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“How?” Kelly asked, scratching her head. “Mendez said—”
“I know what he said. But there’s got to be a way—I just haven’t thought of one yet. Even if it has to beme that stays behind—I’ll make sure everyone gets back to the base.” John started marching again.“Come on, we’re wasting time.”
The others fell in behind him.
The shadows of the trees lengthened and melted together and the sun turned the edge of the sky red.Kelly halted and motioned for everyone else to stop. “We’re almost there,” she whispered.
“Me and Sam will scout it out,” John said. “Everyone fall out . . . and keep quiet.”
The rest of the children silently followed his orders.
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John and Sam crept through the underbrush and then hunkered down at the edge of a meadow.
The dropship sat in the center of the grassy field; her floodlights illuminated everything for thirty meters.Six men sat on the open launch ramp, smoking cigarettes and passing a canteen between themselves.
Sam motioned to drop back. “You recognize them?” he whispered.
“No. You?”
Sam shook his head. “They’re not in uniform. They don’t look like any soldiers I’ve ever seen. Maybethey’re rebels. Maybe they stole the dropship and killed the Chief.”
“No way,” John said. “Nothing can kill the Chief. But one thing’s for sure: I don’t think we can justwalk up there and get a free ride back to the base. Let’s go back.”
They crept back into the woods and then explained the situation to the others.
“What do you want to do?” Kelly asked him.
John wondered why she thought he had an answer. He looked around and saw everyone was watchinghim, waiting for him to speak. He shifted on his feet. He had to say something.
“Okay . . . we don’t know who these men are or what they’ll do when they see us. So we find out.”
The children nodded, seeming to think this was the right thing to do.
“Here’s how,” John told them. “First, I’ll need a rabbit.”
“That’s me,” Kelly said, and sprang to her feet. “I’m the fastest.”
“Good,” John said. “You go to the edge of the meadow—and then let them see you. I’ll go along andhide nearby and watch. In case anything happens to you, I’ll report back to the others.”
She nodded.
“Then you lure a few back here. Run right past this spot. Sam, you’ll be out in the open, pretending likeyou’ve broken your leg.”
“Gotcha,” Sam said. He walked over to Fhajad and had him scrape his shin with his boot. Blood welledfrom the wound.
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“The rest of you,” John said, “wait in the woods in a big circle. If they try to do anything but helpSam . . . ” John made a fist with his right hand and slammed it into his open palm. “Remember themoose and the wolves?”
They all nodded and grinned. They had seen that lesson many times in Déjà’s classroom.
“Get some rocks,” John told them.
Kelly stripped off her parka, stretched her legs and knees. “Okay,” she said, “let’s do this.”
Sam lay down, clutching his leg. “Oooh—it hurts, help me.”