“There’s something in that tree,” said Coll, pointing. “Give me a minute.” He wandered across and started to climb.
“Are you OK doing that?” asked Luna.
Coll grunted. “Course I am.” He heaved himself up to the first couple of branches.
“Do you want a hand?”
He felt her lifting his foot and shook her off. “No, stop fussing.”
“You know what Alpha said—”
“I can climb a tree,” he snapped, and she stopped. He clambered through the branches and found some casing fragments, nothing special. He knocked them to the ground and leaned against the trunk, catching his breath. Despite his bravado, his left elbow was aching, and his knee too, though he wouldn’t admit it. The tree swayed and swished in the morning breeze. It was a little like being on Wolf. Coll smiled. He turned to come down, and then he saw it, lodged between two branches.
A tooth.
It was one of Wolf’s, ripped from her mouth during the fight. A metre long, sharp at the tip and shimmering with anthryl. Coll knocked it loose and it landed with a heavy thud. When he scrambled down, Luna was examining it with delight.
“A whole tooth!” she exclaimed. “Nice find!”
Coll grinned. “Come on, let’s go.”
They dumped the sacks with the rest of the salvage and carried the tooth headside, finding one of the Tocks working on Wolf’s shoulder. The Tocks were the ones who kept Wolf running. That’s what they liked to say, anyway, although Coll had never seen them foraging for equipment or food, or taking part in battles. This one was Intrick, a dour old man who never said much. When he saw the tooth he grunted and jerked a thumb up towards the mouth, where a lone figure was working, peering at a device in her hand. As Coll and Luna approached, the figure turned and stared at them.
“Something useful at last, then,” she said.
“Good morning to you too, Rieka,” said Luna.
The girl ignored her and scanned the tooth. Coll and Luna exchanged glances.
Rieka was the same age as them but always gave the impression of being an old and crotchety adult in a young person’s body. Her skin was brown, darker than Coll’s, and her short black hair stuck up on one side. Her face was a sharp triangle. Everyone said she was a genius – she’d only joined Wolf a year or so ago, but already even the adult Tocks listened to her. She had a reputation for getting annoyed with idiots. Coll suspected her definition of ‘idiots’ was ‘everyone’.
She reached up to Wolf’s ear and murmured something. Wolf stretched her mouth open in a wide yawn, and her huge steel tongue lolled out on the grass. There was a gap where the tooth should be, dark and rough as if torn.
“Come on, then,” snapped Rieka.
Coll heaved the incisor into the gap and held it steady as Rieka tapped her device. The base of the tooth moved. The dark silver anthryl coating shifted and remoulded itself to fit, moving like a snake, or water, or both. It wrapped itself round the base, and within a few seconds it was as if the tooth had never been gone.
Wolf’s mouth suddenly twitched, and Coll leapt away before the jaws closed with a snap!
“Argh!” he gasped.
Rieka ignored him. Intrick came along, and the two Tocks looked at their devices and talked the fast complex Tock speak that no one else understood.
“You’re welcome,” called Luna.
Neither looked up. Luna and Coll exchanged another look, and then shrugged and left. Coll rubbed his elbow.
“She nearly got you that time,” said Luna, clapping her hands together. “Chomp!” She reached for a cable hanging down from Wolf’s deck and tugged it twice, and it pulled her up. Coll followed. On board, the deck was a flurry of packing and repairing, preparing to move. Rudy stood in the centre, shouting orders, giving advice and managing the chaos. Rudy was old, and his long thick hair was white, but his eyes sparkled. He still had the best eyesight of anyone, and spent his days watching the landscape for danger or opportunities. His skin was sunburned and battered by the weather into cheerful folds. He was Beta, second in command, and had been forever. He’d never tried to be Alpha, which was probably why he was still alive.
He nodded to them. “How’s pickings?”
“Coll found a tooth!” said Luna.
Rudy grinned. “Good lad.” He turned back. “Luna, got a job for you, with that lot.” He jerked his head towards a group of other youngsters, who were pulling on cloaks and backpacks, chattering excitedly.
“What’s going on?” asked Coll.
“Oh, just checking something out,” said Rudy. “No need for you to bother. Take a break, you’ve earned it.” He sounded breezy but he looked away as he spoke.
Coll frowned. “Wait, is this a scout mission? Rudy, you said I’d be on the next one.”
Rudy turned back. “Aye, well…” He gave an embarrassed shrug. “Sorry, lad. Orders.”
Behind Rudy, a boy laughed. “No trip for you, Faulty!”
Rudy whipped round. “Heel!” he snapped furiously. “You use that word again, Lyall, and I’ll have you clearing exhaust for a month, understand?”
The boy Lyall scowled and shuffled away. He muttered something to his friends and they snorted. Rudy rested a hand on Coll’s arm, but Coll pulled away.
“Rudy, it’s not fair!” he said. “She can’t keep doing this!”
“Doing what?” came a voice behind him.
Coll stopped. When he turned, Alpha was gazing at him.
Alpha was long-limbed and tough, and walked with a smooth confident grace. She wasn’t the strongest on board, or the fiercest, but she seemed to pulse with hidden power, as if she was holding it inside and could unleash it at any time. Her senior crew stood behind her.
“What is it that Alpha cannot do?” she asked. Her voice was calm, but its edge carried on the morning air.
