Rieka said, “Fillan was right – there was something. I saw it too. Two or three klicks east at the end of the valley. It was just a quick glimpse, but … I think it was Wolf.”
Coll spun back and stared at her. “Really?” She nodded and suddenly all his anger disappeared.
“Come on, then!” he shouted.
“See?” muttered Brann. But Rieka glared at her and she ducked her head again.
They set off, four paws firmly on the ground this time. Brann didn’t try to change Cub’s shape again and soon they were scrambling along in Cub’s half-skipping run over the grass and swamp, avoiding cracks in the ground. They reached the valley and there, at the far end, was…
Wolf.
Coll stared at her and gulped. Wolf. He wanted to shout to them – Alpha! Rudy! Luna! But they were too far away. Cub sped up, racing towards the Construct. It was so much larger than Cub; he’d almost forgotten.
“Wolf,” he murmured.
Beside him, Brann frowned. “What’s wrong with it?”
Coll turned in surprise. “What?” But then he realised what she meant. Wolf was limping away quite slowly. She was thinner than he remembered and covered in patches of metal and cracked carbon fibre; it looked like she had been fixed in a hurry, on the move. The repairs had pushed the long hairs of her pelt up into straggly tufts. Her head was down and one ear had been ripped away. He couldn’t see her crew at all, and instead her back was grey.
“They’ve sealed her,” said Rieka, looking through her binoculars, and Coll nodded. They’d fastened metal plates above her deck to protect themselves. It would have left them almost blind, unable to see out. It was something a crew would only do in desperation.
“Where’s Dragon?” asked Fillan. “Did they win?”
The Cub crew looked around but saw nothing. “Maybe,” said Coll.
Brann snorted. “No way.”
Cub scrambled towards Wolf. She seemed not to notice them until they were close. Then she gave a start, leapt backwards in a weak, tottering jump and yelped.
“Wolf!” shouted Coll. “Wolf! Alpha, we found you!”
Wolf’s face was scarred. As well as her torn ear, one eye was white and cloudy and there were deep scratch marks around her jaw. She glared at them.
“Coll…” said Rieka. “Be careful.”
But Coll unfastened his harness and ran to the front of Cub. “Hoy!” he shouted, waving his arms. “Wolf! It’s us! It’s me! Wolf! Alpha!”
Wolf took another step back and crouched. Her hide was badly torn. She seemed to shiver. Her teeth were bared.
“Coll!” shouted Rieka, but Coll ignored her.
“Wolf!” he called again.
“Coll, take your seat!”
Coll turned to Rieka in surprise. “What?”
He looked back just in time to see Wolf leap towards them, her mouth wide open in a snarl, front claws out, ready to kill.
Wolf launched herself at Cub. Her one good eye was red and furious, her teeth ready to crash down on them, her front paws stretching their razor-sharp claws.
“MOVE!” roared Brann, and Cub tottered backwards. Coll almost lost his balance. He scrambled back to his seat and tried to fasten his harness. What was happening? What was happening?
“No,” he croaked, almost to himself. “We’re Wolf. We’re Wolf!”
“Concentrate!” snapped Rieka, and Coll looked up at her.
“But we’re Wolf,” he said almost in a wail.
“She doesn’t know that!” shouted Rieka, and finally Coll understood. He felt Cub’s panic and tried to help, steering the Construct away. But Wolf was rabid and furious, snarling with rage and leaping at them again. Her jaws clamped round Cub’s right hind leg and there was an eruption of splintered metal before Cub wrenched free.
Wolf went for them again. Cub slipped to the side, only a metre away. There was a torn gap in Wolf’s armour at the shoulder, and just as they slipped past, Coll could see through to the bridge and Wolf’s crew.
He saw Rudy shouting orders and Intrick the Tock working at a console, Luna and the others in their harnesses. And at the helm, on the head deck, was Alpha. Her arm was in a sling but she gave no sign of weakness. She appeared as controlled as ever, and her face was steel. She glared through the slit in the armour and Coll stared back, and for a moment she looked straight at him…
Nothing.
Her expression didn’t change. There was no flicker of recognition. No softness.
There was nothing.
Cub crashed to the ground and scrambled away, reaching the top of the valley. Wolf chased after.
“We’ve got to get out of here!” shouted Rieka.
Coll felt like he was underwater. Nothing. She’d stared straight at him. She’d seen him. Nothing.
