and extremely dangerous. Failure to report information will lead to criminal charges. Contact..."

Weevil switched it off and gave the stunned crowd a look of triumph. "Told ya."

Scarab frowned. "I've got a bounty on me," she said simply.

"Yep. Boy howdy, they must think you've really got something on 'em. Never heard of a bounty on a hunter before."

Hark swore softly and shook his head. "Well, least they don't know us."

"Yet. They will."

"How the hell could they possibly know all this?" said Tenet in disbelief.

"I'm glad you asked, sonny boy." Weevil sat at another station and punched some buttons. In a few seconds, the call for help Scarab recorded at the beacon began to play. When she groaned, he punched more buttons, then the call for help Tenet himself sent played. "They had you there, but not really. That's not really what got em in a tizzy." He punched at the keys again, and the call Tenet sent out to the government played for them all.

"You called the govers?" screamed Scarab. "What the hell did you do that for?"

"I didn't know what I was doing," Tenet said in his own defense. "I thought for sure they'd come and get us..."

"And then what, brainiac?"

Hark stepped in. "Settle down, missy. As I recall, you was kinda outta it at the moment."

She whipped around. "Stop defending him, Hark."

Weevil snapped off the message. "Hark's right. The kid knew enough to lie."

"Yes, but they had his bounty on file," she said through clenched teeth. "They knew it was a lie."

Weevil shrugged. "You gotta admit, the kid's got balls to even try. So they knew where you were. Big deal. Doesn't explain how they tracked your moves after that. Doesn't explain how they know about Hark and Beautiful there. Unless..."

"Unless what?" Tenet was secretly jumping for joy inside that he was defended by both Hark and the weirdo.

Weevil chewed his lip for a second, then said, "You had to be followed."

Scarab shook her head. "No. We'd have known."

"Another hunter?" asked Enna.

"No, Gorgeous. I've got no doubt Scarab's right. If it had been a hunter, she would have known." Scarab nodded her thanks at him. "No," he continued. "I'm thinking something far worse."

Hark started swearing a blue streak.

"What?" asked Tenet, as the others started talking quickly among themselves, knowing something he did not.

"No way. No way," said Scarab. "I mean, I suppose it's possible. But why would they?"

"Sons of bitches been makin' more an' more regulations fer years...."

"Yes, but we do their work," Enna pointed out.

Weevil looked to Tenet and grinned, enjoying being the one to start the hoopla. "Keepin' up ok, boy?"

Tenet shook his head. "I'm not getting it."

Weevil rolled his eyes and ran his hands through his hair. "For the love of... The bots, moron! The fricken bots!"

"No. Why? It makes no sense."

Weevil rolled his eyes and looked to Scarab. "He's joking, right? Please tell me he's joking."

Scarab stopped her back and forth with Hark and Enna and looked to Tenet. "Nope. He's as naïve as he sounds."

Weevil got angry then, jumping up and racing to within an inch of Tenet's face. "How is that possible? You're the son of the exalted Leader for god's sake! How is it possible you got through life this long with your fricken eyes closed? Don't tell me you didn't know. It's not possible." He stepped away suddenly, his eyes wide. "A plant. You're a plant."

Scarab sighed and rolled her eyes. "He's not a plant, Weevil. Just a kid who was kept in the dark even more than us."

Weevil continued giving Tenet the evil eye for a few more seconds, then nodded slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, I get it. Brilliant! Keep the kid in the dark, then encourage this trip and have him lead 'em right to us. Absolutely diabolical! I love it!" He looked Tenet up and down. "Yep. You sure look like the perfect patsy."

Tenet frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "Now you look here. I'm not a patsy. My father had no idea I was..."

"Planning this trip and he'd never approve and certainly he'd stop it and would you grow the hell up already?" Weevil ran his hands through his hair, making it stand on end. "God. You played right into it."

"Weevil, the boy didn't know nothin'."

"Does it matter?" He turned to Hark. "Will it matter when they come bursting down the door and rip me from my kingdom? No. Not a bit. Thank you, game over."

Tenet turned to Scarab. "Am I a patsy?"

For some reason, it struck Weevil as incredibly funny and he burst out in laughter. Scarab sighed and said, "No. I don't think you are."

"Naive, naïve, all the world is naïve."

"Shut up, Weevil," she said with true menace.

He put his hand over his heart. "You wound me so. Hark, to the mobile! Word on the street is you got a couple bots for me. Let's see if we can hack the government." He pulled Hark out of the room, calling over his shoulder for Enna to follow and let the kiddies work it out among themselves.

When the rest had left, Tenet sat down hard in a chair. "You think he's right?"

Scarab frowned and shook her head. "No. It doesn't make sense. We work for them, we take care of their mistakes. Something's not adding up."

"You don't think I'm just a patsy?" He looked so dejected.

Scarab laughed. "Well, if you are, I'd say it worked. If you're not, it might work out for them anyway. Either way, you didn't know. It's not your fault any more than it is mine. I know how things work. I should have smelled a rat, if there was one to smell." Scarab rubbed her eyes and sat in a chair next to Tenet. "I just don't know."

Tenet looked at her. She looked so very tired. "You need some rest."

Scarab laughed. "You look like hell too, kid."

"I didn't say you looked like hell," he said defensively.

"Oh, calm down. I wasn't offended. And I am tired. I'm royally fricken' tired." She rubbed her face again. "I feel fourteen seasons on my shoulders all at once."

"Turn your chair," Tenet ordered.

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Scarab was too tired to argue. She turned her chair, and he moved his behind her back. "Hold still."

"What the hell..."

Tenet's hands slipped under her suit, and she tensed as if she had been burned. "Hold still," he said again.

She felt like killing him. She felt like running. "Get off," she said between her teeth.

But he didn't. He held her there with firm hands, and seemed to have no plan on moving. "No. Sit."

She tried to get up, but his arms were stronger than she thought. "You get your hands off me before I..."

"What?" asked Tenet lightly. "Call for help? Let every unscrupulous hunter in this establishment know that they can secure their future by turning us in? Weevil doesn't seem like the type...but do you really feel confident that the others will be as honorable?"

Scarab seethed. He had her trapped and she knew it. And damn if he didn't sound like he was enjoying it! "You'll get yours," she promised.

Tenet threw his head back and laughed. "Oh, I know. But it's worth it!" Scarab had stopped struggling and was sitting on the edge of her seat, every muscle in her body tensed rock hard. Gently, Tenet began moving his hands on her shoulders. "If you relax, you might find that you enjoy it."

Scarab scoffed. "For your information, I never plan on enjoying being groped."

"Oh, for the love of...you're not being 'groped'. What's the matter? Never had a massage before?"

"For your information, no. I know it might surprise you to hear, but not everyone has money to squander on some two-bit shyster's hands!"

Tenet laughed. "I'm not saying a massage you pay for. I'm talking about the kind from a friend. Or...Weevil."

The color crept up Scarab's neck and burned her cheeks. "Careful, bounty," she said in a shaky voice. "You're overstepping your bounds."

Tenet smiled to himself. He could embarrass her for once! And with such a harmless comment, too. All rough and tough and worldly, yet so easy to rile. He was in control finally, and it was fun. Maybe he should push it just a bit further. "Pardon me, ma'am. I just assumed by the way Weevil was talking..."

Scarab tried to turn around and give him the wallop he deserved. "Why you little...how could...to even insinuate that..."

Tenet laughed, secretly relieved at her outraged reaction. That settled one uneasy question in his mind. "Oh, calm down. I'm only teasing."

"I'll have you know that Weevil talks like that to everyone. Or hadn't you noticed?" She was still burning with rage and humiliation, and her tone told Tenet he went a step too far.

"It was a joke. Don't be so touchy." He felt her annoyance grow with the knowledge he bested her. Too angry to speak, she crossed her arms over her chest and sat ramrod straight. But, he noticed, she didn't really pull away. Tenet decided it was worth risking his life to continue.

In truth, Scarab wasn't angry so much as hurt and offended that he thought so low of her. Weevil? The two of them together? Oh, he said he was joking. Maybe he was. But sometimes jokes hit a little too close to home. He didn't mean it. Hell, if she could just calm down, she'd realize that Tenet probably didn't have any clue as to what he was really joking about. In his sheltered world of arranged dates and structured courtships decided by other people who never met either party, she doubted he'd ever had so much as an unsupervised hand-holding session. There was no way this sheltered boy could know how desperate the lives of many in her situation really were.

Weevil, as vile as he may be, was a better option than many in her place ever got. More than once when she was pinned in some cave by the driving ice of a winter storm she even considered it a viable option herself. He would have taken her in. He would have given her a home, a real home. Shelter. Regular food. Clothes...of his choosing, and probably without much material to them, but still. And in return, it would only have cost her body. She considered it. In her lowest moments, at the darkest times, in the most brutal situations, she considered it even though it made her skin crawl. There was no way Tenet knew that, or could understand even if she told him. And there was certainly no way he could possibly know it was her most shameful secret. It was that knowledge that made her override her gut reaction to run.

He rubbed in silence for awhile, and eventually she calmed down and her muscles began to relax. He circled his hands back and forth over what he could reach, but it wasn't enough. Holding her in place with one hand, he unclipped more of the suit. When she moved to object, he said soothingly, "Trust me."

Trust him. Scarab tried to swallow the lump in her throat. Trust her bounty? Trust him, when she had never before trusted anyone? Her heart raced as he unclipped the locks, further and further down. She tried to tell herself it was alright. She was fully clothed, after all. It was just the suit. Not the clothes. Just the suit. Soon her shoulders were completely exposed, and he gently tugged the suit down her arms, freeing her entire upper body.

"Ah, that's better," he said. His hands were back on her shoulders in no time, large and warm and strong. She tried to ignore the feeling, tried to look around and not think about it. But the longer he rubbed, the more she wanted to feel. The thought scared her, and she desperately tried to focus on something, anything other than the feel of his hands.

He started talking while he rubbed away her tension, low, soothing words. "See? I told you it wasn't so bad."

Scarab wanted to pull away, and was certain she could. He wasn't holding anymore, just rubbing. But her rebellious body was leaning towards Tenet, not away. A few more minutes, and she'd put a stop to it. It was better than a foot soak at the end of a long, hot day.

"When my sister was young, she got into an accident," he said softly, nothing but love in his voice. "She was playing on a silo, walking along the beam, and slipped. She permanently injured her spine and had to have physically therapy on a daily basis. Still does."

"I'm sorry," mumbled Scarab, in her new-found heaven.

"Every morning Mother would rub her back, but sometimes when we were out playing, she'd cramp up and need some help."

There was an ache in his voice she hadn't heard before. It was the first time she heard any kind of longing in his voice. "You sound like you miss her."

"I do." He gave a little chuckle. "And I don't."

"Why not?"

He sighed. "The accident...being the princess of the family maybe. Something made her very demanding and overall unhappy. Don't get me wrong. I love her to death. We're only a year apart and thick as thieves in most things. And maybe I was blind to it intentionally. Maybe I always felt responsible for her accident. I don't know. I miss her, but I don't miss apologizing for her attitude and cold words."

Scarab's guard was completely down. The wonderful feel of his hands on her, his gentle cadence of speech. Without thinking, she said, "I miss my sister." She realized what she said but for some reason didn't feel the embarrassment she expected.

"Of course you miss her."

He said it as if he was sure. Just like that. No question about it, none of the torture and confusion she herself had carried most of her life. "It...it wasn't fair," she said quietly.

He knew she meant everything. Her life, his, everything. "No. It's not."

She sighed and felt like crying out her bottled up tears. All the years of pain and rage, humiliation and self-loathing were about to rush out and she knew nothing she could do would stop it.

Fortunately, Tenet put a stop to it himself. On impulse, and out of desire to offer comfort for the pain of it all, he leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on the back of her neck. It was all the reality Scarab needed to snap her back into the present and she bolted out of the chair into the safe land behind her iron walls.

"What the hell was that?" she sputtered, rubbing at the burning imprint on her neck.

Tenet sighed and rolled his eyes. "A kiss, dummy."

Scarab held up a hand. "Oh no. Don't you dare try to sweet talk me. You had no right to do that, Bounty."

The 'bounty', said in a cold and callous manner, made Tenet's body move without thought. In an instant he was in front of her, backing her into a corner. "I've had just about enough of this 'bounty' garbage. I'm your 'bounty' only when things get a little too close, a little too familiar."

"You're my bounty until I...I.." She stumbled and stammered and couldn't think of any argument.

"Until what? Until you turn me in? Until I run away? Come on, Scarab. What's it going to be, then?"

She wasn't going to turn him in. That just wasn't going to happen and everyone involved knew it by now. Run. He should run. She should let him escape and... And what, exactly? How in the hell was this kid supposed to make it on his own with the govers hunting him down? The little driving voice of a hunter inside her head screamed that she was a moron.

"I'm not just a bounty, Scarab," Tenet said quietly.

He wasn't. But that didn't mean she knew what category he did fit into.

Tenet took her silence for admission. "I'm at least a friend," he said in almost a whisper.

Scarab swallowed hard. "I...I don't have friends," she insisted, wishing she sounded more convincing.

Tenet was drawn closer to her by something he'd never felt before. His heart skipped as he looked in her eyes and leaned in for...

The door burst open and a chattering trio of people with horrible timing made the two jump apart like they'd been burned. Scarab turned away from him and began shoving her arms back into the safety of her suit. He swore under his breath and ran a hand through his hair. He was surprised to find it shaking. He took a deep breath when Weevil called out for them. Since Scarab was still fumbling with her suit locks, he answered for them.

"Back here." He cleared his throat again to get the waver out of his voice. "We're just looking at your, uh, interesting collection," he said, stepping out from between the racks of heads, hands, and what looked to Tenet to be even more personal anatomy, preserved in large glass jars, suspended in some pinkish liquid for all to see.

Weevil nodded and beamed. "You like it? Spent years collecting. Got specimens there you won't find anywhere else on the globe. Where's my little love muffin?"

Scarab was still trying to get her suit back on with shaking hands, fighting fear, disappointment, and confusion all at once. She knew he had been about to kiss her. She knew it was coming. And she stood there, waiting. Not trying to think of a plan of escape, not bringing up her elbow to his nose, not trying to stop it: waiting. And that annoying voice in her head insisted she was not only waiting, but wanting. She was furious with herself, and even more so with the people that invaded the moment. "Here," she snapped out, pushing past Tenet. "And I'm not your fricken love muffin, got it?"

Weevil held his hands up. "Ooh, someone's feeling a mite testy! Did I interrupt a hot date, hm? A little canoodling in the back of the classroom?"

It was so close to home that her eyes went wide with surprise before they narrowed into her best scowl.

Weevil looked at Tenet. The boy was equally shaken. Though he wasn't surprised, something in him still felt a pang of disappointment. No, he never really had a shot with her. Hell, he'd probably get sick of her as soon as she submitted. But it was the thrill of the possibility that he felt he lost once and for all. He sighed and rolled his eyes, then dragged the bot he was carrying over to the desk. "Nice job with the chips, Scarab," he said.

"Thanks," Scarab said, seizing the change of subject like a lifeline. She cleared her throat. "One got shattered."

"Only in half, my sweet baboo, and I'll be able to read it anyway. Sorry it took so long, kiddies, but I'm guessing you didn't mind so much." He waggled his eyebrows at Tenet, who turned a darker shade of red. "We were setting you up with first class accommodations."

"We'll be in the Lawrence house," said Enna quietly.

Scarab only nodded.

Tenet felt the mood in the room turn somber. "What's the matter with the Lawrence house?"

"Nothin's wrong with the house, son," said Hark. "Just that Lawrence hisself won't be there."

"Oh. And he doesn't mind our using it?"

Hark cackled, and got a smack from Enna for it. "Aw, come on, dear. I didn't mean anythin' by it. He's dead, son. Went out last month and they brought back his suit last week."

Tenet swallowed. "Just last week? Then we shouldn't stay there."

Hark sighed. "And waste the only bit of good luck we had since we started this shitstorm?"

Tenet looked shocked. "Good luck? How can you say that? A man is dead!"

Hark nodded. "Yup, sure is. And that's just a shame, him bein' a friend and all. But facts is facts. He's dead. He don't need it no more. We're alive. We do need it. Simple math, son."

Tenet couldn't believe how callous they were being. "Surely we can find another place to rent out of respect..."

Scarab swore. "Get over yourself, Tenet! It's just a house, not a damn shrine."

"Tenet, listen," said Enna more kindly, shooting Scarab a stern look. "It's the way things work. Lawrence knew what he was getting into with this life. We all do. And we also live by a code. He couldn't take the house with him, could he?"

"Well, no, I guess not..."

"Or the food or clothing or any of it, right?"

It still didn't feel right.

Enna patted his arm. "It's very nice of you to want to respect our dead. It means a lot, truly."

"That it does," echoed Hark.

"But you also have to respect our ways of living, too. If I die, I trust that the crap I leave behind will go to someone who needs it. Otherwise, I die in vain, don't I?"

Tenet had never looked at it that way before. Most possessions went with those who died in his circle, added to the pyre as a homage to all they'd accomplished and earned. Houses were not destroyed, of course, but there was a standard period of waiting and a complete strip down before someone else could inhabit it. It was someone else's life, after all.

"It's my new castle," said Weevil, cleaning the ash and sand from the chips. "Not Lawrence's. If it helps to think of it in those terms, then do. You're staying there one way or the other, so you best get your mind around whatever helps you sleep tonight." He brushed his hands off and looked Tenet, his eyebrow up and clearly waiting to see if Tenet would continue to argue. When he saw the boy clamp his mouth in a firm line, he gave a nod. "Good. Consider it your playground. Utterly safe in every way. Anyone who'd dare say two words about even thinking of going in there will end up on my specimen shelf, and they damn well know it. It's completely enclosed. No windows."

"No windows?" asked Tenet.

Scarab sighed, throwing her hands in the air. "Oh no. Here we go."

His innocent question was enough to set Weevil off. "Windows? Why in the hell would I want windows? So I can see the gossip I already know take place, or so nosy busybodies can steal my brilliance and pass it off as their own? Windows are the invention of The Man, newbie. Designed by The Man to keep his eye on us at all times. Whether we're building a better mouse trap or screwin' some hot whore, they wanna know it all. Never trust a window, boy. Ever."

Tenet smiled to himself. "Alright. I'll keep that in mind."

"Do," said Weevil, turning back to the chips. "Stay away from windows and the world's your oyster."

Hark rolled his eyes, Enna gave Scarab a knowing look, and Tenet decided he just might get to like Weevil after all.

Chapter 11

Tenet tossed and turned for hours. He couldn't get comfortable. He couldn't get his mind to settle. He couldn't feel at home in someone else's bed and he couldn't stand the silence. Sighing, he got up and made his way up to the kitchen.

When Weevil had called this home his castle, he wasn't kidding. In the brief time since he had taken over the abandoned home, he had done his best to turn it into one. His fear of a window creeping up in the night and attaching itself to his house made him expand under ground. Above the ground were the same rooms that Lawrence had left, exactly how he left them. It was a ruse. The majority of rooms were below ground, including another secret mad laboratory, and his living quarters. Tenet asked how he did so much so fast, but Weevil's only response was a grin that said Tenet probably didn't really want to know.

Tenet walked up the stairs and into the kitchen. Maybe a snack would settle him down. He got into the refrigerator, looking for the remains of the fresh salad they had with dinner. He just couldn't get enough of the greens after going so long on the mystery lumps Scarab fed him. He found it and brought the whole bowl to the table. Weevil had told him to feel free to help himself, and that's exactly what he intended to to.

"Grazing?"

Scarab's voice from the dark made him jump, dropping the lettuce from his hand. "Damn, Scarab..."

She laughed and jumped down from her perch on the counter. "Couldn't sleep either?"

He picked the lettuce up and popped it into his mouth. "I was laying there and couldn't stop thinking about eating this."

Scarab opened the fridge and shook her head. "The day a little piece of lettuce is enough to keep me awake..." She reached in the fridge and took out the chicken they also had for dinner. Well, most of them. Tenet hadn't said anything during the meal, no doubt his manners held the words back. But alone, she wanted him to see her eat it and say what he would. He'd have to get it out to get over it, and they didn't have much time to get him there.

He eyed the plate, but said nothing. He picked up his lettuce and savored it, ignoring Scarab when she took out a leg and started eating. He tried to swallow down his comments, but eventually he had to say something. "Do you have to eat that in front of me?"

Aha. Good. "I'm going to be doing it a lot, you know."

He shook his head. "Not around me."

She walked over and deliberately waved the meat in front of his face. With dramatic flourish, she brought it to her mouth and took another big bite. He made a face of disgust and looked away.

"You know," she said, wiping the corner of her mouth with a finger. "You'll have to."

She pulled out a chair and sat down, placing the plate of chicken between them.

"Have to what?"

"Eat it. Chicken, steak...maybe even goat."

His eyes went wide, and she almost laughed at the look of shock across his face. "Never," he said firmly.

She nodded. "You'll eat it or you'll starve."

"I'll just eat vegetables, thank you."

"When there aren't any?"

He shrugged. "I'll be careful to store them up through the summer."

"Can't. One yearly harvest is all you'll get. You can't possibly store enough to get through the winter on just vegetables alone. You just can't."

He frowned. "Then I'll...I'll...they have potatoes, right?" She nodded. "Good! I'll eat potatoes." He gave her a satisfied look and popped another lettuce leaf in his mouth.

"You gonna grow them?"

"I'll buy them."

She nodded. "I see you have it all planned out."

"Yep."

"How are you going to buy them?"

He stopped chewing and frowned. "I...well I..." He had never been without money. It never occurred to him that once he crossed that border, he'd be poor as a pauper. "I...I don't know. I'll think of something."

"And what will you eat in the meantime?"

He didn't like this. He didn't like it one bit. "There's a way. There's got to be a way. Maybe I can work for food."

"Maybe," she conceded. "But what if you can't? What if it's harder than you think and it comes down to hunting for food or death?"

He honestly had never even considered it. He never had to. Not once in his life had he wanted for anything, and the idea of wanting for even the very basics like food turned his stomach. "I don't know," he said carefully. "I never had to before."

Scarab sighed and gave him a small smile. "Well, sorry, buddy, but you have to."

"I can't do this."

Scarab sat back and studied him for a minute. "You know what?"

"What?"

"I seem to have heard that from you a lot. You said you couldn't walk through ash like a pro, and you did. You said you couldn't shoot to protect yourself, and you did. You said you couldn't do anything, yet you kept my ass alive." She shoved the plate of cold chicken towards him. "You can do it if you have to."

He shook his head. "I don't have to."

"You do. Now." She nodded to the chicken, urging him to try it.

"I can't eat an animal."

"Just like munching a carrot."

He gave a small laugh. "Carrots can't think."

"Neither can chickens. Trust me, I've been around them a lot. They peck and squawk and eat their own shit. Hell, leave them alone long enough and they even eat each other."

He looked at the chicken and could see it alive, asking him why he was doing this. "I can't."

"Your body is better designed to process meat than it is vegetables. Try it."

"It's not moral."

"Morals don't play into it. It's nature. Plain and simple. You are the hunter, it is the hunted. You were right when you said you weren't a bot. You're not. They kill indiscriminately. You're like the wraith, or the gilla. You hunt for food. It's part of the plan, and it's high time you get off your mighty throne and realize you're no better than nature." She nudged the plate closer to him, waiting for him to try it.

He sighed. There was truth behind her words. They made sense. And he knew the facts of history well enough to know the only reason humans turned away from meat in the first place was that they simply couldn't raise enough herds to feed them all. Oh, in recent generations it had turned moral. But they were false morals born of the humiliation of the failed attempts to migrate the large herds. So animals existed, herds were there, but only for the other products they could give. Sheep could be shorn for wool, allowing for few cotton crops and more food land. Cows were a necessary to feed peoples' babies who couldn't get milk from their own mothers. And chickens laid eggs. All of the herds were small, small enough to transport during migration. The modern social structure in which Tenet was raised couldn't support a meat industry.

Tentatively, Tenet poked a piece of cold chicken. "It feels...dead."

Scarab laughed. "I should hope so! I wouldn't want to try and eat a live one!"

He ignored her humor at his expense and picked up a piece. Giving it a sniff, he decided it smelled edible.

Scarab bit her lip and considered how far she should go to get him to do this. She had hoped goading him with a challenge would have be enough. She sighed. Nothing to be done but tell him the truth. "Would it help things along if I told you you've already eaten meat?"

Tenet's gaze flew to hers. "What..." But he didn't have to finish. The mystery lumps. "Protein" she had said. He could have smacked himself for not realizing it sooner. His stomach felt like it dropped to the floor. "You tricked me."

She obviously felt no remorse and shrugged. "You had to eat. Eat or starve. And I'd like to point out that it didn't kill you."

"You know how I feel about life." He felt utterly betrayed. "You know how important it is to me."

She hated that she felt guilt. She did the right thing. There was no question about that at all. In the moment, she kept him alive however she had to. He was a bounty, for god's sake, and one she could have easily dragged in dead for the extra incentive. Had she done that? No. She shared what she had and it made him live, and live stronger. "Tenet, think about it. How long did your supplies last in that heat?"

Not long, a couple days, and there was no use pretending otherwise. "You could have had soy chips."

"Which give half the energy and protein per pound and you damn well know it."

He shook his head. "You could have given me the choice. You should have told me."

Scarab gave a little laugh at that. "Yeah, right. The overly proud little whine ass I found passed out in the dirt was really going to listen to reason and make the right choice."

He didn't want her words to ring true, but they did. "You knew how I felt," he insisted, trying to hold on to some shred of who he thought he was.

"No, Tenet. I knew what you were told to feel in the life you lead." She held up her hand when he opened his mouth to argue. "I'm not making any judgment there, so get that look off your face. I'm just saying that you were raised a certain way, and your beliefs are based solely on that. Could you at least get over your ego for a second and admit that?" He pressed his lips together tightly but eventually gave a curt little nod. Good, they were finally getting somewhere. "And can you admit that right now, you are no longer living that life?"

He didn't like where she was going. "I'm still the same person."

"You aren't, and frankly, I'm glad. That Tenet wouldn't have a chance in hell of making it up in the Borderlands."

He wanted so badly to tell her how wrong she was. That niggle of pride she mentioned was telling him to insist he was the same person he'd always been and that person was certainly good enough. He didn't have to eat another living creature to survive. It went against everything he ever believed. If the past month had taught him anything, though, it was that everything else he believed had been proven wrong. He knew nothing about how the world really worked. He still didn't, not on the grand scheme, but he was learning. One by one every truth he was taught was proving to be twisted, skewed, or flat out wrong. How could he really believe anything that was based around a false life?

Scarab watched his face as he stared at the chicken. He was thinking of arguments, and she began preparing another speech. This was important. He had to understand this simple truth. There had to be a way to get him to see how wrong he was, or else he'd die. All of these people who put their lives on the line for him would be ruined, and for what? To save a kid who couldn't- no, wouldn't- save himself. "Tenet," she began.

It was already settled in his mind. Surprising Scarab, he picked up the chicken and bit a mouthful, squeezing his eyes tight against the revulsion and chewing as quickly as possible before he lost the nerve.

"Whoa, easy now," she warned him.

He chewed, bracing himself and expecting to gag at any moment. Instead, he was surprised by the flavor. It tasted salty with a light sweetness. "Huh," he said with his mouth full. "Tastes like soy loaf."

Scarab grinned. "Oh, no. This is much better."

He chewed and swallowed, then tried another bite. "Not bad, I guess," he grudgingly admitted. His stomach gave a small roll, but he willed it calm. She was right. He didn't live in the world he thought he knew. That was all fantasy. He lived in her world, where the realness of everything threatened to be overwhelming if he let it. One day at a time, one revelation at a time, one bite at a time. He had to kill to survive when he had no choice, and very soon they'd have no choice. He paused for a moment to make sure his stomach listened to reason, and he took another small bite.

Scarab watched and felt an admiration for Tenet she rarely felt for anyone. He did it. He actually did it, and the pride began to change to something else. She suddenly wanted to feel his hands on her again.

The thought slammed into her chest and stopped her breathing. Where did that come from? An odd panic set in and she felt like running.

Tenet swallowed his second bite, happy that it felt firmly in place in his stomach this time. He glanced up at her and grinned, pleased that he passed another one of her tests. "There!" he said with triumph. When he noticed that she looked like a panicked animal caught in transport lights, his smile turned to a frown. "You okay?"

She shook her head, then nodded. "Yes. Fine." She sat very still. The feeling was still there.

"Scarab, what's wrong?" What did he say this time?

"Nothing," she said quickly, trying to get herself under control. No, no, no, she told herself firmly. Nothing good ever comes from needing or wanting. Nothing. She jumped up and turned for the hall. "Good job on the chicken," she said quickly over her shoulder as she all but ran out of the room.

Tenet stood staring at the empty doorway for several minutes, wondering what in the hell he said or did to piss her off. He sighed and gave up when he found no answer. He looked at the cold chicken leg in his hand and decided that two bites was more than enough. He put it back on the plate with the other pieces and placed it in the refrigerator. He was just washing the meat juice off his hands when Weevil came in.

"Good, you're still up." He had a stack of papers in his hand and three pens stuck into his crazed mass of hair that fluffed out in all directions. Clearly he'd been hard at work. "Where are the others?"

"They went to bed. I'll get them..."

"No," Weevil said quickly. "Let them sleep." He motioned for Tenet to sit as he rummaged in a cupboard. He pulled out a bottle and two glasses, then joined Tenet at the table. "Finding everything you need here?"

"Yes."

"Good." He poured the drinks, one half-full, the other to the top. He slid the full one over to Tenet and then gave him a serious look. "No bullshit, kiddo. Drink."

"What is it?"

"Booze. And it's not the cheap stuff."

Tenet let out a laugh. "Getting me drunk to butter me up?"

Weevil flashed a grin. "Only in my dreams, I'm guessing." He waved a hand when Tenet made a face. "Oh calm down, hot pants." He motioned for Tenet to drink.

The liquid burned raw. It was a far cry from the wines he'd had at parties and Academy celebrations. He balled his fist and forced the fire down. "Mind telling me why I'm putting my body through this torture?" he squeaked out.

"Fortification, kid. Good old-fashioned liquid courage." He took his own drink down in one shot, then poured another. "Whooee that's something!" He smacked his lips, then turned serious. "I've been going over your situation. Putting a lot of thought into it."

"Thanks."

"Don't thank me. It's completely in my best interest to get all four of you the hell outta here as fast as I can. And, most importantly, to make sure you'll stay gone."

Tenet didn't know whether to be offended or not.

"Hark seems to think you'll fit in with the Cons, but he's been this side of the border too long. Hark's plan would have been a good one twenty years ago. But they lost their head honcho up there a couple years back and everything fell to shit. Hell, even if they didn't, I haven't had an 'in' with them in a decade or more. Hark forgets how old we both got."

"So there are no more Cons?"

"Well, there are. They still exist. But they're more of a roaming team of drugged out bandits. Shame, really. To go from freedom fighters with a cause to junkies." He shook his head. "Just how the world works, I suppose. Top of the world one day," he made a whistle, "bottom of the pile the next. And since you couldn't make it as a bandit no matter how much Scarab helps, the Cons are out."

He couldn't be a bandit, that was for sure. It may have been a stab at his manhood, but it was an accurate one. "Fine. No Cons. Scarab didn't sound happy about that one anyway."

"Who do you think sold her daddy out, hm?"

Tenet's eyes narrowed. "Then why did Hark think...?"

"He probably doesn't know that part. Or maybe he does but couldn't see another way. You're in a pickle, and those rarely lead to many options. And, like I said, we got old. Hark moved out and around, I stayed put. Times have changed. I'll skip the modern history lesson and put it in a nutshell for you. Go legit."

Tenet let out a bark of laughter. "I think we passed that option a long time ago."

Weevil waved a hand in annoyance. "Seemingly legit, then. You don't want to join up with the bands. You want to be a respectable citizen. Government approved and everything."

"And how are we going to do that?"

Weevil clucked his tongue. "The youth of today is so impatient! It's the best part of my entire diabolical plan and you want me to blurt it all out instead of taking the time to savor my wit and cleverness." He shook his head and drank down his next shot. "Fine, Captain Impatience. You're going to present yourselves to the border guard as exactly what their young government needs."

Tenet didn't like the tone of voice. Or the unmistakable glee in Weevil's eye. Or the fact that the man was intentionally drawing out the long silence for dramatic effect. "And that is?" he asked when he couldn't take it any longer.

"A happy young couple." When his grin only met a blank stare, he sighed. "Damn you're thick, sweet cheeks. A couple. You know, white dress, flowers, the whole nine."

Tenet's heart beat once, twice. He blinked. "But I'm not..." the third beat slammed him with realization of Weevil's plan. In his stomach, the cheap booze began a war with the unfamiliar meat and they both threatened to march right back out.

Weevil laughed and put the rest of the drink in Tenet's hand. "And the second piece of the plan falls into place." He tapped his forehead. "I think of everything."

The crazy little man actually wanted Tenet to marry Scarab. Tenet felt the drink in his hand and without thought, chugged it, glad for the burning that suddenly gave him an anchor. Weevil held out the bottle and poured another, which Tenet quickly downed. He coughed and then drew a shaky breath. "No," he managed.

"No what?"

"I...we can't be married."

Weevil shrugged. "I've been doing this a long time, kid, and I can tell you that's your best option."

"I'm not old enough." It was a gut reaction, born in through the strict years of society's teaching and practices.

Weevil rolled his eyes dramatically. "God forbid you actually break any unwritten rules of conduct. You're an adult, right?"

"Of course," he answered defensively. "I reached my majority years ago." He didn't consciously notice that Weevil had slyly filled his drink again, nor did he make the decision to actually drink it. As his mind churned with all the ways the idea was insane, he took another swig.

"Then there's no problem."

Tenet snorted. "No problem? No problem, he says!" A laugh bubbled up and his face felt very warm all of a sudden. "Do you know what it would do to my mother if she found out I wed before twenty five? It's...it's..."

Weevil couldn't help but feel a little glee. The kid was getting drunk. Good and drunk. And on only a few drinks, at that. It struck him once again that this poor boy was in so far over his head that no matter how brilliant a plan he made, the chances of him actually seeing one more birthday were pretty slim. It was Weevil's first impression of the kid, and it only grew through the day and his research.

As all the hunters had, he assumed Tenet was a spoiled brat rebelling without a cause when he read the bounty order. Poor little rich kid out to prove himself, damn the consequences to everyone who was forced to get involved because of his temper tantrum. Little shit should have stayed in his fancy house and easy life with plenty of food, women, money, and power. It was the power that he threw away that made Weevil hate Tenet before he met him. How anyone could anyone just walk away from that kind of life? It still galled. Add to that the fact that it was Scarab who took the bounty, Scarab who went racing off like some guardian angel, and it was almost too much. When he got Hark's plea for help, he would have laughed and hung up the com if it was only his life the fee would affect.

In the past few years with increasing pressure from bot patrols, governmental sweeps for contraband, and curtailed trading between both gover lands, things weren't as cozy as they used to be for him or his citizens. It was a brutal life in his little town. Still, it was better than most of his residents had before they arrived. He got a secret joy from giving that kind of life to them, from being the one to give them something, anything. He wasn't going soft, he was just being practical. At least, that's what he told himself over and over after he promised his old friend help. He had to take the job. The money was too good to pass up.

He got down to his business: knowledge. That was the absolute power. He began his research, digging where no one else would have thought to, and began to form a confusing picture of this Tenet Bradwin. Only son of the top dog...the very top. And yet, the life he lead, even on paper, was not the life it should have been. He was kicked out of the military, in spite of excellent exams, practicals, and survivalist training. Sins of the father passed on to the son, perhaps...but if his father could rise to power in spite of his mother's lineage, why was the son denied? He had no public courtship, which in itself was not unusual for his age, but he also had no record of private marriage agreement. His sister did, with contractual dowry already paid to the Bradwin's from the future groom's cache. Her life was locked in stone, as Tenet's should have been. It certainly painted an interesting picture, and Weevil had been very curious to meet the should-be prince.

When Tenet arrived, Weevil's curiosity grew deeper. He walked and spoke with confidence, but not with condescension. He followed Scarab's lead in a way that most bounties didn't. He didn't present the picture of a rebel in any sense. It ate at Weevil, this puzzle of a boy. It made him want to help, a feeling he suspected he'd still have even if there wasn't an enormous pay day at the end. He'd never admit it out loud, of course, but he couldn't deny it to himself. Maybe he was getting soft in his old age.

"Look, kid. I'm going to be straight with you. I wasn't fooling around when I said you were in deep shit. In fact, it's so deep I'm not sure even I can help the four of you dig out. I can make a plan for you, the best my experience can muster, and I can give you some advice. It's your choice whether to listen, do and follow, or not."

Tenet saw through the warm haze of alcohol that Weevil was being serious. Well he was being serious, too, even if the weird little man didn't want to listen. "I can't get married," he said, feeling his mouth go dry. He took another sip. He just had to spell it out for Weevil, then he'd understand.

"And why not? I've seen that ass, kid. I'm telling you, your marriage would be far from boring. I bet she knows how to do things to your body that you can't even dream of!"

He suddenly wanted to take a swing at Weevil and he wasn't sure why. "Don't you go saying things like that again."

Weevil let out a bark of laughter. "Have you even met me yet?"

He had to get back on track. "Look. I have many reasons I can't get married. First, I haven't paid a dowry." He held his fingers up one by one as he ticked off the reasons that seemed obvious to him. "Second, I haven't announced intention of courtship. Fourth..."

"Third," Weevil said, amusement dancing in his eyes.

"...I'm not old enough. I wouldn't even consider it for a few more years and only then if I was one of..." he stopped. If what? Even his drunk mind realized the stupidity of what he was saying. He wasn't at home. He was no longer in the upper caste. In fact, as far as the upper caste was concerned, he was already dead...or at least well on the way to being so. He wasn't going back.

Weevil saw the play of emotions over the kid's face and sighed. "Tenet, forget it. Forget them."

"Who?"

"Your family. Forget them. They wrote you off, now it's time to write them off."

He shook his head, feeling lower by the second. He gripped his glass and brought it to his mouth, wanting the burn. It was empty. He held it out to Weevil, who hesitated only a second before giving him one more shot.

"That's your last, kiddo."

Tenet gulped it. "They didn't write me off."

"Of course they did!" Weevil almost yelled. Tenet flinched and Weevil blew out a frustrated breath, running his hand through his crazy hair. Calm. No matter how much the kid needed to hear it, he had to keep calm while saying it. It wouldn't sink in otherwise. "I know it sucks. Gotta hurt like a bastard. I get that. But they took out a contract on you. Even if you somehow made it back alive, your father didn't have any plans for your future." Tenet shook his head and looked to Weevil as if he was about to cover his ears. "You haven't put your head in the sand and ignored your situation yet, so don't start now."

Tenet swallowed hard, trying to get the lump of disappointment in his throat to go away.

"You have no betrothal, do you?" Weevil asked. Tenet looked at his empty glass, feeling more and more uncomfortable with someone pointing out the truths in his life he tried to ignore for so long. "You were kicked out of the military, and then you had to enroll yourself in a profession training course."

"Father didn't...He wanted me to be a gover," he said, using the local language he was picking up.

"Even govers need training," Weevil said quietly.

It was a fact that had niggled at Tenet's brain for two years. After the military path was closed to him, his father should have paved another road. He constantly told Tenet he had a future in politics, yet never showed him any way to get there. Words. Years ago, he realized it was all just words.

"Why'd you do it, kid?" Tenet continued to stare at his empty glass. "You knew, didn't you?" Tenet's surprised look flickered up to Weevil for a second, before he turned his head away again. "Shit."

Tenet knew alright. He knew how much his father hated him, how much his mother didn't care one way or the other. "Maybe I was trying to show him how wrong he was," he admitted, his speech a little slurred, both with emotion and the booze. "And he was right, huh?" He gave a snort of derision.

Weevil knew this was where a friend would stroke the ego, build up confidence, restore self-esteem. A friend would have praised him for getting this far, given him a pep talk about how he could keep going, prove the world wrong and win the day. But he wasn't a friend, and that's not what Tenet needed anyway. He needed honesty. "Kinda was, I suppose."

Tenet's head was starting to spin. Or the room was. Or maybe both. He leaned forward and put his forehead on the cool table top. "You don't pull any punches, do you Weevil?"

Weevil felt a pang of sympathy. "Nope, I sure don't. And that's why people come to me, people in your situation."

Tenet laughed. "How many people are in my situation?"

"Not exactly your situation, then, but similar. Running. Running scared, tired, and ill-prepared. It's taken balls and guts to get this far. Yeah, Scarab dragged your sorry ass. But I gotta hand it to you that you listened, followed and learned. What more do you want me to say? I can't lie to you like everyone else."

It was a very good point. He rolled his head to the side to look at Weevil. "I knew my father hated me. Always has. Hates my mother, too. Calls her a tribal witch."

"Why'd he marry her, then?"

"Because he wanted her and he thought she loved him." The honesty coming out of his mouth for the first time shocked Tenet, but he kept talking, saying the thoughts he'd always felt guilty for thinking. "She cheats on him with the help. I'm probably not even his."

"Holy shit." Weevil poured another shot for them both. "This is getting good." He didn't even have the good grace to look apologetic as he motioned for Tenet to continue.

"Good? Good for who? Because it's not that good for me. It's not good for Mother, or even Father for that matter." He shook his head. "It's no good, Weevil. Imagine if everyone knew." He pushed up on his elbow just enough to take another drink, then flopped back on the table top. "You have a comfy table," he mumbled. When he was quiet for a few minutes, Weevil thought maybe he had passed out.

"I knew he hated me and I was gonna show him just how stupid he was," he said loudly, his voice echoing in the large, dark kitchen. "I got a buncha stuff together and I got it all planned out." He snorted. "Okay, I get it now. But at the time, I really did put a lotta thought into things, you know? You just..." He opened his eyes and lifted his head to look at Weevil. "You ever spent a summer off season down my way?"

"No, can't say that I have."

As if that settled something, Tenet gave a nod and placed his head back on a stable surface. "Lettuce and tomatoes shrivel up in days, even in a thermo pack. And you get so damn thirsty. You don't even know how thirsty, Weeve. You just can't imagine. And then you get all dried out inside, and then you start thinking to yourself that you're lost. You know you're lost, because there's nothing at all you know even standing in your own front yard and..." He stopped talking again, and Weevil reached over to check for a pulse. "There was just so much I didn't know," he said suddenly. "And I didn't even know I didn't know." He rolled his head and looked at Weevil again. "You know?"

"Yeah, I get it, kid."

Tenet snorted again. "I thought my arm was mangled. I'm a damn healer, and I didn't know my arm was just asleep."

Weevil felt bad for the kid then. "Aw, I'm sure you were just dazed and..."

"A bounty hunter saved my life." He closed his eyes again. "If my father saw me laying in that dust he woulda left me. A stranger who was paid to arrest me...promised more money to kill me...a stranger saved me."

There was nothing Weevil could say.

"Don't you think I want to forget it all? Forget them all?" He laughed, a sad, bitter little bark that cut right through Weevil's jaded exterior. "And what am I doing? I'm still fighting it every step. Drink the milk, no! I can't! For shame!" He waved a hand wildly. "Kill the horrifying monster that just wants nothing more in life than to see you dead and eat your innards you say? Alas, we cannot harm them because we live in our safe little houses filled with useless junk we destroy when we die because God forbid someone less fortunate gets any use of..."

"Tenet?"

Scarab's voice in the doorway stopped him. He whipped around and stood, wobbling a little, but managing to stay upright. "Hi! Thought you were sleeping?"

Scarab took in the sight of him, wobbly, slurring, obviously drunk. "I was," she said, pointedly. She walked to the table and sniffed the empty glass, making a face at the harsh smell. "Dammit, Weevil! You should have known better."

Weevil put his hands in the air. "Don't blame me. He's the one that decided to try and drink me under the table, poopsie bear."

"Hey!" Tenet barked. "Don't yell at him like I'm a child. I'm past my majority, ya know."

Scarab sighed. "Yes, I'm sure you've had lots of experience with rotgut at your fancy balls and cotillions. If you're done wallowing in the gutter for the night..."

"I didn't once wallow!" he shouted, getting angry at her tone. "I'm not a child, Scarab."

"Well pardon me, but you're certainly acting like one!"

Weevil considered intervening for a second, but decided rather quickly it was much more amusing to sit back and watch.

Tenet weaved and put a hand on the counter to steady himself. "Go to bed, Tenet," she said more kindly.

"Do you know the plan?"

"What plan?"

Tenet waved a finger between the two of them. "Our plan. The plan." He flicked his hand around his head. "The whole shebang plan."

She would have smacked the silly grin off his face if it wasn't oddly endearing. So he was good and drunk. So what? She really wasn't the one to be passing judgment on that. At least she got in there before he went and did something with Weevil he'd regret. "No," she admitted. "I don't know the plan. But I do know that if you don't get into bed, and soon..."

Tenet poked her shoulder with his finger. "You are going to marry me."

Scarab waited for a punchline that never came. Slowly she turned to look at Weevil.

"Not the best proposal, but I guess given the circumstances..."

They were serious. They were serious?! "No." She said it to Weevil, completely ignoring Tenet's blustering insistence.

"Yes," he said. "I was just telling Tenet here..."

"No," she said, the panic growing in her making her voice as loud as Tenet's. She felt Tenet's hands on her shoulders and she whipped back to stare at him. "No," she told him. "I can't make it any more clear than that."

"Weevil said he has a plan that'll get us over the border safely and...stop shaking your head, it's making me dizzy."

"The booze is making you dizzy," she snapped, pulling away from him. "I'm making sense. No, I will not marry you. That is the stupidest idea I've ever heard, and you've had some doozies!" Weevil laughed. The jerk actually laughed at her!

"If you'd just calm down and listen to reason..."

"If I listened to reason I never would have taken this stupid bounty in the first place!"

Weevil had known Scarab for years. She was all puff and show. He could see the anger for what it was, an immediate defense while the cogs in her brain went into overtime to think through every possibility. She put up the wall to be able to distance herself and assess. He didn't take her words personally. "Keep going, sister. I can take it until you run out of steam. Just let me know when you're ready to talk instead of lash out like a child." He pushed back from the table and rose. "I expect to see both of you in the morning for identity reassignment. Hopefully by then you'll cool your jets and realize what my good pal Tenny has. You've really got no choice." He gave them a pointed glare before walking out.

Scarab slumped into an empty chair at the table. "Sit down before you fall on your ass," she snapped. Tenet instantly complied. The minutes of silence ticked by as she tried to calm herself down. Tenet picked up the bottle and sloshed more in his glass, and Scarab snatched both away from him. "You're definitely cut off, buster." She put the bottle back in the cupboard and returned to sit and stare at Tenet, her mind scrambling to make sense of the turn the evening took. When she could speak without shouting, she asked Tenet the exact plan.

"I dunno," he slurred. "Get married, go across, live happy lives of toil and strife until we die horribly under a glacier."

"There aren't glaciers in the Borderlands," she said automatically, her mind trying to accept what he was saying. "We don't need to be married. We cross and join the Cons and...don't shake your head at me. You heard what Hark and Enna said."

"They're wrong. Cons are shit now." He made a noise and waved his hand, as Weevil had. "Kaput. Defunct. No more. There's a new sheriff in town and...hey!"

"What?"

"I just got what that old expression means!"

Scarab huffed in annoyance. "Fine. Great. Give yourself a pat on the back. Now, what did you say about the Cons?"

"Kicked outta there. No longer in charge."

"Shit."

"Yup. They got their own govers up there now. New ones. Weevil thinks they wanna do it right, like have a real respectable nation."

Scarab bit her lower lip, tuning his babbling out. She couldn't be part of anything legit, not in the Borderlands. They'd get her. They'd get her and kill her this time. They'd kill Tenet, too. Maybe punish him first, but neither would get out of there alive if they found out who she was. Could Tenet off-season with her? No. That was surely more dangerous. A secret like that couldn't be kept in this world. He mentioned the possibility of crossing the equatorial desert. Maybe they could strike out for the south lands...

Tenet's hand on hers got her attention. "Am I?" he asked.

She was lost in thought and hadn't heard the question. "Huh?"

"Am I?" he asked again.

"Are you what?"

"Really such a bad choice?"

She pulled her hand away from his, shocked at herself for almost answering. "I'll talk to Weevil and get this figured out."

"Scarab..."

"I can't marry you, Tenet."

"Can't? Or won't?"

She was getting a headache. "Go to bed, Tenet. I'll think of something."

"Like I'm a child." He pushed back from the table and stood, his look dark and brooding. "I'm not a child, Scarab. And it's my life, too! You were the one that chose to come after me. You told me to run. Fine. I'll run. I was trying to help you out because you helped me, but I see you don't want it. So I won't try. I'll go up to the Borderland and have my own life and you can go scurrying off and putting yourself through hell just to keep avoiding real people and real life."

No one had ever spoken to Scarab like that. No one. The outrage filled her until she saw red. "You are trying to help me? I don't believe this! If it wasn't for me, you'd have been dead a good month ago!"

"And if you don't team up with me now, you're the one who'll be dead a good month from now! You want to die, Scarab? Because they will find you. I may be naive, I may be in the dark about some things, but one thing I know for sure is that he doesn't stop. My father does...not...stop. He will get you. He will put everything he has into hunting you down and getting rid of you forever."

"Then I'll head south."

"Across the desert?"

"Yes."

He barked a laugh. "You're good, but even you aren't that good. Where are you going to get a transport that can handle it? You yourself said the only way is if the governments put all their resources together..."

"You were the one that said that. I said it was ridiculous to even try!" She snapped her mouth shut, realizing she'd just lost her own argument. "I'll think of something," she said quickly.

"You say that a lot."

"And I do it every single day!"

Tenet threw his hands in the air. "Fine! Keep doing it every day. God forbid someone offers you a hand once in awhile! Admit it. You're still mad I had to stitch you up."

And this was exactly why she never argued with a drunk person. They went from topic to topic and it was all pointless. "Just what does that have to do with anything?"

"You hate it when you need help. Hell, I bet if you hadn't been passed out cold, you'd have snapped your trap shut and watch your guts fall out the hole that wraith made instead of admitting you needed someone to lend a hand."

It was too true for comfort. "I said thank you for that..." she said through clenched teeth.

"Said it, but didn't mean it."

"That's not what we were talking about," she said quickly.

"It's exactly the same thing. You know what I told Weevil?" He didn't wait for her answer. "I told him I couldn't marry you."

Scarab blinked in surprise. "Then why are we even having this fight?"

"I told him I couldn't, but I know I have to. That's the difference between you and me."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Tenet gave a curt laugh. "Oh, yes you do! I might not start out knowing what I have to do, but I sure learn my lesson fast enough. I had to kill that wraith, so I did. I had to eat meat, so I did..."

"Oh no, you don't get to claim that one!," she jumped in, seizing the opportunity to defend herself. "I had to push you..."

"So I needed convincing. So what? In the end, I did what I had to do."

She pointed her finger angrily at him. "Look here. I always do what I have to do. My entire life is doing what I have to do. I'm sorry, but I didn't have the luxury of growing up in a palace unlike some people."

"No. You had the luxury of growing however you wanted with no one dictating every action of your life. And that's left you completely unwilling to accept that sometimes, the mighty Scarab is wrong."

Did he truly see her that way? He should, she insisted to herself. That's how everyone should see her. And yet, the words stung.

"If you stay here, you die. If you continue hunting for this government, you die. You can't make it south. If you try, you die. You have one option left. Borderland."

He made too much sense for a drunk man, and it rankled. "Even if that's true, we don't need to be married to get there." He couldn't argue that one.

"Weevil said we do."

She scoffed. "And you're just trusting him. Just like that."

"Yup."

Naive. The stupid idiot was still as naive as the day she found him. He hadn't learned a damned thing! "You don't even know him!"

"I didn't know you."

She felt her chest tighten. "Maybe you shouldn't have trusted me, either."

The haze of the booze didn't lessen the frustration building in Tenet, didn't take the edge off as it had at all the insufferable parties he'd been forced to attend under the guise of duty. If anything, it fueled the current fire. "Why do you always have to be so damn stubborn?" Before she could give an answer he already knew he didn't want to hear, he threw his hands in the air. "I'm done." He turned and teetered grabbing the counter for support as the alcohol let him know it was still in charge.

Scarab couldn't stop the snort. "Yeah, you're done all right."

He shot her a glare and stormed out of the kitchen. Scarab took a deep breath when he was gone and ran a shaky hand through her hair. She hated arguments, especially with stubborn idiots who couldn't hold their liquor and didn't know shit about life. She sat down and looked at the shot glass for a second before picking it up and draining what Tenet had left behind. The burn helped stop the shaking and gave her something to focus on. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and stood up, determined to let Weevil know exactly what she thought about his plan. She stormed down the stairs to Weevil's private quarters and had her hand up to pound on the door when it flung open.

"Have my dreams finally come true then, butter butt?" His stupid grin was almost too much for her to take.

"Why in the hell did you fill his head with that stupid shit?"

Weevil sighed and leaned against the door frame. "Come on, peach. You're smart enough to know the score. You may have just been a little larva when you left, but you can remember how life is up there. He wouldn't live a week and you damn well know it."

"I'm not going to let him go up alone," she said through clenched teeth. "I wouldn't have taken this bounty if I planned on copping out last minute."

"Then enjoy the fact that your future husband has an ass I drool over."

She felt her face turn red. "I don't care about his ass," she muttered.

Weevil barked with laughter. "You're a terrible liar, hon. Absolutely horrible."

"Are you coming back here?" came the voice from somewhere in the bedroom.

"Just a second you needy little bastard! You want even more punishment?"

"Yes!"

Weevil sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. "Gluttonous little pig. Can we wrap this up?"

Beyond uncomfortable, but still needing to make her point, Scarab rushed ahead. "There's no reason we need to be wed to cross."

"They'll accept you if you are. They need young couples that promise new blood. It'll make everything so much easier and they'll ask far fewer questions. Could you cross as just two random people? Depends on how many questions you want to answer, how thoroughly you feel like being grilled."

She knew that to be true. Wedded couples had always been preferred. The pressure to marry and start families was great in the Borderlands simply for survival's sake. It was a harsh truth of her old life. Too often, people died young. The life up there meant everyone lived on a different time line. Had her father not damned them all, she would be wedded with two or three children by now. She understood. "But we're coming from here, where there isn't the pressure and..." She was reaching and she knew it. Marry here before crossing, or be pressured to wed after crossing. Unless they could live in the wild. The thought struck her and stuck. "Wilderness. We'll be apart from the civilized towns and..." Weevil was shaking his head, but Scarab pushed on. "We'll set up our own stead and..."

"You never listen, do you? One of your most irritating traits, and one you'll have to get over to have a successful marriage."

"I'm getting cold in here!" came the mystery voice.

"Then put on a friggin' blanket!" he shouted over his shoulder.

"If I wasn't tied up..."

"Can it!" Weevil shook his head again. "Impatient bugger."

The exchange between the two lovers deepened her blush and made her sorry she barged into the extremely private affairs of Weevil.

Weevil looked at her and sighed to himself. It was very easy to forget just how young this little bug was. In some ways she was more jaded than even him. In some ways, she was every bit the seasoned, hardened hunter. And yet there were times like this when the very thought of what he did behind his closed door had her shy, scared, and humiliated. He took pity on her. "Look, pumpkin. You did this to yourself. You picked this path. I'm just trying to make it work."

The fatherly tenderness was surprising from Weevil, and she was completely thrown. "I...I still don't see why we can't live in the wilderness..."

He gave a little shrug. "Fine. Do it. Go back to that hard way of life. No skin off my nose. Good luck keeping alive by running the rest of your life, because the one thing I'm sure of is that you need to make yourselves as attractive to them as possible to pull this off. Married. Shit, if there was any way you could get knocked up overnight, that would be the best..." Her face paled, and he laughed. "No, didn't think that was going to go over well. But married and looking like you're working on the second stage and they're almost guaranteed not to turn you away."

"We'll sneak in."

He snorted. "And then what? Where ya gonna get food? Supplies?"

"We'll hunt. Make what we need."

"Live off the land." His tone may have been condescending, but Scarab decided to pretend he was serious.

"Absolutely."

"When was the last time you lived off the grid?"

She was going to say she did it every day of her life, but that wasn't exactly true. She could hunt for game, and did when she had to, but that was very rare. For the most part, she bought her food like everyone else. She lived alone, but still relied on houses, systems, electricity, and medical supplies, whether they belonged to her or not. She wouldn't have money to buy supplies once up there.

"You can go ahead with your plan. It won't work and you'll die. Being an enemy up there is far worse than being an enemy here. You know that first hand. Your best shot is to get in there, as legal as possible, and live by the rules."

"I can't marry him," she insisted, her frustration threatening to boil over.

"Then it's been nice knowin' ya, sparky. Have someone let me know when the funeral is."

"You don't get it!" she shouted. "None of you understand."

"Then tell me."

"Yes, tell him so we can get be done with your drama!" the annoyed voice from the room cut in.

Scarab and Weevil both ignored him. "If they find out who I am..."

"They won't," Weevil insisted. "I'm very good at what I do."

"If they do," she insisted, "then we're screwed. And if he's tied to me..." Scarab swallowed a lump in her throat. "I can't keep him safe if we're married."

"Well maybe it's not him I'm trying to keep safe here, sweetheart." Before she could reply, he leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the forehead, completely flustering her senses. Tenderness and caring from Weevil was more than she could take. "Think about it, kiddo. You're too smart to ignore your best option." He quickly cleared his throat and put on his best smile, clearly as uncomfortable with kind tenderness as she was. "Now, off to bed. I've got an impatient, impudent little ogre that needs to be taught a lesson." He spun her around by her shoulders, gave her a quick smack on the ass, and slammed his door before she had time to blink.

Scarab numbly made her way back upstairs to the kitchen. She paused for only a second before taking the bottle of liquor out of the cupboard and taking a long pull from the bottle. There was a better plan. She was sure. She just had to figure it out for herself.

Chapter 12

The sounds of the constant beeping and ticking of machinery in Weevil's laboratory drove the hammer into Tenet's hangover. He put his mask on to shade his eyes from the light and try and drown out the noise. It was better, but still hell.

"Do they all have to be on?"

Weevil grinned. "Ah, the fiery mistress rode you hard and put you away wet, did she? What's the matter, kiddo? Never had a hangover before?"

Tenet had no patience for Weevil right then. None at all. If Weevil wasn't helping him, he would have taken a swing. No, scratch that. A swing would have been movement. "Just get to it," said Tenet.

Weevil jumped up and looked him in the eye. "One last time, buckaroo. Before I go ahead and do this, I want you to tell me you want me to go forward. I don't mind hurtin' ya, just wanna be sure. It's irreversible, you know." Tenet nodded. "Okay, kid. Don't say I didn't warn you." He sat back down in front of one of the whirring machines and told Tenet to slide his hand into the slot. Tenet took one last look at the scar, the family mark, then plunged his hand inside. Weevil tapped furiously at the keys, then sat back to wait.

When there was no pain, Tenet shrugged. "Not so bad."

Weevil got that annoying grin again. "Oh, just wait."

In a few moments, Tenet started feeling a warm tingle, as if he was running his hand through hot sand. He scoffed. "Is that all?"

Weevil grinned. "It's a process, man. I pity you in about, oh," he looked at his watch, "seven seconds or so."

The heat slowly built in his hand, the prickling sensation growing. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, not wanting to let on how much it was starting to hurt. He gave Weevil a smile and tried to ignore the sweat forming under his brow. "A little hot in here, Weevil."

Weevil pulled a face and nodded. "Yes. Yes it is. Better get someone on that."

"Do." The pain mounted, changing from a burning sting to a searing, stabbing agony. Still he tried to hold back. With his free hand, he took off his mask and tried to breathe. He wiped the sweat and squirmed in his seat.

"Hey, hold still now. It'll hurt less."

"Not...so...bad..." he spit out through clenched teeth. He could do this. He had to do this. But the pain! "For the love of god when does it end?" he screamed.

Weevil threw his head back and laughed in triumph. The sadist. "Another minute or so. Hang tight, my man, and I'll give you a cookie when it's over. Swear...it helps."

Tenet released a string of curses the likes of which had never before been uttered by him, and he had to admit, it really did help.

"Learn those in boardroom meetings?" asked Weevil, laughing and slapping his leg. Something began to beep, and he jumped up and hit the keys furiously again. "There," he said. "All done."

Tenet pulled his limp hand out of the machine and was afraid to look. When he finally did, he was shocked at what he saw. Nothing. His mark was gone, replaced with faint silvery lines.

"Those'll fade over time. I doubt the Borderlanders will pay it much attention. If they ask, get creative."

Tenet flexed his hand. It still burned like hell, but at least it could move. "Get creative?"

"Yeah, you know. Tell 'em you caught it in a rope or something." He came over and peered at his handiwork. "Not bad, if I do say so myself. Two years, you won't even notice it. You a hairy kind of guy?"

"What?"

"You know...fur all over ya?"

Tenet shook his head and regretted the movement. "No. Why?"

Weevil shrugged. "Too bad. Hair would hide it faster. I can make you hairy, if you want."

Tenet held up his good hand. "No, no. That's fine."

Weevil leaned back in his chair. "No. I suppose Scarab wouldn't like it too much." He slammed the legs back down suddenly, putting his face next to Tenet's. "How'd you do it? I just gotta know? How'd you crack through and get my darling?"

Tenet cleared his throat. "I didn't crack through anything. You heard her last night. Pissed as hell."

"Just playing hard to get, my boy."

Tenet had to laugh at that. "Doesn't anything sink in with you? I may have had a bit too much last night..."

"A bit?"

"But I can remember the daggers she shot me when you hatched your little plan."

"I do seem to remember a bit of shouting, now that you mention." He had an annoying glint in his eyes that told Tenet just how amused he was by the whole thing. "It's bluster, boy. She'll come around. Trust me, you'll have yourself one helluva honeymoon one of these days. Do me a favor and take notes. I expect all the dirty little details."

Tenet could only sigh and shake his head. "You are an odd guy, Weevil."

"Thank you. All this desert sand." He sat back down. "That's step one off the list," he said, getting back to work. "Next one up, DNA. Can't do that, though, till the third. That friggin' monkey of an assistant screwed up again. Lowlife!" he called. The boy came into the room and stood waiting for reprimand. "What in the hell is this? Can't you even get a simple list right you sniveling mass of poo?"

The boy rolled his eyes and turned around and left, slamming the door behind him. "Whoohee," said Weevil. "Musta interrupted his happy hour. Know what I mean?" He made a crude gesture towards his crotch and waggled his eyebrows.

Tenet knew he had already spent too much time with Weevil when he realized that yes, he did know exactly what the man meant.

"So, since the completely incompetent moron has once again screwed it all up, I'll just draw an arrow from this step to this like so and there. Problem solved."

"What's next then?"

"Gotta find your tagger."

Tenet winced. "Will it hurt as bad as the hand?"

Weevil sighed. "Unfortunately, no. It'll be virtually painless."

Tenet rolled his eyes. "Sorry."

Weevil shrugged. "Eh, can't win em all." He opened the drawer of his desk and pulled out a machine. "This here's the wand. I'll run it over you and it'll beep if I find a tagger. Of course, it can be used internally, if you'd prefer." He waggled his eyebrows and Tenet shuddered. "Fine. Be a buzzkill." He stood up and ordered Tenet to lie on the floor. "Just like a whore, I do one side, then the other. Lay still." Tenet waited for it. "Like a whore." Tenet shook his head and lay on the floor.

Weevil stood above him and started slowly waving the wand up and down. It beeped near Tenet's shoulder, and Weevil marked the spot with an X.

"Are we done?"

"You're pure government, boy. You think you only got one?" He kept waving, then ordered Tenet to flip. The wand beeped near the shoulder again, but Weevil said it was just picking up on the same tagger. He worked his way lower and lower, making several comments about the lack of excitement in the machine over the crotch area. Tenet tapped his fingers on the floor, waiting for it to be over. There was a loud beep over one of his thighs, and Weevil said, "Hello little stranger." He marked the spot, then ordered Tenet onto a table in the corner.

"You're sure it won't hurt?"

Weevil sighed. "Scarab ordered me to give you a painkiller first, the bitch." He took out a syringe, and injected Tenet in the shoulder and again in the leg. He waved the wand over one last time to make sure he'd marked the correct spots, then took out another wand-like machine.

"What's that?"

"Magnet, basically. The idea is to fry the chip, then crank up the pull and it'll suck the tagger out."

Tenet's eye went wide. "Through the skin?"

"Relax, kid. These taggers are tiny. A little hole, that's all. Clears up in a few days. No worse than a splinter."

"Do you do this a lot?"

"Enough to know what I'm talking about. Now hold still. You won't feel it." The disappointment in his voice was unmistakable. Tenet watched as he held the wand over his shoulder.

"You marked the back," he reminded Weevil.

"Doesn't matter. It's under the bone. Out or in either way." The machine hummed slightly, but Tenet felt nothing. He watched as a bump started to form under the skin. In just a minute, the tiny bead pressed the skin tight, then popped out and stuck to the wand. Tenet gasped, and Weevil looked hopeful for a second. "Hurt?"

"No. Just...freaky."

Weevil sighed, dabbed the small wound with a cloth, covered it with a small bandage, then moved down to Tenet's thigh. Tenet didn't plan on watching again and was fine looking at the ceiling until Weevil yelled, "Holy mama! What the hell's this?"

Tenet didn't want to look, but curiosity won out and he looked down. "What the hell is that?" A cigar-shaped lump was straining against his skin, ready to burst out.

"Shit, hand me that scalpel," said Weevil, pointing to a tray next to the table. With shaking hands, Tenet passed it as carefully as he could. Weevil placed the tip of the knife on the lump, and instantly his skin split, the two inch long metal chunk flying through to slap on the underside of the wand with a resounding twang.

Weevil looked at the chunk, looked at the leg, and swore.

"What the hell is it?" Tenet asked again.

"Lemme do these stitches, then we'll find out." Weevil handed him the wand. "Here. Don't touch it."

Tenet laughed at how absurd of an order it was. "Please. It's been in me for...well probably all my life. It's not gonna hurt me."

"Leave it alone till I get to look at it!"

"It's my leg garbage." Tenet poked at the oval of metal. It was completely smooth, about the size and lengthy of his pinky. "I can't see anywhere a chip would be."

"Aw, man, come on!" Weevil stitched as fast as he could, not really caring if he did top notch work or not.

Tenet tapped the thing again and said, "It's a solid chunk of metal. I'm not doing anything to it."

Weevil stitched like a madman, and in a few short minutes, the wound was closed. He reached into a drawer and tossed Tenet some bandages. He snatched the wand and shut it off, catching the object in his hand. "Ewie. If you were gonna play with it anyway, you could have at least wiped your guts off it."

Tenet sighed and rolled his eyes. He wrapped the bandage around his leg, wincing at the ugly gash and lazy stitches. It wouldn't be pretty when the pain killers wore off. He hopped off the table and pulled his pants back on. "What's that?" He motioned to the machine Weevil was now working with.

"Oh, just a little throwback I picked up from an old junkyard specializing in antiquated equipment. Ain't history great?"

"It still works?"

"No. It works again. Spent years building it up to what it is." He suddenly turned, a scowl on his face. "Say, you're not planning on running back and snitching on me, are ya?" He looked at Tenet quizzically, then smiled and patted his back. "Nah, I can trust you. I've been inside your leg, after all."

"So what do all these tubes and buttons and whirly doohickies do?" Tenet batted at a twirling twist of metal.

"Doohickies? I'll have you know, you scientifically challenged ninny, that there are no 'doohickies' anywhere to be found on this glorious machine." Weevil opened a little door and carefully placed the hunk of metal inside. After closing it, he pressed a series of buttons, and the machine started to whir and shake. He cocked an eyebrow at Tenet, then tossed him some goggles. "Safety first, my boy. Don't want to be blind and gimpy now, do ya?"

The machine began to pick up speed, rattling hard enough to shake everything around them. And the noise! "So what are we hoping to accomplish here?" Tenet yelled over the clank and clatter.

"I'm not really sure," called Weevil, reaching in and pressing more buttons.

"You mean you don't know?"

"Of course I know," Weevil had to scream to be heard over the noise. On the shelf behind him, several carcasses from his collection rattled to the floor. "It would be irresponsible of me as a scientist not to be absolutely certain of my equipment!"

Tenet took a giant step back as the machine began to smoke. "You have absolutely no idea what the hell this thing does, do you?" he shouted, ducking a falling beaker.

Weevil turned around, his hair wild, his eyes even more, and said with a grin, "None whatsoever! Isn't it fun?"

Fun? The machine was rocking hard enough to be shaken off its foundation and was skidding slowly towards them, the crazed monster of a diabolically insane madman. Tenet took another step back, certain that at any moment the angry twisted metal beast would lunge for him. Weevil jumped away and crashed into Tenet as a spring worked its way loose and shot for his head.

"Shut it down!" yelled Tenet, trying to hide behind Weevil.

"No way! This is amazing!" Weevil shouted back, twisting and placing Tenet between himself and the machine.

"Hey!"

"If I get crushed, we'll never know what that thing is!"

"The metal or the machine?"

Weevil looked at him and shrugged. "Both!"

All of a sudden, the machine sputtered and stopped. The two men looked at each other, then at the machine, neither one ready to move any closer. All around them, beakers settled on their shelves, gadgets rocked to a stop. "Is...is that it?" asked Tenet.

"How the hell should I know?"

They shuffled forward a pace, Weevil clinging to Tenet's back. The machine belched a puff of smoke, and all through it, metal tinged and pinged as it settled back into place. "Open that little door," Weevil whispered to Tenet.

"It's your machine!"

"Yes, but it's your gut-covered specimen."

Tenet sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine." He stepped forward, shielding his face with his arm just in case. He flipped the door open and removed the metal as fast as possible. "Holy shit!" The metal was scorching hot, and he tossed it back and forth in his hands. "Where do you want it? Come on, where?"

Weevil ran to a desk and with a mighty shove, pushed all the contents to the floor. "Here! Over here!"

Tenet tossed the chunk onto the table and blew on his hands. "Holy..."

"Shh!" said Weevil, peering at the rocking hunk of metal. He turned on a light and pulled it down over the piece.

Tenet continued to blow on his hands and leaned in with Weevil to get a close look. "Well? What happened?"

Weevil frowned. "Nothing."

"What?"

Weevil sighed and shook his head. "It was worth a shot."

"All that did...nothing?"

Weevil ran his hands through his hair. "Nope. Not one blessed thing. Oh well. Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

Tenet's hangover resumed the drum line in his head. "Great."

Weevil slapped his back. "Aw, don't let it get you down. You can't win 'em all. It was a great idea, but I told you before we went ahead with this crazy idea of yours that it probably wouldn't work."

"My crazy idea, huh?" said Tenet rubbing his tired eyes.

"So you're not cut out to be a scientist. I'm sure you have many other fine qualities. I bet you'd make a wonderful..."

Just then the metal chunk on the table made a loud ping and popped open right in half. The two men looked at each other with surprise, then bent over the table. The metal turned out to be the shell of an intricate series of wires, chips, and transistors...and was that a microphone?

Weevil released a rush of breath. "I am....a genius!"

Tenet poked at the wires and shook his head. Weevil was something, alright. He just couldn't figure out what. He pulled up a chair and watched as Weevil picked apart the tiny computer, touting his own scientific prowess every step of the way.

"We'll get it, boy. Hard part's done. Now, we get to play." He grinned at Tenet, his hair wild and slightly singed on the ends from their experiment.

Yes. He was certainly something.

Chapter 13

That evening, Tenet, Scarab, Hark and Enna sat around the dinner table. Though no one pointed it out, everyone noticed that Tenet's plate contained both vegetables and meat, and they also noticed he didn't flinch once when trying the beef. The conversation was intentionally light, as everyone also desperately tried to ignore the tension.

"He done good work, boy," said Hark, nodding to the back of Tenet's hand.

Tenet put his fork down and held his hand up for all to see. "All gone."

"You miss it?"

Tenet shook his head and started eating again. "Not a bit. I hated it my whole life. I'm glad it's gone."

Enna looked closely. "I can barely tell anything was ever there. Did it hurt?"

Tenet nodded, not embarrassed at all to admit it. "Like a bastard. But it didn't last long."

The conversation died down again, and everyone went back to eating in silence. Hark looked to Enna, who shrugged. He made a motion towards Scarab, and Enna took the hint.

"You got your DNA reassignment today, right?"

Scarab nodded. "Well, sort of. It's not really a reassignment."

Tenet didn't really feel like talking to her about anything. But he was curious about what the procedure entailed. They ran out of time that day for his own, and he had been wondering how it was that DNA could be altered. And, most of all, he was wondering how much more pain he'd have to suffer. "What is it, then?"

Scarab looked like she was going to ignore him for a second, then said quickly, "It's a new tagger. Goes in under the shoulder, like the gover tags, but it gives a different DNA code when you're scanned."

Tenet felt a flood of relief. "Phew. I thought that maniac would cut us open and replace all our blood and guts or something." He gave a little laugh, but he wouldn't put it completely past Weevil.

Scarab scoffed as if Tenet were being serious. "Now how would he manage that?"

"I don't know," said Tenet getting annoyed. "That's why I asked!"

Everyone went back to the uncomfortable silence, discovering that no matter how great the tension, silence was better than arguing. After the meal, they all helped to clean up and Hark and Enna announced they were going to bed. Before they could get down the hallway, Weevil burst in.

"Gather round, kiddies, gents, and ladies! You're never gonna believe what I found!" He put a com deck on the table and sat, waiting for everyone to do the same. He couldn't contain his excitement, and wiggled in his seat while he waited for every one to gather around.

"You ready?" He hit a button on the com deck, and Tenet's voice came through. It was him, early on in his journey, alone and wandering in the first few days of the trip, babbling almost incoherently to himself.

Tenet frowned as he listened to the words. "What the hell?"

Weevil hit the key again, and it skipped forward to the conversation between him and Scarab in the kitchen of the outpost. "No way," said Scarab in disbelief.

Tenet looked to Weevil. "The chunk."

Weevil nodded, grinning over his accomplishment. "That thing...amazing. Absolutely amazing piece of technology. You won't believe all the info it contains! Not only is it a bug, but it's got your entire life on it."

"Hold on, now. I'm old and tired and not followin'," said Hark.

"You didn't tell em?" Weevil looked happy at the news. "Great! Good boy! My scientific achievements should be my tales to tell. Well done!" He thumped Tenet on the back and turned to the others. "The kid had a double tag. First one in the shoulder was standard issue, boring as hell. Second one turned up in his thigh. Huge ass thing I've never seen before. Looked like a silver cigar stuck right in there. We dug it out and through my amazing skills as a scientist were able to open it up. Lo and behold, what was inside? The most astounding little computer I've ever seen in my life."

Enna turned to Tenet. "Are you alright? That must have been painful."

"No. Someone ordered him to use painkillers on me," he said watching Scarab stiffen. "I'm glad the order was given. He stitched me up good as...well, good as he could."

"Hey!" said Weevil, highly offended. "I did topnotch work!"

"Yeah...if you were a blind monkey."

Weevil grinned, completely unoffended. "Oh, love of my life. A scar like that adds a bit of character." He turned back to the com dock and skipped ahead. "Here's a juicy tidbit." It was Tenet again, when he was carrying Scarab through the desert and talking to himself. Her. Whatever. Though the recording was one-sided on the playback, he could still hear the imaginary answers his mind made up to try and keep him calm that night.

Weevil made faces at the words, looking sad when Tenet said something touching, rolling his eyes when the insanity got out of control. He slammed the button. "Blah blah, enough of that. But wait...there's more!"

Tenet cleared his throat, embarrassed that the others heard his thoughts in that moment of his life. "Amazing sound. Uh...you know...for being recorded in my leg," he mumbled.

"Quite," said Weevil, punching buttons. "But this is what will really knock your socks off." He hit a button and a computerized voice spewed out a list of coordinates.

"What's that?" asked Scarab. "Sounds like a list of coordinates."

"Minute by minute tracking. No," corrected Weevil. "Second by second tracking. If I had a map, I could plot out the kid's whole life." He slammed a button again and placed another chip into the com dock, getting even more excited. "And now, for my final trick..." He let his finger hover over the button, building the anticipation in the room. He lowered his finger slowly, pressed the button, then sat back with his hands behind his head, a grin of triumph on his face.

What came through the com was a series of rushed words. At first, it was hard to make out what they meant. "Visual display contains young woman testosterone levels increased heart rate elevated god, she's beautiful look at that ass blood flow altered..."

"What..." Tenet shook his head and listened closely.

"I wish I had her I'd treat her better than that asshole god I hate that prick testosterone increased sweat glands activated..."

Weevil looked at the confused faces and sighed. "Not a damn scientifically minded one in the bunch." He leaned forward and slammed the com button, silencing the voice. "Anyone?" Everyone shook their heads. Weevil threw his hands in the air. "For the record, you all get an F for the day. This my simpleton class, is tech we only dream about. He popped the little chip out. "This chip contains recorded thought." He placed it in the center of the table for dramatic effect and sat back, letting the implications sink in.

Tenet felt sick. "That contains all of my thoughts?"

Weevil gave him a wicked wink. "Yes, you filthy minded little pig. All your thoughts, and better yet, all the processes of your brain. All of it. On that one damning little chip. Well, that and several others. I chose that one because it has the most interesting sections of thought, as tame as those are. God, kid. Even in your head you're really boring."

Tenet didn't pay attention to the barb. "Holy..." his voice trailed off.

"Shit," Weevil finished for him. "Yeah. I know."

"How is that possible?" asked Scarab, staring at the tiny chip.

Weevil shrugged. "I have absolutely no idea. This here is ancient tech."

"What does that mean?"

He slammed his chair forward and leaned in. "Back in the day, they were close. Before the asteroid, they were very, very close to thing. Big things. Things the science fiction writers of old would have killed to see come about. We're talking true artificial intelligence, interstellar travel, the whole shebang. Of course we all know a lot of tech survived." Weevil frowned. "For the purposes of this lesson, I feel, as your teacher, that I need to be more accurate. The tech survived. The people who knew what it meant...eh. Not so much. We had this enormous bank of information that was lost. Machines, fabulously wonderfully advanced machines and gadgets and toys...all useless because we didn't have time to relearn them."

"But someone did," said Tenet quietly.

"Eureka! He can be taught!" He thumped Tenet on the back. "Good lad. Yes, someone did. My guess would be that lots of someones did. Does anyone else have an image of giant brains tucked away in some governmental prison chained together until they solve the mysteries of the universe? Anyone?" He looked around at their blank expressions. "No. Well, guess it's just me then."

Enna shook her head. "This is getting to be a little too much."

"Too far out there for you, sugar muffin? I know. Gives me the willies something awful." He turned to Tenet. "It gets worse, kid. I truly am sorry to say this, but it had a receiver."

Tenet didn't follow, but Scarab did. "Oh, hell," she said quietly.

"I knew there was a reason you hold my heart, my desert cactus!" He turned back to Tenet. "What the woman who is better than you in every respect means by her eloquent utterance is that if it has a receiver, it stands to reason that it has a transmitter."

Tenet felt a chunk of lead hit his stomach. "Oh, god."

"Yep, pretty much."

Hark swore and shook his head. "Those rotten sons of..."

"Or daughters," said Weevil. "I won't stand for sexism in my classroom."

Enna rolled her eyes at Weevil, then patted Tenet's arm. "I'm sorry, dear," she said quietly.

Scarab looked at Tenet and saw how pale he was. She had to say something. "Tenet, it's alright. It's out now."

"My whole life," he muttered. "And I mean, my whole life. Every thought, every feeling, every word." He shook his head. "Hope they got a good laugh," he said with false levity.

"Tenet, it's okay to be pissed," said Enna gently.

He shook his head. "I'm not. I..." He didn't know exactly what he was feeling, but it wasn't anger. It was more of a sense of resignation."It wasn't the bots at all, was it? I really am just a patsy." He looked up at Scarab.

"No," she said automatically. Tenet was pale and his shoulders were slumped. She wondered if this was finally the straw that would break the camel's back. She couldn't let that happen, not now. Especially not now. She had to get him to fight back, as he had done the whole trip. She refused to let his father, his government win. "No, you're not. You had this in you long before any of this began."

Weevil shook his head. "Sorry, Scarab. But the boy's right."

"Weevil!"

"I mean it. He's a patsy, just not the kind we thought." He tapped the little chip. "Someone knew this would be valuable information. My guess is that's why they've been turning up the heat, in case this puppy got out. Someone planned something for the kid a long time ago. While I don't know what they did, he was a pawn. Sorry," he said to Tenet as an afterthought.

Tenet gave a wave of his hand. "It's okay."

"And now," Weevil continued. "Whoever put it in wants it back. They probably realize how damning it is to them, and my guess would be they'd do just about anything to get it. Personally, I hope it's the government."

"Now why in the hell would you want that?" demanded Hark. "You sayin' now you want the govers involved in your life? You want Big Brother watchin' every move?"

Weevil held his hands up. "Oh, no, big papa. I never said that. But think about the alternative."

The group was silent. The alternative was even more sobering. Any organization outside the government that had the money, resources, and technology to put that type of tracker in Tenet was bad news through and through.

Weevil cleared his throat after a minute. "I can see my students need a silver lining. The best I can offer is that it doesn't seem like it transmitted in real time."

"What do you mean?" asked Tenet.

"I don't think it was sending real time info on you. Your shoulder was a standard issue transmitter. They'll know you were here. They'll know where you went. But this," he motioned, "Was undetectable. It wasn't sending out a signal. There's got to be a transmitter in there. Why record all the data if you can't access it? But I think it takes an outside code for upload."

"Yearly doctor visits," Tenet said in a numb voice. The group looked at him. "Every year I'd have a long exam. I always thought it was just because of my family status."

"Any machinery?"

"Yes." A giant tube to lay in for his yearly scan. An x-ray machine that took full body shots. A wand that he was told counted platelets and that he never before questioned. There was a heart monitor, a thought wave generator, an oxygen sensor...any of them could have been something different and he never bothered to wonder.

Weevil broke the silence at last. "Right. I think we can safely assume that any info recorded between your last appointment and today wasn't public knowledge. I crushed anything I didn't recognize. Transmitter had to be in that, because I know what everything else was. Gonna toss it into the burner later just to make sure." He scooped up everything and stood. "They don't know your thoughts or who you're with, but they know you're here. I'm off to bed, ladies, gents, and Tenet. Everyone get some sleep. You're gonna need it. I'm officially kicking you off my land and out of my life in the morning." He turned to the ladies. "Girls, don't take it personally. I've got a lotta people who depend on my ass staying out of federal work farms."

Enna sighed and gave him a small smile. "We understand. Thank you for your generosity."

"Any of you fine women want to join me in my room later to thank me properly, the door's open. And if you hear screaming, burst in and pretend to be the cops. There's a pair of handcuffs on the doorknob and I expect a full cavity search, so wear gloves." He tipped his head to them and walked out of the room.

Tenet shook his head. "Is he always so..."

"Yes," said the other three automatically.

No one knew what to say or do next. It was an unimaginable situation, and they tried to judge how Tenet was taking the news that his entire life, every movement, every word, and even every thought was monitored by nameless, faceless, evil little men. They tried to judge his reaction, but couldn't. His face was completely blank, as if he were simply overwhelmed.

Tenet felt them staring at him and knew he should say something. He cleared his throat. "Well, now. That was an interesting evening."

"Son," began Hark, but Tenet waved him off.

"I'm fine. But I think after that, we need to step up the time line of our plan."

Hark looked to Enna. He didn't think the boy was taking it all as fine as he pretended, but he wasn't the best at personal conversations about feelings and junk like that. Enna shook her head, giving him the sign that it was not the time to press the kid. "We sure do," he said, taking Enna's silent advice.

"We need rest first," Enna said out loud. "We can't run off half-cocked just because of a right good case of the willies."

Tenet didn't want rest. He didn't want to stay still. He wanted to get up and run as far away from his father, his government, and his old life as possible. He thought about the Borderlands and for the first time truly wished he was there. He looked up at Scarab and she gave him a small nod. "Alright," he agreed. "But let's meet at first light."

The older couple stood to go to bed, Hark's back popping with the effort. "I told you to let me rub you down earlier, dear," Enna said, shaking her head at her stubborn old man.

"Ain't my back that needs rubbin'," he said with a cackle.

Enna scoffed and swatted his arm. "Weevil's a bad influence on you, you horny old goat," she said as she dragged him off down the hallway.

Scarab waited until she heard the click of the door before she spoke. "You okay?"

Of course he wasn't, but he also wasn't ready to talk. "I've got to get out of here. I've got to get away from them before it's too late."

Scarab decided it was best to follow his lead. He'd talk when he was ready. "That's what I was thinking. If we get out tonight, then they can run the other way first thing. I've got a transport."

Tenet nodded. "Weevil said earlier. How did you manage that one?"

"Sold off my hunter gear." Tenet's eyes went wide, but Scarab waved him off. "What? Like I'm going to ever need it again."

"I can go alone," he said quietly.

"And leave me here to what end? To be hunted for the rest of my life? Spend every season being one of the offers I've spent seven years of my life chasing? Thanks, I'll pass."

Tenet cleared his throat. "Then you still want to go through with Weevil's plan?"

She didn't "want" to go through with the plan, she needed to. They needed to. "Want" didn't factor into anything. "We stick with the plan. All of it."

It didn't matter that he was pretty sure the only reason she said it was a good plan was that she couldn't think of a different one. That she was agreeing, even grudgingly, gave him an odd sense of security. "Alright. Let me get my sack and we'll head out." He pulled a com chip out of his pocket and placed it on the table.

"What's that?"

"My thanks to Hark and Enna." Tenet stood and started down the hall. "Meet you outside."

He grabbed his sack and headed out the door, being careful to be as silent as possible. He waited in the dark, getting impatient as seconds stretched into long minutes. He was about to go back in and see what the hold up was, when Scarab opened the door and stepped out. "What took you so long?" he whispered.

"I was saying a proper good bye to Weevil," she said, grinning to herself at the look she knew would be on his face as she walked off into the night. "You coming?"

The vehicle Weevil had supplied them with was a small transport used for short distance travel between the settlements of hunters. Designed for utility over comfort, it was half the size of Hark's. Weevil assured her that though it wasn't much, it was the perfect vehicle for such a trip. It was built for the rough roads, and looking rough itself, it would call little attention to them.

On Weevil's advice, Scarab had also bought the plain uniforms of the servicemen the hunters used for repair work. Plain and brown, with caps and brown shoes to match, they would easily blend in at the next settlement.

"I don't see why we can't just push ahead," said Tenet, fiddling with the annoying hat.

"Stop fidgeting," Scarab said from behind the wheel. "You stand out too much. And we have to blend."

"What do we need at the next settlement? Why can't we just push on to the border?"

Scarab shook her head. "I told you, we need to get ready for it first and I don't have all the necessary supplies. Weevil's good, but being on the outskirts, there's a lot he doesn't have that we need."

"Like what?"

Scarab liked the idle chitchat. It gave her a focus. "Well, money, for one."

"I doubt I have any."

"You don't even know?" Scarab turned the wheel to miss a small coonskunk. "That was close."

"I don't have a credits card." he corrected himself. "It's as good as gone."

"But it's still there in some bank."

Tenet sighed. "Fine. It's there. But if I can't get it, it's as good as gone. Besides, Weevil said it would be useless in the Borderlands."

She sighed. "Look, I get that tonight was difficult." Tenet snorted at the understatement. "But if you plan on arguing with everything I say..."

"I'm not. I'm simply pointing out the facts."

"We'll find a way into your account..."

"If they haven't frozen it already..."

She gritted her teeth and continued. "And then we'll convert it. Trust me. It'll be better than gold."

Tenet sighed and waved a hand. "Fine." He would just have to trust her on that one. "What else do we need?"

"We need a marriage bond."

He tried not to get excited, but couldn't stop the hitch in his chest. "I thought we were going to do that when we crossed."

She shook her head. "No. It'll make us more acceptable in the Borderlands if we're already a registered couple. They like couples there. Couples mean children and..." she trailed off, embarrassed at where her mind instantly jumped. "Well, they just like couples."

Tenet wasn't immune to the images, either, and shifted in his seat."Won't a wedding make us stand out?"

She was about to laugh, but then realized he was serious. "It wouldn't be a wedding like you're used to. It'll be a straight civil ceremony. Weevil has a friend who can secure the marriage that even says our wedding took place months ago."

Tenet laughed. "Retroactive marriage, huh?"

"Something like that." She couldn't help smiling at the thought herself.

He sighed heavily, thinking about where he was a few months before. "Sipping tea," he said, seemingly out of the blue.

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry. Just thinking about where I was a few months ago on our imaginary wedding date."

"Ah. And you were sipping tea?"

"Probably. Sipping tea out on the patio, watching the workers in the fields harvesting one of the rotations of corn." He smiled at the serene image. "It would have been almost the end of the season, many people in the field. My sister would have been sitting next to me complaining about this or that. I love her, but no one knows how to complain like she does."

Scarab liked the change in him the conversation brought about. He looked calmer, and that took away some of her worry. "That so?" she asked to keep it going.

"Yep. She turns it into an art form." He grinned at Scarab, letting her know he held no malice about it. "Mother would have been off somewhere," he continued. "Probably dallying with the neighbor's husband when his wife was out to market or something like that."

Scarab frowned. "That's not a nice thing to say about your mother."

He shrugged. "Why? It's true."

"Still."

He went on with his fantasy. "My father would have been at whatever political function he couldn't drag me to." He sat up suddenly and looked at Scarab. "Do you... do you think he put that thing in my leg? Do you think he was the one?"

Scarab didn't know what to say. She didn't want to hurt him further, but she was never one for false niceties. "Yeah, I do. He would have to have at least known about it."

Tenet nodded slowly. "I figured. I just hoping maybe I was wrong." Scarab didn't know what to say to that. "Do you think he listened to the recordings?"

Scarab shrugged. "I don't know. I just don't."

Tenet gave a bitter laugh. "I bet he did. The more I think about it, the more sure I am. He always seemed one step ahead of my whole life. Besides, he's just enough of a bastard to do that."

"I thought you admired your father?"

He shrugged. "And I spent a whole lifetime being trained for you and everyone else to think just that. He leaned back and put his hands behind his head. "I remember one time when I was little. Probably around six or so, because I had just started at the Academy. I came home from school crying because some older kid had kicked my ass."

"I never pegged you for a fight picker," she said, shooting him a wry smile.

He gave a small laugh. "Nah, it wasn't like that. The kid saw that damned mark on the back of my hand and told me what his father said about my father, and one thing lead to another. Trust me, if you've ever seen little boys, one thing leads to another a lot." He sighed. "I came home in tears, more because of the nasty things the boy said about my father and family than the cuts and bruises."

"Scraped up pretty bad, were you?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "I got my own licks in, thank you very much. But...yeah. My ass was kicked. Anyway, my father took one look at me and put me on work detail for an entire month to teach me not to humiliate the family by crying in front of the help."

Scarab let out a low whistle. "Nice guy."

"You know," he said wistfully. "If I ever have children..." His voice trailed off and he looked out the window. That would rely on a lot of "ifs". If they could make it to the Borderlands, if they were actually allowed in, if they could make it in the harsh life, if Scarab could ever really see him as more than just a bounty... The "ifs" were just too overwhelming to think of. He stared out the window at the dark shadows of the night scape and let his mind wander for awhile.

Scarab bumped and jostled through the night, allowing Tenet his private thoughts. She couldn't imagine what he was going through, how betrayed and shattered he must feel. At least she was too young to really understand a lot of what was happening when her whole world was turned upside down. At least she didn't discover that everything she was ever told was a lie. At least she wasn't a full grown adult who believed all those lies to her core. He had looked so defeated, that she really did worry that his spirit was crushed. If he needed time to brood, to work it out for himself, then she'd let him have all the space he needed.

It was a long time before Tenet broke the silence. "What do you think will happen to Enna and Hark?"

Scarab had been having a hard time with that question herself. Weevil assured her he had a plan, and while he might be a raving lunatic, he had never before failed to keep a promise to her. "Weevil's handling it."

"And you trust him?"

Scarab glanced sidelong at him. "Do we have a choice?"

Tenet gave a shrug. "I guess not." He turned to look back out the window. "You seem awful close to him."

Scarab frowned and gripped the steering wheel tighter. "I've known him for years."

"Still."

It was one simple little word that carried a whole lot of meaning. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're awful friendly with him, that's all."

Her eyes went wide. "Are you saying...do you think I would..." she sputtered.

Tenet felt his face burning and was glad it was dark in the vehicle. "I was just asking."

"With Weevil?" she squeaked. She shook her head. "Unbelievable."

"You have to admit he does seem pretty familiar with you."

Scarab scoffed. "If you hadn't noticed, he seems that familiar with everyone." Tenet heard the real disgust in her voice. "Besides," she said after a minute. "What the hell business is it of yours what I have or have not done with anyone?"

He opened his mouth, then closed it again. He was in hot water, that much was clear. He was going to tell her that since she was going to be his wife, then it most certainly was his business. Fortunately he stopped himself in time. A split second of extra thought let him see what a bad idea that would have been. "It's not. Forget I said anything."

She let out a deep breath through her teeth, calming herself down. She knew what had driven Tenet's questions. They had been traveling together long enough for her to see the pattern of his thoughts. He was talking about Hark and Enna which would lead to Weevil which would lead to the plan... And at some point, they would need to calmly discuss the fact that they would be married. Calmly. "First of all, I never, never would have done anything with Weevil. I can't believe you think I would." She needed to get that straight. For some reason she didn't want Tenet to have any questions on that front. "Secondly, even though I'm going to be your wife, it's just a contract. Like I said before, it's not going to be the kind of wedding you're used to, or the kind of marriage you're used to. It's a means to an end."

Tenet couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh. "And just what kind of marriage do you think I'm 'used to'?"

Scarab glanced at him uncertainly. "Uh, you know. White dress, wedding cake, start of a life together. Love."

He stared at her blankly for a minute before turning to watch the nothing of night. "A marriage contract for a couple at my station in life- my former station- is a business arrangement, and nothing more." It actually hurt to say it out loud. "I already told you my mother and father didn't love each other. Hell, they don't even like each other most days. She cheats on him and he..." he paused. He was about to say that his father probably did the same, but he couldn't imagine that. "Actually, he probably doesn't even have sex anymore. His idea of a good time is probably hearing his accountant detail his days' profits. I bet he even drinks champagne and plays soft music while it's happening, too."

Scarab snorted at the image, and even Tenet smiled.

"I know it's a contract, Scarab," he continued softly. "I never thought any different."

For some reason, his admission hurt. "Yeah," she said quickly, "Just wanted to make sure we're on the same page."

Tenet looked at her profile, lit green from the dashboard display. If he didn't know her better, he'd think she was as disappointed as he was. "Yeah. We're on the same page."

Scarab cleared her throat. "Good. That's good, right?" She glanced at him. He was looking at her the same way he had right before he was going to kiss her, and when he opened his mouth to say something she cut him off. "So we should say what we expect."

Tenet bit back what he was about to say. "What we expect?" he asked instead.

"From the marriage. You know, like rules or something."

"I don't want to make rules for you."

She sighed. "Fine, not rules then. More like...stipulations. Clauses. All contracts have those, right?"

Tenet assessed her for a moment. He knew by now that the more she pressed an issue, the more insecure she felt about it inside. It was her way of putting on a good front, and the revelation was certainly interesting. It meant she was unsure about what their marriage really was. He put the sudden hope in check. He had to go at her pace. "You're right," he said slowly. "Contracts do have stipulations and clauses. Do you have any in mind?"

"No more whining."

She said it so quickly that he had to laugh. "Not that you've been thinking about it or anything."

"I mean it," she said, feeling like she was getting back on firm ground. "I hate the whining, Tenet."

"I haven't whined once tonight."

She had to concede. "But you could slip back into it like that." She snapped her fingers.

"Fine. I won't whine if you don't give me a reason to."

Scarab shook her head. "Now how can I promise that? We're driving into an unknown future. Well, unknown to you. I'm going to have to push and be a bitch and..."

"Fine. I'll try not to whine."

It was the best she would get. "Good. Now your turn to say something you expect."

"I don't know," he said honestly. "I've never really thought about marriage before, and certainly not what I'd expect." He scratched the back of his head. "Um, I guess I wouldn't want my wife to be bitchy."

Scarab rolled her eyes and gave him a bland look. "Then you're gonna have to find a different wife."

He gave her a lopsided grin. "Then don't be excessively bitchy."

"Fair enough. I don't cook."

"Don't? Or can't?"

"Won't," she said firmly. "I'll hunt it, skin it, and clean it. But the most you'll get is me throwing it in a pot of water if you actually expect me to cook."

"I can cook."

"You can?" She glanced at him. "Oh, that's right. Craft classes."

He ignored the barb. "And I like to, so that's not a problem. I have no idea how to cook meat, though." He didn't say he'd much rather cook it than kill it, anyway.

"You'll learn. Can't do any worse than me."

He gave her a smile. "We're doing pretty good so far, huh?"

"Yep."

"Oh, while we're talking about food, I hate jelly."

It was so far out of left field that Scarab let out a deep laugh. "Where the hell did that come from?"

"It came from a life of my mother shoving jellies down my throat, that's where. I mean it. I absolutely hate jelly."

"Fruit jelly?"

"All jelly. Anything jellied. It's all wobbly and wiggly and..." he shuddered. "It's a deal breaker." He made a chopping motion with his hand, loving the silly turn the conversation had taken. He'd spent too much of the night brooding. Hell, he spent too much of the last couple months brooding. He was heading into a new life and while he knew he'd have to address the mess of emotions later, it felt good to laugh.

"No jelly for you, then," she said with a grin. "I don't like turnips."

He feigned horror. "Don't talk like that!"

"Or carrots, if you want to know my deepest, darkest secrets."

He threw his hands in the air. "That's it! Stop the vehicle right now!"

Scarab threw her head back and really laughed, and just like that, Tenet's mouth went dry. He ran a shaky hand through his hair and looked away, knowing his emotions would show on his face. He could do this. He could go into this marriage as a business deal and nothing more. For now. He had to. It didn't matter that she could stop his heart without doing anything more than laughing. He could handle it.

"I take it you'd have a heart attack if I told you how I really feel about cucumbers, huh?"

He cleared his throat and made his voice light. "I can't take another blow right now. Better just keep it to yourself until I'm stronger."

Scarab's laugh faded to a chuckle. "Okay, so let's review. You stop whining, I won't be excessively bitchy, I'll hunt, you'll cook, and we both have foods we'd be happier without. Is that it?"

Tenet thought for a second. "That's all I have for now. Should we leave it open for future amendments?"

Scarab shrugged. "Seems reasonable. I mean, we don't have any clue what we're in for. It would be foolish to think things can't change along the way."

Her words played over and over in his mind as they drove in companionable silence through the night. Things could change along the way. She admitted that herself. It was a small thing, but in a night that would swallow him with hopelessness if he let it, it was just the hopeful lifeline he needed.

Chapter 14

"Are you sure he's a friend of Weevil's?" Tenet whispered, standing next to Scarab in the middle of a dark, spare room.

She shrugged. "So he said."

The man in question was the exact opposite of Weevil. They followed Weevil's instructions, and the man, who refused to give them a name, seemed to be waiting for them. Before they had time to take anything in, he had them standing side by side while he performed a quick marriage. He was short, barely to Tenet's shoulder, and thin to the point of being worrisome. His sunken eyes were serious, where Weevil's were full of mischief. In fact, everything about the man was serious, from the eyes to the neatly combed hair, right down to his expensive and highly polished shoes.

"Do you agree to this marriage?" he asked Tenet, not looking up from a gadget in his hand.

"I do."

"And you?" He tossed his head in Scarab's direction, still not taking his eyes off the little screen.

"Yes."

He gave a curt nod. "Good. Never works if you don't." He hit a few buttons, then looked up at Tenet. "Name?"

Tenet froze. Neither of them had thought of the simple detail of new names. Of course he couldn't use his. And no way Scarab could ever use that moniker again. "Shit," he said.

"Shit?" The man looked up. "That's an odd name. Come on, make it something believable, boy."

"Uh..."

The little man sighed. "Let me guess. You haven't thought that through." He shook his head, disappointed in the oversight. "I suppose you haven't, either?" Scarab shook her head. "Weevil said you were ill-prepared," he said, his voice filled with scorn. "I had no idea it would be this bad." He sighed again. "Well, I've been doing this a long time and if you want, I'll choose for you. Gotta have a name to enter, you know."

Tenet looked at Scarab and shrugged. "Sure. Pick a name for me."

"Archibald," said the man automatically.

"Yuck." The man looked up from his gadget and stared Tenet down. Tenet lost. "Fine," he conceded. "Archibald it is."

"Good classic name," said the man, entering the information into his machine. "You'll appreciate it where you're heading." He looked Scarab up and down. "Gwendoline. Yes. That will do."

"No," she said quickly. "Angel."

The man quirked an eyebrow. "You don't strike me as the religious sort."

"I'm not. I just...Angel." She looked incredibly uncomfortable, but insisted.

"Angel it is, though I don't suppose it matters much. Just for the records and crossing."

"I like it," whispered Tenet.

"Thanks, Archie."

Tenet cringed at the name. "Don't call me that."

"That takes care of that," said the man. He read back the details on the screen. "You were officially wed three months ago on your tomato ranch in sector 44-32B. Remember that. It's important."

"Tomatoes, sector 44-32B. Got it. Was it a nice ceremony?"

The man gave him a bland look. "Yes. All your friends and family were there. The bride looked stunning in white. Now can we please continue?" Tenet bit back a smile and nodded. "As I was saying... You're now Archibald and Angel Lorne."

"Lorne."

"Yes. It's a safe and believable name. The Lorne family are a long line of tomato farmers who have recently fallen on hard times. The parents had eleven children. Never caused trouble. Never had many successful crops. Most of the kids have gone into public service. It's completely believable that you tried and failed to carry on the family farm because they all have. And with so many Lornes to keep track of, neither government's really going to pay it much attention. And, if that wasn't enough, three Lorne kids and their families have already fled to the Borderlands." He looked very satisfied with his work.

Tenet nodded. "Good. We're going to join them."

"No. No, no." he said quickly. "You're not going to join them. You don't know they're up there, remember? You were told by your government that they died in this unfortunate accident or moved to the Third Worlds or something. You know nothing about the Borderlands. Remember that."

"Right," said Tenet. "Glad I brought it up."

"You won't know they're up there, but the govers will. They'll see the name, know it as an excellent addition. Most likely they'll try and steer you to settle in that direction and hope you team up with long lost relatives. For all I know, they might just tell you about them outright. Never crossed into it, myself, but you hear things in this line of work." He shook his head quickly. "We're getting off track. You're the Lornes now, keep it straight."

"Got it," said Scarab.

"Now, onto finances." He walked over to a very neat desk with a built in com dock. "Have a seat." He motioned to two chairs across the desk. They sat, looking at each other and burst out laughing. The man quirked an eyebrow.

"I just pictured my wedding a little differently," said Tenet.

The man sighed. "Sorry, I'm not one for cake."

Scarab laughed again, bringing an impatient sigh from the little man. "Fine," she said. "Go ahead."

"As I was saying...finances." He tapped at the com deck for awhile, then looked up with a start. "Oh no," he said shaking his head and jumping away from the com dock as if it would bite him. "I don't want any part of that."

"What?"

"Weevil said nothing about having to hack the govers." The little man fumed and paced, shaking his head furiously. "Nothing at all. I won't do it."

Scarab crossed her arms over her chest. "We were guaranteed help."

"Then we were both mislead."

Tenet looked back and forth between the two, not knowing what to do. "Let's just forget the money..."

"No," said Scarab, the hunter back in a flash. "This pathetic little weasel owes Weevil a favor and this is it."

The man stopped mid-pace, a look of panic crossing his face for the briefest of moments. "I repaid the favor. You're wed with new identities. I believe my debt has been repaid."

Scarab slapped her knee and stood up, heading for the door. "Fine. I'll just go back and see if Weevil can help me himself."

"I know enough of your story to know you wouldn't risk the time the trip takes," spat the man.

Tenet stood and followed Scarab's lead. "I think it's worth the risk. Can't go penniless into a new life, now can we dear?"

"No," she said, staring at the little man across the room. "No we certainly cannot."

Images of his last tango with Weevil flashed through the little man's memory, and after a few short seconds, he cracked. "Fine. I'll do it. But on two conditions."

"What?" asked Scarab, ice still in her tone.

"First," he said, sitting back at the desk. "You guarantee me that if you ever have contact with Weevil again, you tell him just how much I'm sticking my neck out for a...friend."

"Agreed. Next?"

He punched the buttons on the com deck. After a few minutes, he looked up from the screen. "I want half."

"Half?" spat Scarab in disbelief. "No deal. Come on, Tenet."

Tenet walked over to the desk and sat down. "Deal."

The greedy little man smiled with delight. "I knew you were the reasonable one in this couple."

"Tenet," Scarab hissed. "He's robbing you blind! It's not worth half."

Tenet shrugged. "It's only money. Let him have it."

"But..."

"No. It's his." He said it with a finality she couldn't argue.

"Suit yourself," she said throwing her arms in the air. She walked over and sat back in the chair, glaring at the little man. "But it better be worth it."

"Trust me," said the snake, his fingers flying on the keys. He worked in silence, the only noise in the room the steady tap as he punched a series of buttons. When he was finished, he turned the display for Tenet to see. "That's the current balance of Archibald Lorne."

Tenet looked at the sum and nodded. "Seems like about half," he lied. It was more like a quarter of what he should have had. He wasn't going to argue. It was just money, and it didn't really matter.

The greedy little man's eyes sparkled and he nodded. "Good." He hit a button and a currency card began to print. "This is temporary. Your banking card was destroyed in the journey, and this will only last a week. But you shouldn't need one for more than that, anyway. Word is they're trading heavily in our seeds and, of course, weapons and ammo. Stick with seeds and ammo. Weapons are heavy. And of course, there are raiders."

"Raiders?"

"Border raiders," said Scarab. "Didn't I mention them?"

"Nasty thieves, is what they are." Odd words from a man who had just robbed them blind. "They prowl looking for the rejects."

Scarab stiffened at the term. "They aren't rejects," she said, her voice dripping ice.

The little man opened his mouth to argue, but one look at her face told him he'd better not. "The people crossing one way or the other," he amended. "The Cons skulk around in the dead zone and prey on the people who have already either lost or given up everything. Most are ex Cons trying to keep it together. They don't care much for seeds, though. What use are seeds to nomads?" He gave a firm nod. "Seeds. That's how you should convert your money."

"What kind of seeds?"

The man looked at Tenet as if he lost his mind. "Well a good place to start would be tomato, you know, you being a tomato farmer and all."

Tenet coughed. "Er, yes. Right."

"Aside from that, anything really. The seeds traded in the South, or even the real south, those are worth the most, but good luck coming up with those this close to the border."

"What, like tropical fruits?"

He nodded. "Lemons. Limes. Coconuts."

"They won't grow up there."

The man shook his head. "Not outside, no. But I think they have greenhouses. They must, because those seeds trade like hotcakes."

"And where can we get them?" Scarab asked, staring at the man. She was positive he could get them some. Otherwise, he wouldn't have brought it up.

"Oh," he said too casually. "I might know of a few dealers..."

"Who?"

He shook his head. "I don't think you want to do business with them. Me, I'm an honest guy just trying to make a living out in this godforsaken hell." Tenet was starting to see the connection to Weevil. "But those guys...they'll trade you seeds, alright. And then turn you in for the bounty."

"How can I be sure you're not just going to do the same?" asked Tenet.

"Because the holy wrath of Weevil would be brought down upon me like an avenging angel from hell." He said it in a tone all in the room truly believed. "I don't know how you made such a powerful friend, but I'll do almost anything not to piss him off again."

Tenet looked to Scarab. She nodded to indicate she believed the man. "So," said Tenet leaning forward. "If we can't get the seeds for ourselves, I suppose you might know another way around it?"

The man smiled. Bingo. "Why, as it just so happens, I have excellent relations with the seeders. Doesn't pay to have enemies right on the doorstep. I might just be able to broker the deal..."

"Good."

"For a nominal fee."

Tenet sighed and shot Scarab a look. "Of course."

"Excellent!" The man tapped at the keys and informed them a few minutes later that they were all set and could pick up the seeds outside the shack in an hour.

"I suggest you use the time to visit Narp down the street. He runs the only store in town. Upfront fellow, has a clean business going. Tell him I sent you, and he'll outfit you with all you need to make the journey."

"Will he take the transport as payment?"

The man shrugged. "He might. If not, he can tell you who will." He got up, seemed to think it over for a second, then stuck out his hand. "Archibald Lorne, I don't know who you really are, but I wish you luck."

Tenet shook the man's hand. "Thank you. I think we'll do just fine in the Borderlands."

The man shot Scarab a knowing look, then said, "That, my boy, was not what I was talking about."

"Come on," said Scarab rolling her eyes when Tenet laughed. They made their way into the low light of the approaching night. "I gotta say, feels good to be out of the suit," she said, closing her eyes and tipping back her face to enjoy the feel of the warm air blowing around them.

Tenet watched her hair swirl around in the breeze and was struck dumb once again by her beauty. He wanted to reach out and touch his wife, but she opened her eyes and broke the spell. He cleared his throat and looked up the street. "You think Narp will be open this late?"

She nodded. "Definitely. All settlements like this are open around the clock. You never know when a hunter will be needing to resupply. Come on."

Though it took a little fast talking, they were able to assure Narp that they weren't really friends of the little man down the street, just had to use him for a few sensitive favors. Once Narp was convinced, he helped them more than they could have imagined.

"This is the latest fashion from those crossing down," he said, showing them some garments. They were plain, overall, with little frills. But they looked sturdy and warm, and they each chose three basic outfits. He showed them to the weapons, told them the best for the journey. He filled their sacks with dried foods and ammunition for the weapons they already carried. Then he handed Tenet a knife. "You'll need it."

Tenet shook his head. "For what?"

"Trust me. You'll see animals you always thought were fairy stories. Take the knife. In a surprise attack, nothing's better." Tenet bought two, one for himself and one for Scarab. Tenet offered the vehicle as payment, but Narp hedged. "I don't know. I couldn't unload it. It's practically a gover rig, isn't it?"

"It's real easy to drive. Good off road, too. And a little paint would go a long way."

In the end, they talked him into taking the last of Tenet's money and the vehicle as payment. He bid them good luck and locked the door quickly behind him.

"That was an odd guy," said Tenet, shifting the weight of the freshly filled sack on his side until it settled more comfortably.

"Yes, but I suppose that comes about because it's such a dangerous business helping people break the law." She looked over her shoulder and saw him peering out from behind the blinds on his shop window.

Tenet looked back, and the man jumped out of view. "Still, he give me the willies. I don't doubt for a second that he'd turn us in if he knew our names."

"What makes you think he doesn't?"

The thought never occurred to Tenet. "I...I don't know. I mean, he had all the supplies, so obviously we're not the first to jump the border."

"Not the first, but I doubt they get very many. Most of the border jumping's done from the other direction. Up there it's...different."

"How so?"

She thought for a second to come up with the best way to explain it. "On this side of the border, you're taught your whole life that the Borderlands, for all intents and purposes, doesn't really exist. It's a barren wasted land with no life, no people, and certainly no government. On the other hand, they know your nation is real, and they make no secret about it."

Tenet was surprised. "If they know we're here, why don't they join us?"

She laughed. "Oh, trust me. That's the last thing they want. They don't want to be tied to seasons that don't really apply for them." She tried to think of some way to make him understand. "They're more free up there. It's not everyone working for everyone else."

Tenet scoffed. "We're not like that."

"You think not? Think about this. If that were true, really true, there wouldn't be a Career Board. Everyone would do whatever they were good at. Or at least, wanted to be good at."

Tenet looked off into the distance at the hills that separated them from the Borderland. "Sounds like anarchy."

Scarab shrugged. "I suppose to you it does. To me..." she sighed and smiled softly. "The closer we get, the more I realize just how much I miss it. There, I was a girl with a name and a future. Here, I was always just a cast off number, hunter Scarab 03321, assigned to my lot in life by a government that never really wanted me here in the first place."

"If it's such the great place you claim, Ms. Freedom Fighter, then why is is so many people hop the border?"

Scarab frowned. "I didn't say it was an easy life. It's hard to try and fail, to have your crops wither and know you're still on your own. It's hard to be hungry if you can't support yourself, and even harder to watch your family suffer for it with you. And it's particularly hard making it through the winters there. Then, of course, are the absolute laws. They are cut and dried, with no room for mercy. Some people find that very difficult to live with."

"Doesn't sound like freedom to me."

She nodded her head fiercely. "It is. The laws in the Borderland are designed with one goal. Do not hurt other people by living your life. That's it. If you're doing something that will cause harm to others or their livelihoods or survival, you pay. Dearly. A lot of people can't live under that." She looked off into the hills, too. "Maybe that's what drove my father to steal that cow. Maybe he finally cracked under the pressure. Maybe the tales got to be too much to resist."

"Tales?"

"Stories of this world. Stories of how easy life is when you never have a real winter. How green the lands are for your crops. How little work there is to be done because they have the technology and population base to lighten the load. This world...it might be on the same planet, but it's completely different. Many are attracted to that."

Tenet thought it over while they walked back to get their seeds. The sacks were there, five small ones labeled with the names of the seeds. There was also a com chip. Scarab popped it into her deck and played it. It was a message from the little man.

"Hope you kids play this before you head out. Those fancy coms of yours won't do you much good after about fifty miles or so. I'll be happy to find a use for them, if you'd like. Just leave them in the box by the door."

"How noble," said Tenet dryly.

"It's heating up. I'd get your asses out of here now if I were you. Weevil sent me a message to share, so here it is. E and H have safely set off for their next journey. They never helped you. It was a different pair. He said something about bodies being discovered and wasn't it a shame that they died in the desert before the govers could question it. Don't know what it means but he insisted you would so there you go. Good luck kids. I don't mean that often, but what can I say? I'm getting soft in my old age. Don't forget the coms."

Scarab switched her com off popped out the chip. She placed only the chip in the small box, and pocketed the com itself. "No way he's getting another penny from me!"

Tenet laughed, feeling a weight lift off his shoulders at the knowledge that Hark and Enna were safe. "Can't fault the man for trying."

"Oh, sure I can." She reached down and picked up two of the seed sacks. Opening one just to be sure, she nodded. "Looks good. But I can't really tell."

Tenet opened one and let out a low whistle. Being in the Agro League had taught him to judge quality of seed stock, if nothing else. The seeds were perfectly dried, plump, and smelled fresh. "Top of the line. Exorbitant as the fee was, I'd say it's worth it."

Scarab rolled her eyes, not willing to give the shady little man any credit. "For that price, these better grow gold."

She set off down the last road they would walk on for the last couple hundred miles between one world and the next. They followed it to the end, and took one last look behind themselves. "Ready?" she asked.

Tenet looked down at his hand. The scars were already getting lighter. He looked at his boring clothes, remembering the closet full of top-of-the-line suits he had at home. His mind flashed briefly on the life he was leaving behind. Tea with his sister. Parties with his mother. Rallies and cheers and raunchy boardroom jokes. He thought about his friends and his enemies, and how he'd never again be in the company of either. He took one last look back at the civilization of his youth, trying to remember the shady summers by the river, the fun late night parties with friends. He looked behind him and tried to picture it all there, saying goodbye.

It startled him to find that he couldn't do it. He couldn't conjure up those memories without a bitter slash of pain at the truths that lay behind every once-sacred scene. It was an illusion, and nothing more, and no matter how much he tried to convince his mind to remember how it used to be, he knew too much now to let that happen. The greens would grow, the people would return. But it would always be replaced with the searing ash of reality, a never ending cycle of hard work masked by the promise of the better tomorrow that he now knew would never arrive. It was gone. The life he planned on, the life he thought so long he had wanted was gone. Someday, perhaps, he could feel that at least parts of it were real.

He turned back to Scarab. She was silent. She knew this was a big moment for him and stood patiently, a mood completely contradictory to her normal attitude. It must be killing her, he thought to himself. The thought gave him a sudden sense of calm. For some reason, he knew it would be okay. At her puzzled look, he shook his head and took a deep breath. "I'm ready."

Without another look back, he stepped off the last paved road, and into his future.

~~ ** ~~

About the Author

Beth Reason was lucky enough to be born into a weird household. Now that she's a mother, she does her best to teach that life to the next generation. She has lots of hobbies because she's horribly annoying to be around when she's bored, and her goal in life is to know everything.

Seriously.

Everything.

When not writing or making something, or wrangling kids or her husband, she can usually be found online, trolling the internet for insight to all the wonderfully odd personalities in the world. She can be found on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/authorbeth.reason

She also welcomes emails at: authorBethReason@yahoo.com

Want to read more great stuff by Beth? Of course you do! Just click the title below to head to Smashwords.com and download:

A Journey Deep

Sacred Tenets: Book II in the Tenet Series
