It had cut out by the time she'd reached it, but the initial roar of it had given her the direction to go in.
Now she lay on a branch high in the trees and looked down at the hive of activity below.
The Krik were unlike anything she'd ever seen. Their hair was a shock of pearlescent white, standing up in shaggy abundance, and their skin was a pale peach. They were slim, around the same height as her, but she could see the definition of their muscles through their shirts, both the men and the women. Twice, when someone accidentally bumped someone else as they loaded the spacecraft parked in the clearing, teeth had been bared, to reveal long, sharp incisors.
The spacecraft was a little bigger than the explorer shuttle, but not by much, and a lot older. Old Garmman tech, perhaps.
It was parked in a clearing that wasn't naturally occurring but had been created by hand. The reason Sazo hadn't seen it, though, was the camouflage net that covered most of the open space. It must look like part of the forest from above.
The Krik were coming and going from the spacecraft into the mouth of a cave, which was set into a hill. They disappeared into the darkness and then returned with boxes that seemed too light to hold anything much. Unless the Krik were much stronger than they looked and she was wrong about the weight of what they carried.
The captured exploration team sat on the ground to one side of the cave mouth. None of them seemed to be restrained, but then perhaps the Krik didn't have enough restraints to go around. Chances were they'd been taken completely by surprise by the arrival of the Barrist.
Kila, Dara, Jia and the others were huddled together, surrounded by perimeter warning beacons, set much closer together than usual, and two bored looking guards stood on either side of them, shockguns held against their chests.
Some of the team looked injured, including Jia, and Rose saw Hri Rivel was tending to a soldier lying on the ground.
Sweetpea chirped beside her, and Rose kissed the top of her little head.
She needed to get a message to them and let Jia know she was here, watching and waiting for a chance to help them escape.
Rose crawled back along the branch to the tree trunk, where she'd left her pack. She dug through it for her notebook, a real one she'd found in Sazo's stores. She'd started writing in it most days—a journal of her new life.
She didn't dare write anything on the piece of paper she tore out, she was too afraid of it getting into the Krik's hands, but maybe just the sight of the paper itself would be enough to let the team know she had come for them.
She folded it carefully into a tiny paper airplane, and wondered if it would even make it as far as the group.
She couldn't get any closer than she was now, so it would have to.
She left her pack against the trunk and crawled back out along the branch. Sweetpea chirped as she hitched a ride on Rose's back, as if she was having fun, and even though the circumstances weren't great, Rose smiled.
When she was as far along the branch as she could go without worrying about it snapping, Rose lifted the smaller twigs out of the way to get a clear line of sight to the others, aimed the airplane at Jia, and threw it.
She held the twigs back so she could see if it made it, but almost the moment the airplane left her hand, Sweetpea gave a chirp of delight and leaped after it, gliding way better than the paper, which she snatched out of the air.
The flutter of paper, the movement of Sweetpea's jump, had Dara turning her head, and Rose saw her eyes widen as Sweetpea landed on the ground near them, the edge of the paper airplane in her mouth.
One of the Krik guard's turned to look as well, and Sweetpea froze, big eyes staring at him.
She let go of the paper, and a gentle breeze lifted it away. Sweetpea gave a squeak of outrage at the loss. She turned away from the guard and pounced on the paper again.
As soon as she had it, she held it in her mouth and ran straight back to the tree, disappearing from Rose's view.
The Krik guard watched her go with an indolent gaze, which slowly swept the tree Rose was lying in.
Rose realized she was still holding back the twigs. If she could see the guard, it was possible he could see her.
She carefully let go in increments, gently letting the leaves fall back in place.
When there was no shout of surprise, she assumed she had managed to get away with not drawing the guard's attention.
She lay still, waiting for Sweetpea to come back, and thought about what she'd seen below.
Beside the guards watching over the exploration team, there weren't any others patrolling or keeping guard that she could see. The Krik obviously thought they were secure.
They were moving fast, dumping the boxes in their spacecraft and running back into the cave for more, and she wondered if this was an acceleration of their plan because Sazo continued to sit, all deadly prickles, over their heads.
After what felt like a long time there was a little chirp behind her, and then the light weight of Sweetpea running along her back.
The little glider jumped into her cupped palm, paper plane still in her mouth, and Rose stroked her, then almost snorted out a laugh as the baby curled up and went to sleep, the paper clutched in one little paw.
All tired out after that big adventure.
She had certainly helped to let the team know they were here.
Rose reversed back to her pack for some water and another nutrient bar, and pondered what to do next.
“I need a distraction. Can you give me one, Sazo?” she asked softly.
“I could shoot them,” Sazo offered.
Rose thought about it. “Shoot them, where?”
“Shoot their spacecraft.”
“Can you see it?” She didn't think he could.
“I can send down a drone, scan for it. I'm still confused as to why I haven't been able to decrypt the signals they're sending out, but a low-level scan should pinpoint their position.”
That made sense. “Only if you can be accurate. Jia and the others are near the spacecraft, and so am I.”
It was his turn to pause. “I'll see. I've already launched the drone. I can also scout for a clearing where I could land the drone for you to use as an escape if things don't work out the way you plan.”
She could see the sense in that. “That sounds good.”
“The drone will be down in about ten minutes,” Sazo said. For the first time since the Krik had taken the team, he sounded more himself.
Rose decided it was better she was away from the clearing when Sazo's drone buzzed the Krik, so she put the sleeping Sweetpea into the top of her pack and climbed down, moving back to the camp she'd set up the night before.
She heard the drone come overhead.
“I see the clearing,” Sazo said. “The camouflage net is very good, but it can't fool a low-level scan.”
“What's their reaction?” Rose asked.
“Panicked.” Sazo sounded amused. “They've sped up their loading, although it looks as if the spacecraft is nearly full, anyway.”
“What's happening with the team?” she asked.
“The team—” Sazo suddenly went quiet.
“What is it?” Rose didn't like that silence. Not at all.
“They've dragged Dara into the middle of the clearing, and they're pointing a shockgun at her head.” Sazo spoke softly, and she heard the drone turn away from the clearing and head upward.