A distant horn jolted me awake—our sentries were blowing the "airship spotted" signal. Still in my linen lounging robe, I raced to the crystal. I ducked into Grant's office and peered up at the star-spangled sky. Dozens of villagers were streaming down the paths and hiding in rooms near whichever crystal they were closest to, just in case the sentries blew an evac alarm.

Flurries of activity were everywhere as people hid human objects and ensured the door hides were closed to conceal the openings. Hushed whispers echoed off the cliffs as people made sure nothing was left in the open that might betray our presence.

Grant jogged over. "Can you take me to the sentries? I want to know how close that airship is in case we have to start an evacuation."

I nodded, and we darted across the open ground. His hand rested on my shoulder as we reached the crystal. My mind reached for Sentry Point without uttering the location code.

The air hazed around us, and my eyes strained against the blur as it faded. Three people crouched by the base of the rock, deep in the shadows. Two were looking one way while the other ensured that nothing came from the other direction. We jogged over as one pointed. I squinted and finally spotted a distant blob a bit lighter than the dark sky.

"Is it just hovering there?" Grant asked.

"We thought it was flying past like they sometimes do, but it circled back, dropped lower to the ground, and stopped. It hasn't moved since, so we blew the 'airship spotted' sequence."

Grant knelt beside the sentry with his eyes locked onto the distant airship we could barely see. "All the attacks lately have had at least two or three ships. Is there just one so far?"

"Yeah. Only one we've seen this month."

I noticed something else. "Grant, that's right about where our village's primary backup crystal is."

He stared at me with wide eyes, then quickly scanned the landscape. "Shoot—you're right. They're directly under the Sirius Star, and that's about the right distance for an eight-day walk."

A chill crept down my spine. "That crystal is only half grown. They'll know the shard was planted within the last eight years. What if they check the area to find the group that planted it?"

"If they come closer, we'll have to evacuate." His voice was troubled. "How many bounces are you capable of? I need an honest answer."

"I'm rested, so if I keep the group size under eight, at least a handful of round trips? I'm actually not sure. And, no, I'm not taking that log with us."

He snorted, not in the right mindframe for my quips. "I'm not concerned about objects. Just people."

"It's moving," I murmured, staring as it began floating away and gaining altitude.

We were silent as it slowly disappeared into the distance.

"That's the direction it was originally heading," a sentry said. "We see airships fly that path a couple times a year."

Grant gave him an incredulous look. "And no one told me? I wouldn't have let someone plant a shard in that direction if I'd have known it was a common flightpath!"

I furrowed my eyebrows. "That crystal was under an overhang though. You can't see the sky if you port to it. How could they have possibly spotted it from the air?"

Silence reigned. The only explanation was that they had somehow detected it, kind of like how they located the tracking beads. In the same instant, history refuted the idea of them tracking the crystals across huge distances since they would have wiped us out during past culls instead of relying on tracking beads.

Did growing crystals occasionally do something that a nearby airship might notice? Was it a fluke of timing and coincidence? Grant had mentioned they did something to charge the airships, but there were crystals where we'd never seen a Saursune or an airship, which provided some reassurance that crystals weren't exactly easy for the Saursunes to locate. But how had they found this one when it was so well hidden? I stared at the dark night sky, unable to find an answer. There was simply no way for us to know for certain.

Grant stood up with a groan. "No clue. All I know is that we won't be using that crystal." To the sentry with the horn, he said, "Blow the 'airship gone' signal, but keep a close watch on the sky tonight and for the next month. They might be organizing a group."

I scrambled to my feet. "If they come tomorrow during the day, none of the porters will be here. You'll be trapped. Could a couple of porters drop off their groups and return to the village? If trouble shows up, they can fetch me in time to get at least some people out."

"We can discuss it in the morning," Grant said with a sigh. "We'll need to come up with some sort of plan. Let's head back."

~

I covered a yawn, feeling distinctly unrested after how much difficulty I had falling asleep after last night's interruption. And I hadn't gotten much sleep before that.

"Okay, people," Grant called out. "I need two or three volunteers who can port their groups out and then return to the village in case airships decide to see who's in the neighborhood."

I remained silent; it didn't feel right to leave thirty people alone.

My attempt at responsibility was foiled when Andre said, "I can't port that many times, but I recommend Natalie. She can port back to check on her group every couple of hours."

"Good point," Grant said, "and most of her group will be far away from the crystal until late afternoon."

"But that still leaves ten near the crystal who'd have no escape if trouble shows up," I protested. It might have been my idea for someone to stay in the village, but I hadn't meant for it to be me! I had a huge group, and it felt like I'd be abandoning them out there.

"Compromise?" Grant suggested. "Your group can go to Storm Blast, which hasn't had any sightings the last few days, and you can check on them occasionally. If you're mostly in the village, I'll only ask for one other volunteer. As you pointed out, the Saursunes don't seem to be killing people who aren't in their fields or raiding their farms." Quietly, he added, "There are over a hundred people here, and if Saursunes show up, their best chance of survival is if you're present."

One of the oldest gatherers in my group patted my shoulder. "I admire your commitment to those you take out, but the village needs you more. We knew the risks when we volunteered for this."

A hunter quietly added, "Lately, I'm beginning to think we're safer out there than in the village. The last week or so, the Saursunes have ignored us. But if an airship arrives, they mean business."

With my group supporting Grant's request, and with him sending them to an area without recent Saursune sightings, I reluctantly nodded. Ten followed me to the crystal.

"Storm Blast."

Within seconds, we were standing in an area with hundreds of waist-high saplings. They grew around the trunks of larger trees that had been flung everywhere when a mega storm swept through four years ago. Such storms were powerful enough to invade the desert and sometimes got far enough to bring us rain before the dry air dissipated their force. This one hadn't been going the right way to reach our village, and they were rarer now than they had been a century ago, as were our rain showers.

I pointed to the north. "Don't go in that direction. That's where the Saursunes replanted their orchards. The trees are small, so they don't seem to guard them, but there's no point in taking chances."

They all nodded.

"This area looks fairly picked over," a hunter commented, kicking a clump of trampled grass. "Traveling could be fun if we have to climb over a log every fifteen paces."

"At least there shouldn't be many large predators," I said. "The storm wiped out anything that wasn't able to hide in a deep burrow or cave."

After ferrying the other two groups over, I returned to the village. Another porter, Shelly, was sprawled out on the resting hides with her two children sitting beside her and chattering. The children were far more enthused about our vacation between the boring cliffs than I was.

A nap sounded tempting, but I was curious about what the villagers did all day while we were gone. Hopefully the distraction would keep me from dwelling on the groups I'd left behind.

I roamed up and down the paths; the atmosphere was laidback and no one was moving with any amount of speed. Quite a few people were on the ledge above the new garden; they used mere handfuls of water to dampen and scrub dirty clothing before swishing it in a communal rinsing tub. Small trickles of water flowed down the small ledge and into the garden dirt below, which was covered with deep layers of dry grass to reduce evaporation.

A few people were weaving baskets out of water-soaked grasses. Others used sinew or thin strips of leather to mend or make carry nets and other things the foraging groups used daily.

As much as I wanted to sit with one of the groups and watch, I knew from past experience that I'd be gently shooed away or they'd shift things so I couldn't see exactly what they were doing. The villagers didn't want porters thinking such tasks were interesting. Or, perhaps, they didn't want us to feel guilty and try to learn a new occupation to help out more.

I yawned and wandered over to the primary crystal. After a quick trip to check on my group, who weren't finding much close to the crystal, I went back and had a nap in Vermilion Village.

The day dragged on. Despite cajoling Grant into letting me check on my group every hour, the restlessness was creeping in.

I abandoned my naps as soon as I realized they were replacing any energy my solo ports burned. It seemed so contradictory that sleep was making me more restless and tired. Like how? I'd already ported more than two average porters combined! I already knew I was going to set a new porting record, simply because the solo ports weren't doing much.

My offers to take the water cart were politely declined. The villagers were accustomed to conserving every drop of water, and they didn't need any extra at this time. With an airship potentially searching the area, they also had plenty of motivation to keep me from exerting myself.

I spent most of the day sitting by the huge log as half a dozen carpenters whittled away shavings with flint and stone tools, slowly starting to shape the wood into two benches. They hadn't made much progress by the time late afternoon rolled around.

Finally, Grant gave the go-ahead to fetch my group. I ported to Storm Blast right as two pairs of hunters returned. The ten who had stayed closer were also within sight.

"Who feels like going back first?" I called out.

"I can wait here," one of the gatherers with a limp said. "A Saursune has been sniffing around, so be careful when you return."

"Thanks for the warning," I said as ten people gathered around me with their haul. There wasn't as much as I had expected.

A hunter noticed me counting the carry nets and said, "We found footprints over two hours away. We're not the only group going farther afield."

"I was wondering how long it would take before other villages started doing that." With a slight shrug that didn't dislodge any of the hands on my shoulders, I said, "Guard Station."

The world hazed around us and cleared on the desert cliffside. I lingered at the Guard Station to give my remaining hunters more time to return. With a Saursune hanging around, it was safer for me over here.

The next two trips went smoothly with no hint of anything lurking nearby. As much as I would have preferred to chat with the other porters, Grant had asked me to return to the village in case the airship returned. I left all of my hunters at the safety of the Guard Station to wait out their hour.

I had never found the village boring before, but the restlessness was interfering with my relaxation. I forced myself to sit and wait.

Right as I was about to go back, a group appeared at the crystal. Merryl had seven of my hunters. A shimmer beside her turned into Roxanne with eight passengers, also from my group.

"I was coming for them," I protested faintly. "Where are your groups?"

My sister grinned at me. "They needed to wait an hour, and your groups were ready to go. Neither me nor Roxanne saw a Saursune, so we didn't have to stay, but we didn't want to come back empty handed either."

I dusted off my knees as I stood up. "I can bring your groups back later."

Merryl waved the suggestion away. "Don't worry about it. And from what I heard, you did plenty of porting while checking on them. Your last group needs to wait a while longer, so you have time for a nap."

Hell no. "I'll pass on the nap." I already made that mistake today.

Of all the days for my sister to proactively help me... I had been counting on those ports to whittle away enough of my energy to let me get a decent night's sleep. But after the episode with the huge log, I should have expected it. Porters tried to support one another. They just didn't realize their attempts to help were currently backfiring.

She shrugged, not realizing the dilemma I was facing. "You work too hard. If you aren't careful, you might burn yourself out."

Her comments were so ironic it was hard to stifle a snicker. As it was, I gave her a grin. "If the Saursunes don't corner me, I can bring all three of my groups back."

"I can still help. You've helped me plenty of times."

There was nothing I could say in reply to that. After porting together for over a decade, my limits during those years would be at the forefront of her mind, not my growing abilities. And I'd never heard of someone who had problems sleeping if they didn't port.

I tilted my head as a memory surfaced, of when I had caught a fever and was confined to my bed for a week. I'd been so restless the grannies and aunts were beside themselves trying to keep me lying down. Some other porters had likewise grown impatient and refused to lie in bed if they didn't port for several days.

Perhaps my issue wasn't as unknown as I'd imagined, but I had ported today, over thirty times, in fact. Most had been solo ports, but that was a number no other porter in the history books had ever hit.

On one hand, I was proud of my new records and powerful porting ability, but on the other hand, it scared me. What if I eventually had too much energy to burn off in a day? One option was to start porting heavy things like logs, but it seemed like when I hit my limits or exhausted myself, my limits increased.

Almost...almost as if whatever had capped those limits had disappeared.

It was a troubling thought.