Earthseed

“We’ll approach along the edge of the woods near the plain.”
    “Don’t you think we ought to split up?” she asked. “If one of us were caught, the others could get away.”
    “Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you. You’d disappear so fast I’d never see you again.”
    “Don’t you think I care what happens to my friends?”
    “Maybe you do, maybe you don’t.” He gave her a shove. “Go on.”
    She climbed up the rest of the bank and into the woods, with Ho just behind her; Manuel put on the pack. As she walked, she brushed aside low branches, feeling tempted to let them snap back at Ho’s face.
    The whine made her jump. She swung around. Ho hit the ground face down, arms out. Manuel was holding his stun gun; he slid it into his belt and then rummaged at Ho’s waist for his weapons.
    Zoheret, stunned, stared at Manuel. “Why?” she managed to say.
    “Because I believe you. You were telling the truth about those strangers, weren’t you?”
    “Of course I was.”
    “And about Bonnie.”
    “Yes.”
    He sighed. “I was sure you wouldn’t make that up. We have to get to the corridors, then.” He pulled Ho’s shirt off, tore it into strips, and bound Ho’s wrists and feet. “The settlement’s farther down the plain—they won’t see somebody crossing farther up, especially if you keep to the higher grass. Do you think you can get to the entrance?”
    “We got there during Competition, didn’t we? It’s an easy trip. But what about you?”
    “I’ll go back to the island and get your friends. I can think of something to say—Gene and Daniella will listen. If Owen gives me trouble, I’ll shoot him, too.”
    “Manuel—” She could think of nothing else to say. “Thanks.”
    “Ho shouldn’t have turned his back on me.” He took off the pack. “Take this. You might need it. And this.” He tossed her the pack and one of the stun guns.
    By the time she had put on the pack and slipped the weapon under her rope belt, Manuel was retreating toward the river. Then she heard the cry—a cry of triumph—and the familiar whine.
    She spun around and ran toward the plain, darting among the trees. Footsteps pounded behind her, growing louder. Soon she was panting so hard under the weight of the pack that she could hear nothing but her gasps and the pounding of blood in her ears. A tree trunk was suddenly before her. She slammed against it, cried out, and fell backward.
    She was pulled to her feet. Strong arms held her as she struggled and kicked. “Enough of that,” a deep voice said. “You’re caught, so behave yourself.” The voice was guttural, the words oddly accented. The arms swung her around.
    A woman stood in front of her; she was sure it was Petra, though her face did not look as pale in the daylight. One arm held Zoheret while the other took her weapon; then she was released.
    The arms belonged to a man with streaks of gray in his beard. “We have her two friends,” the woman said; it was Petra’s voice. “They’re knocked out. One of them’s tied up. They must have had a disagreement.” She smiled. “We’ll have to revive them before marching them back. You bring the boat.” She peered at Zoheret. “I think I recognize you. So you’re alive. We’ve been searching along the banks, wondering where you might wash up. You got lucky. So did we.”

15
    Zoheret said, “This isn’t my house.”
    “It is now.” The men shoved her through the door and pushed Ho and Manuel in after her. One of the men muttered a few words in another language, then turned toward the young people. “Don’t come out. We’ll be watching the door.”
    They were in Tonio and Dmitri’s shack. Zoheret wandered into the back rooms, but found no one; they were alone.
    As she entered the front room again, Ho leaped at her, closing his hands around her neck. She grabbed his wrists. Manuel pulled him away.
    “This is your fault,” Ho shouted at Manuel. “If it hadn’t been for ou …” He raised his fists, then let them fall as he dropped to the floor, holding his head, still fighting off the aftereffects of the stun gun. Manuel sank down, his back against the wall; he, too, looked weak.
    Zoheret, keeping her distance from the angry Ho, sat down near Manuel. “At least now you know I was telling the truth. I told you not to come here.”
    Ho lifted his head. “Your friends are done for now. You don’t know how happy that makes me. I hope you think about that a lot.”
    Zoheret leaned