I peered at Grant to check if he was making a bad joke. "You want me to walk to the new crystal? Why not someone else?"

His suggestion left me baffled. When planting a shard, I was the best choice since I'd remember it years later. But to be guided to a crystal that was big enough to port from? That was usually done by someone with a lesser porting ability while the stronger porters took larger groups out to find food.

"It took Tib quite some time to travel that far, and he's not exactly slow when he's on a mission. You're the only monkey who usually has enough energy to run around after a day of porting and build up any kind of stamina. When it comes to the longer practice runs, you've always done the best. The other porters have agreed to take a few from your group with them. Tib, Brielle, and Cruz will go with you."

"How far out is this thing again?"

Tib replied, "It took me almost four hours, but I was jogging. Maybe five or six at a walk? Some of the terrain is pretty rough."

I was beginning to understand why Grant had picked me.

~

It was one thing to know in theory that hunters were in excellent shape. It was an entirely different story to be dragged through a boggy forest by three hunters who weren't even breathing hard despite me needing another break.

I sat on a log and drank some water from my water skin before asking, "How close are we?"

Tib considered it for a minute. "Probably two hours at this pace. More if we slow down."

With a sigh, I stood up and matched their brisk walk. It was a good thing Tib had declined my earlier offer to jog for a while. I was going to be hard-pressed to maintain this speed for another hour.

I stumbled as my foot sank knee-deep into a section of moss that looked like every other spot in the forest. Brielle gave me a hand up, and we kept going, frequently sinking into hidden holes and dips. I was never again going to take the flat, packed dirt in our village for granted.

The only good thing was that the restlessness kept prodding me on and refused to let me sit for a decent break. Grant had asked me to check six spots this morning, which had taken the edge off it, but physical activity—even four hours over rough terrain—clearly wasn't a substitute for porting.

~

Tib veered away from the tiny trickle of a stagnant creek as he followed his charcoal markings. "It's just over here."

I staggered on, muddy to the knees and more physically exhausted than I'd ever been in my life. At least the hunters were somewhat winded. Tib easily jumped over a log, clearly the hunter version of what I was among the porters.

There was no reasonable excuse for him to be skipping across sections of moss like we hadn't just power-walked six hours across unreliable mossy ground and ensnaring tree roots.

A glint of light being reflected ahead was enough to make me speed up. There it was! Tib had dragged tree branches and other underbrush away from the crystal yesterday to make it easier to find.

I knelt in the spongy moss—too tired to stand—as I rested my hand on a spire. There was something about looking into a crystal's depths that calmed the mind and heart. I scanned our surroundings to find something unique to name this location. Grant wouldn't appreciate some of the terms currently rolling through my mind.

This part of the forest was drier than around the previous crystal, and the trees weren't as scrawny. I could see a few edible plants, but this sort of terrain wasn't exactly favorable for them. It was still better than many places I'd seen lately.

I was simply too tired to be creative. I pulled a moss-covered rock out from under my knee and set it on a protruding tree root. Grant was bound to roll his eyes at a name like Mossy Rock Forest, but that was what he was getting.

"Let's get out of here," I told my companions, who held onto my shoulders. "Home."

The desert heat was unwelcome when I was overheating from my prolonged workout. Even as I struggled to my feet, the hunters helped me up, and I staggered over to the shade to flop down. Grant was peering down at me even before my head hit the furless hide I'd chosen.

"Tib-speed is not porter-speed," I informed him.

A few chuckles came from behind Grant as the hunters and several villagers reassured themselves that I would be fine.

"I know," Grant said. "And yet, you're back earlier than I expected. Rest for a while."

I closed my eyes, and despite the restlessness making it hard for my tired and sore muscles to relax, the six-hour torture hike had worn me out enough for sleep to catch me off guard.

~

I sat up with a groan and rubbed my eyes. My sweat-caked skin was sticky and the mud-covered parts of my leather clothing had stiffened in an unpleasant fashion. I winced as my legs complained bitterly about the treatment I'd put them through, but I managed to stand up without staggering.

I promptly headed for a cliff-side path, walking slower as my stiff muscles continued their protests. A clean set of clothing and a sponge bath were the first things on my mind. I grabbed a set of leathers from my storage chest and headed to the bathing rooms. After closing the flap for privacy, I was finally able to wash away the dried sweat and grime.

Being clean was a feeling like no other.

Now that I no longer smelled like I'd hiked through a bog, I headed back down. My long nap hadn't done the restlessness any favors, and after only porting seven times today, I definitely needed to port.

"Where can I go?" I asked Grant, rather than asking if he needed me to make a trip.

"It'll be a couple of hours until even the earliest group reaches the Guard Station, so there isn't much right now. Do you mind taking me to the Oasis and then checking the abandoned villages for shards? Maybe stop by Keywa Village and see how they're doing? Darwin should be by the crystal."

"Sure. Let's go." Checking villages was an unlimited opportunity to bounce around.

He grabbed a small handful of water-soaked greens out of a leather bucket and passed them to me as he came over. My stomach rumbled at the sight of food; my group had only nibbled on a few greens during our hike.

"Thanks," I said as I stuck a few leaves in my mouth and directed my mind to Oasis Springs while chewing.

When the air cleared, he murmured, "Come back for me in an hour, but be careful not to waste too many ports in case trouble appears or too many porters get cornered. The way those Saursunes have been hanging around the crystals makes me nervous."

I nodded and reined in my impatience. He was right. If the Saursunes were setting an elaborate trap, they could catch a lot of groups if they tried. I didn't think it was likely after what I'd seen the last few weeks, but our history beyond that point painted a very different picture.

For appearance's sake, I rested a few minutes before going to check the cracked crystal, which still hadn't dropped the shard. I ported to several other abandoned villages, prudently waiting a few minutes before leaving, despite how the restlessness gnawed at me.

At this rate, I was going to have to see if I could find a Saursune when I checked the cat this evening. That thought gave me pause. I knew I hadn't ported much today, but was that the only reason I felt like pacing or porting so badly?

Keeping careful tabs on my energy, I ported to another village, but the solo port didn't make any noticeable difference. The restlessness was as impossible to ignore as when I'd fallen into a patch of poison ivy as a kid and had itchy bumps up and down my arms.

Furrowing my eyebrows, I crouched down and made a quick timeline in the packed sand, trying to see what the recent patterns were.

Despite porting so much yesterday, most trips had been in the morning and were solo ports. Apart from my groups, I hadn't done any heavy porting after lunch. Merryl had taken the water cart, and the hunters had craftily left the log just out of my reach. No wonder I'd had problems sleeping.

I hadn't ported much the day before, and once again, no heavy ports in the evening had led to sleep issues. The day before that...I'd shared some energy with two Saursunes after leaving Janette near their town. That night, I'd managed to sleep decently, despite my heavy heart.

Three days before that, I'd shared my energy with the fighter, and I'd been almost as desperate for relief from the restlessness as I was now.

Did...did I really only get three days of respite if I didn't do a lot of heavy porting in the evening or get found by a Saursune?

Looking farther back, it was hard to say. The aliens had cut me off from the crystal every few days. I had also been porting the heavy water cart in the evening, and my porting abilities weren't as strong as they were now. I sat on the dirt and stared at the numbers, trying to wrap my head around the implications and my options.

Should I start avoiding the Saursunes and figure out a way to make enough loaded ports in the evening that I could sleep? The memories of how I'd tossed and turned the last few nights didn't make it very appealing. On top of that, the wasted ports still bothered me after eight years of making every port matter.

Should I visit a few crystals tonight to see if a Saursune was nearby? Maybe check if that fighter was around since he'd taken a deer to my group last time? Food was still being rationed, and with my group not finding much yesterday, and likely not much today, only the children got breakfast this morning. All the adults had gone without. I already knew many grandparents would give most of their lunch to the children.

That decided me.

I couldn't waste ports if it meant people I cared about would go hungry. Foraging was getting harder, not easier, and it wasn't about to change anytime soon. The timeline at my feet proved the energy donations weren't increasing my limits as long as I didn't push myself too hard, which matched what Grant and I had suspected earlier.

The biggest changes came when I pushed myself to my limits, and trying to burn ports in the evening was more likely to do that than just letting a Saursune drain my energy.

So...that led to the question of which Saursune I dared to approach. That was also where my hesitation came in, since it was one thing to objectively decide something, but quite another to actually search out an alien race that had been quite hostile in the past. I'd have to choose carefully.

The Saursune at Orange Flower was the first one that came to mind. She had guarded me after my first energy sharing bumble had dumped me on my rear end. The fighter at Orange Grove was also an option considering his notable food donation, although his weapons and armor still unnerved me. The others...I wasn't quite familiar enough with.

Perhaps I should return to Apple Orchard and check the spot I had left Janette. I stared at the crystal for quite some time, trying to build up the nerve to return to that location.

The fear of finding her lifeless body dumped by the crystal battled against the faint hope I was still clinging to. It was the same hope that was getting weaker every day she was gone. Taking a deep breath, I reached out to the crystal and directed my mind to the crystal near the town. The air hazed around me, then cleared.

Dreading what I might see, or even what I might not see, I turned around to look at the patch of grass where I'd left her. I blinked at the empty stretcher. Well, not quite empty. There was an elaborately braided grass circle sitting in the middle of it.

I stared at the stretcher. That hadn't been there the last time I checked here. What did it mean? Was it a promise to try their best to save her? Was it their way of asking for a trade in return, above the energy I'd shared? Or that they thought she was our contribution for a trade for something? I didn't know.

I looked around uneasily. The big group I'd seen last time had left me rattled. One Saursune was manageable. Two I could probably handle. But six or more? I shuddered, and with one last look at the orchard, I ported back to the Oasis to see if Grant was ready to leave.