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But none of them responded.

The AiV sounded closer, circling back.

Trin grabbed Tivi’s arm. ‘It was an accident, Carabinere. Tragic, but just so. We must shelter now.’

Cass Mulravey stared at Tivi, ignoring Trin. She opened her mouth to speak but only an incoherent noise escaped.

‘Get beneath the bushes.’ Awkwardly, Trin grasped Cass Mulravey’s shoulders and tried to pull her down towards cover. The woman stumbled, almost dropping the ragazzo’s body.

Tivi Scali reacted by diving forward to catch the child.

Trin felt warm blood from the spear wound splatter across his face. Tivi and Cass were covered in it.

Then a light shot down from the belly of the hovering AiV, capturing them, and the dead ’bino, in its circle.

JO-JO RASTEROVICH

‘Fuel cell’s low,’ said Randall. ‘We need to turn back.’

‘Just one sweep,’ Jo-Jo urged. ‘Otherwise the cell’s been wasted. We’ll have to come back again.’

Their search had taken them north-east over scattered islands, most of them flat and without vegetation. The most likely location turned out to be a largish tract of land at low tide that then diminished on the swell. They landed and explored it during the hour right after sunset. Though the island harboured no ’esques, they stretched out in the sand to sleep for a few hours.

Randall woke them well before light, and they continued on south to the other likely location. Just short of sunrise, Randall announced that they must turn back.

‘No,’ cried Jo-Jo, pointing out of his window. ‘There.’

Randall grunted and held her line, taking them down lower.

A surge of hope livened Jo-Jo’s tired body. This island was heavily vegetated and dominated by a small mountain.

‘Looks better’n the last one, Capo,’ remarked Catchut.

‘Hope so,’ said Randall. ‘Most like we’ll be stuck on here for ever. This cell’s probably not gonna get us back.’

Jo-Jo saw them first: a scattered group of figures on the mountain crest, scrambling toward cave mouths.

‘There!’ He pointed again.

‘I’ll sweep back.’ Randall dragged her finger around the screen, and the AiV obediently circled. This time, though, she brought them in to hover just above the crest of the peak, spotlights blazing.

Most of the figures had disappeared, leaving only a small group clustered together. One of them, a woman, huddled over the limp figure of a child. Three others, adult ’esques, stared up at the AiV.

‘Looks like Cass Mulravey, Capo,’ said Catchut.

‘Think yer right, Cat. Don’t know the others.’

‘Bunch of skeletons, whoever they are.’

‘Who is she?’ asked Jo-Jo.

‘Friend of Fedor’s. They came into Ipo together. Tough woman. Not surprised she’s still alive.’

A friend of Fedor’s. That knowledge somehow fanned Jo-Jo’s optimism. ‘Let’s land.’

‘Cat,’ said Randall, ‘you stay on board.’

The light was approaching rapidly as Randall dropped the AiV onto a small cleared area just above Mulravey and the others. The vehicle thunked hard onto the uneven rock and teetered for a moment, as if it might topple.

Jo-Jo let go of a breath when it settled.

Unworried, Randall threw off her harness and slid the door back. ‘Lemme go first. She’ll know me.’

She jumped down lightly, despite the hours cooped up in the AiV, and stepped nimbly down the hill. ‘Cass Mulravey.’

Jo-Jo climbed more slowly out of the passenger side. He let his legs adjust to weight and movement before demanding anything from them. As he edged around the AiV to stand by Randall, he noticed something amiss. Blood. All over the woman and two of the men.

A thin, crimson-skinned ’esque with an aquiline nose that dominated his gaunt hawkish face stood up. ‘Who are you?’ he demanded.

Randall ignored him. ‘Cass. Don’t you know me?’

The woman slowly lifted her head. Her face was ravaged – dark brown and blistered with sun exposure – but her expression was the shocking thing: heartbroken and defeated. The child she held was dead.

She licked her lips and whispered, ‘Rast Randall?’

‘What’s happened, Cass?’ asked Randall softly.

‘He’s … he’s …’ She couldn’t bring herself