CHAPTER 17

TRAILS TAKEN

Malila was slumbering when Jesse flicked the hides off her.

“Rise and shine, Lieutenant; daylight’s burning!”

Her detailed and profane response made him laugh.

Jesse kept the southeastern direction for three days before turning full south, although, in those first few days, they walked every heading of the compass. She realized that each step taken was a step down, a step into darkness and obscurity and away from the light of the Unity.

A routine soon developed. At first light, the old man roused her. He dismantled whatever shelter he had made, hid the evidence of it, packed his huge green pack, and swooped his shoulders into it before buckling it down. They walked for about an hour before breakfast....

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