Alpha gave a chuckle without any humour. “This is a strange situation,” she said in a firm voice. “But let me be clear. I am Wolf. You are Wolf. We do what we need for Wolf. If that means dismantling that … thing for parts, then I won’t even hesitate. Understand?”
Coll frowned. Alpha was right, of course. But… He glanced at the little leather bag round Fillan’s neck.
“Cub is … not Wolf,” he said. He nodded. “And this is my crew.”
“If you’re not with us, you’re our enemy,” Alpha snapped. “It’s that simple. It doesn’t matter who you are – if you’re not Wolf, you are nothing.”
Coll shrugged. “Maybe. Or maybe we’re stronger as a pack…”
Alpha frowned. Behind her, Dolph looked confused, but Rudy was smiling to himself.
Alpha said, “You honestly don’t think we’re going to work together, do you? You give us that thing or we will take it!”
“You?” retorted Brann. “You threaten us after we just saved you? That mangy old mutt can barely even stand up! Just try it and we’ll—”
“It’s OK,” said Coll softly.
Brann glared at him, but stopped.
Coll turned back. “Repair Wolf,” he said to Alpha. “There are plenty of Dragon remains down there to scavenge. We won’t attack, but you won’t either. We’re done here.”
Alpha glared at him.
“Reckon the boy’s right,” said Rudy in a mild tone.
Alpha turned. Coll couldn’t see the expression on her face, though he could guess. But Rudy just gazed back at her calmly, and eventually she turned back. Her mouth moved as if she was chewing something unpleasant.
“You have until we’re repaired,” she said. “If we see you again, we won’t hesitate. You are not Wolf.” She turned and strode away.
Rudy heaved himself to his feet and winked at Coll. “Good luck, lad,” he said.
“Thanks, Rudy,” said Coll. “Look after her for me.”
He wasn’t sure if he meant Wolf or Alpha.
They watched the others return to Wolf and climb aboard.
“Are you OK?” asked Rieka.
Coll nodded. “Yeah. I mean … I will be.”
“She’s a good Alpha,” said Rieka. “She tries to be a good person. She’s just…”
He nodded. “I know.”
Brann said, “Don’t you want to join your crew again?”
Coll thought. Luna was there, of course. And Rudy. And he’d missed some of the others. He’d thought they were his life. He’d thought he lived for Wolf. Now he gazed at Cub sitting in the pale sunshine, and at Brann and the others.
“Maybe it’s like Namir said,” he said. “Maybe in the end you have to find your own crew.”
They walked on. Coll’s leg was still hurting, though he was getting the hang of it and the anthryl was starting to respond. It would take a while to get used to the new.
“What do we do now?” asked Fillan.
Brann said, “Dragon was my only chance to find the Raven crew.”
Rieka said, “Dragon came from the north and headed back north. The signal came from the north. I think they’re connected.” She frowned. “Brann, you said there was something wrong with Dragon, and you’re right. The way it attacks, how powerful it is… Its deck was sealed the whole time; we never even saw the crew once. It’s not like the other Constructs.”
“Neither are we,” said Coll.
“You could still join Wolf,” said Rieka. “You and Fillan. We’ll take Cub and strip him down for two people.”
They reached the Construct, and Coll grabbed a cable. “If you go, we go,” he said. “Right, Fillan?”
“We’re Cub,” said Fillan.
They strapped themselves in. Coll turned to Brann and grinned. “Ready?”
She grinned back. “Ready.”
Cub stood and stretched, then shook his head and rolled his shoulders. Brann closed her eyes, and Cub stretched again, and again…
Then he lifted his wings, hopped forward and flew. Up and up, over Wolf and her crew staring at them, over the wreckage from Dragon’s fall, up, until the air was clear and pure and free, and then he picked an air current and turned…
To the north.
