The food wasn’t as bad as Coll had feared. While they ate, they turned the cooker down to a low warmth. Namir was quiet, but Dolen was good company, telling stories of wandering the Glass Lands and adventures aboard Beetle. In return, gradually, the Cub crew told their own stories. The Beetles listened carefully, Dolen making noises of surprise and awe. Namir gazed at the glowing flames.
“Your Alpha sounds impressive,” she said softly.
“Oh, she is!” agreed Coll. “She’s a brilliant leader.”
“It must be difficult sometimes, her being your mother too.”
“Well…” Coll hesitated. “Yeah, sometimes. She has to look after the whole crew, see?” Namir said nothing. “But she protects me.” Coll felt a strange need to defend her. “And she keeps me strong. I mean, when I was born, like this…” He held up his prosthetic arm. “She fought for me. For the anthryl to make my arm, my leg. And she fought the crew. Crews aren’t comfortable with people who are … different. Some of them didn’t … didn’t want…” He fell silent, frowning.
Dolen smiled. “She sounds very dedicated. You must be proud.”
“Yes.” Coll felt as if there was something missing, but he couldn’t quite work it out. “And she needs our help. She needs me to be Wolf.”
“So you’re going to find her and show her?” asked Namir.
Coll nodded. Namir looked at the others. “You have your own Construct now,” she said mildly. “You could go where you liked. You don’t have to be Wolf. You could pick your own crew.”
Coll shook his head. “Wolf is home,” he said stubbornly, before the others could speak. “I am Wolf.”
It grew dark, and the Cub crew were sleepy. Fillan was already snoring, and Brann’s head dropped suddenly. She snorted and looked up, and Dolen smiled.
“Time for bed, Mrs B,” he said, standing. He nodded to the others. “Good travel today. Early start tomorrow – we’ll be at the Steel River by midday. Goodnight!”
Namir stood too, in a single smooth movement, and gave them a curt nod. They headed off, Dolen waving, and climbed up into the Beetle Construct.
The Cub crew dragged themselves up to their deck. Coll wondered for a few minutes about trying to keep guard again – but as soon as his head touched his pillow, he fell fast asleep.
The next morning he awoke with a start and scrambled to his feet. Falling asleep! Falling asleep right next to another Construct, unprotected and vulnerable! What would Alpha say? He ran to the deck rail and peered out, to see Dolen packing up the cooking unit and whistling.
“Morning!” called Dolen, waving. “Another day in paradise, eh?”
Coll blinked at him in confusion. The clouds had sunk again and the world was grey and pale and dismal. He shook his head. Behind him, he heard the others moving.
“Morning, Mr B!” called Fillan, and the man grinned and waved. On board Beetle, Namir emerged from a hatch and nodded to them.
Dolen climbed up next to her. “We’d best get on,” he called. “The Steel River won’t wait, eh?” He laughed, Beetle clambered to its feet, and they set off again.
The travel was easier today. The Ribbon road was solid and smooth, and the morning air was still quite cool. Cub was getting better at walking – Brann was no longer counting under her breath – and the four of them had settled into a rhythm. For the first time since leaving Wolf, Coll felt the sense of being part of a whole thing. We are Cub, he found himself thinking at one point, but then angrily corrected himself. Wolf. We are Wolf.
Again, Beetle scurried ahead of them. Occasionally Dolen glanced up at the sky, judging the time.
“Reckon we’re close, Mrs B,” he said at last.
“Reckon so, Mr B,” she replied.
Coll looked around. He couldn’t see anything except a low hill ahead. But when they came round the hill, Dolen looked back at them, grinning.
“There!” he called. “The Steel River.”
Coll and the others stared.
It looked like a huge cave carved into the hillside. It was six metres tall, six wide, a black circle too perfect to be natural. Out of it came a channel that led to the next hill, into another identical circle. The sides of the channel were metal, rusted but still strong, and almost completely smooth.
The channel was as dry as bones. A thin layer of white sand lay in the bottom, and several small white boulders attached to the sides in a seemingly random pattern. They were each about the size of Coll’s head but flatter, as if squashed.
“What is it?” asked Coll.
Dolen grinned. “This is your river, boy!” He jumped down from Beetle’s cockpit and began fetching things out of the back.
“I don’t understand,” said Brann. “Where’s the water?”
“We’re just in time,” said Dolen. “Can you feel it, Mrs B?” He dragged a dozen buckets from the back, and then some netting and a long sharp spear.
“Can indeed, Mr B,” said the woman. And now Coll realised he could feel something too. The ground beneath his feet seemed to be trembling.
“What’s going on?” he asked, but the Beetle crew were too busy to answer. Coll looked back at Rieka. “Rieka, what’s happening?”
“How would I know?” snapped Rieka. She hated not knowing things.
“The ground is moving,” said Fillan. He reached out and tugged at Coll’s shirt. “Coll, why’s the ground moving? Coll?”
“Ready?” called Dolen.
“For what?” demanded Coll.
“Ready!” shouted Namir.
