the Patrol, if and when Starns was
lucky enough to contact a cruiser.

"Hmmm...." Hume's mouth moved, cracked the drying bloody mask on his
lips and chin. His eyes blinked open and he lay staring up at the sky.

"Hume--" Vye was startled at the sound of his own voice, so thready
and weak, and by the fact that he found it difficult to speak at all.

The other's head turned; now the eyes were on him and there was a
spark of awareness in them.

"Wass?" The whisper was as strained as his own had been.

"In there." Vye's hand lifted from Hume's chest indicating the
valley.

"Not good." Hume blinked again. "How bad?" His attention was not for
his own hurt; his eyes searched Vye. And the latter glanced down at
his side.

By some chance, perhaps because of his struggle with Peake, Wass' beam
had not struck true, the main core of the bolt passing between his arm
and his side, burning both. How deeply he could not tell, in fact he
did not want to find out. It was enough that the tablets had banished
the pain now.

"Seared a little," he said. "You've a bad cut on your head."

Hume frowned. "Can we make the flitter?"

Vye moved, then relaxed quickly into his former position. "Not now,"
he evaded, knowing that neither of them would be able to take that
climb.

"Beam on?" Hume repeated Vye's thoughts of moments before. "Patrol
coming?"

Yes, eventually the Patrol would come--but when? Hours--days? Time was
their enemy now. He did not have to say any of that, they both knew.

"Needler--" Hume's head had turned in the other direction; now his
hand pointed waveringly to the weapon in the dust.

"They won't be back," Vye stated the obvious. Those others had been
caught in the trap, the odds on their return without aid were very
high.

"Needler!" Hume repeated more firmly, and tried to sit up, falling
back with a sharp intake of breath.

Vye edged around, stretched out his leg and scraped the toe of his
boot into the loop of the carrying sling, drawing the weapon up to
where he could get his hand on it. As he steadied it across his knee
Hume spoke again:

"Watch for trouble!"

"They all went in," Vye protested.

But Hume's eyes had closed again. "Trouble--maybe...." His voice
trailed off. Vye rested his hand on the stock of the needler.

"Hoooooo!"

That beast wail--as they had heard it in the valley! Somewhere from
the wood. Vye brought the needler around, so that the sights pointed
in that direction. There