If there was any further attempt at trouble that night it passed the two of them by entirely. Sheer luck led them to a depression about the size of a double bed and covered with pleasantly soft plant matter. Feeling oddly protective of her charge, Saketa walked her through basic breathing meditation in hope of relaxing her enough to fall asleep. But ultimately, she had to take her own rest and leave the girl to settle her own nerves.

They ate cold rations in the morning and continued on.

Little by little, the sky filled up with dark clouds, and the landscape rose just as slowly but steadily. The eastern side of the plain remained as flat as what lay behind them, but it was also formerly the most densely populated part of it. Here the columns of smoke were downright concentrated, and if there was serious trouble to be found anywhere on this plain, it would be to the east of this area.

Saketa actually began to feel optimistic that once they reached the other side of the rising hills they would be in for a casual final stretch. Then hopefully the girl could get a commercial flight to safety and Saketa could track down Tomos Tel Usta and settle their accounts.

The wind picked up, blowing in from the north with growing strength and bringing ever more looming darkness. It would surely rain before nightfall, and rain hard. Saketa thought of her poncho, so casually discarded when she confronted Usta.

The rail they’d been following eventually passed through a tiny town, surely no more than a home for maintenance crews and maybe a few basic services for travellers. Right at the centre of it the rail plunged down into a tunnel.

Vanaka took off her pack as they came to a stop in front of a large map, and leaned it up against the base.

“This is great!” she said after a fairly lengthy silence. “It cuts through in a straight line.”

Saketa looked up at the landscape ahead. It did indeed climb even higher, and according to the map it would stay high and rugged and unpleasant right until the other side of the tunnel. She still had to wonder at the choice of digging a tunnel, when surely letting the rail continue on up would have been cheaper. But then she was coming to learn just how filled with all sorts of nonsense the more “civilised” parts of the galaxy were. Perhaps a tunnel-digging outfit had supported the right politician.

None of it mattered. She had a choice to make, and gazed down into the gloom that beckoned them down. This place was as bereft of power as the rest of the plain, but emergency chemical lights glowed red down below. They would be able to travel.

But while there was a risk of being accosted by hostile people while travelling the surface, the depths offered dangers of their own. The people involved in this conflict had already proven their willingness to resort to mine-bots. And from what she knew of such disgraceful weapons, it was a popular trick to send them down into tunnels, to interfere with the enemy, while leaving the tunnels traversable for one’s own forces.

Saketa had faith in her ability to protect herself from mine-bots, but Vanaka was an added complication. If there had been a third bot on their first stop the girl might very well have died. She felt far more confident in protecting her from human beings up on the surface. All things considered and weighed, she made a decision.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. She pointed uphill. “We should walk overland.”

“Really?” Vanaka replied, looking confused. “Shouldn’t we keep out of sight, and out of the rain?” She pointed down into the tunnel. “I think we would be safer down there.”

“Yes,” Saketa said, turning towards the tunnel. “Yes, we-”

She caught herself, feeling oddly shocked.

“Wait... what just happened?” she said out loud, and found that she had no immediate answer to the question.

“What... what do you mean?” Vanaka asked.

What did she mean? Saketa went over her thoughts these last few seconds. She had calculated that overland was the safest option. Then suddenly her opinion had shifted in a moment. She wanted to go into the tunnel, but rationally they shouldn’t.

“My opinions simply do not shift in a heartbeat like that,” Saketa mused out loud, half to herself and half to Vanaka, and it became ever clearer that she had a puzzle on her hands.

“Look,” Vanaka put up an appeasing hand. “Never mind. If you think we are safer up above, then we will do that. Forget I said anything.”

Saketa did indeed start to leave the matter. But under scrutiny, that was yet another oddity, and she fought against the urge to simply carry on.

“It happened again,” she said and focused on Vanaka.

“What did?” the girl asked.

Saketa took a step towards her, examining both herself and Vanaka.

“These last two days and a half... I have the oddest tendency to just go along with whatever you say.”

Vanaka looked confused, or perhaps frightened, as Saketa came within an arm’s reach.

“I... I do not know what to say,” the girl said in response.

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“I rather suspect you do.”

Saketa put a hand on Vanaka’s shoulder, gripping just tightly enough to express how serious she was as she held the girl’s gaze.

“Vanaka. I am not going to hurt you. But you are hiding something. Tell me.”

The girl attempted a smile, but could evidently tell how nervous it looked and abandoned the effort. Instead she put a hand on Saketa’s outstretched arm, as if for assurance.

“Look... you have been so wonderful,” she said, staring back into Saketa’s eyes. “Let us just continue on.”

Now that she was on alert for it, Saketa felt the compulsion hit. It would be so easy to just do as the girl said. Just continue on and forget about this whole thing. But she had the discipline to overcome it.

“Vanaka: Stop,” she said firmly. “Stop and tell me what is going on.”

A look of panic came over the girl. Then she gripped Saketa’s arm more tightly and yanked her in with shocking strength. Her other arm wrapped around Saketa’s torso and Vanaka’s mouth went to her throat before Saketa could react.

She felt a sting, immediately followed by an odd jolt. It felt like an adrenaline spike in reverse, paralysing rather than strengthening. She tried to pull loose but her body would barely react and Vanaka’s grip was like steel, far beyond what her thin frame indicated.

An involuntary gasp leapt out of Saketa’s mouth as Vanaka drank, and Saketa went more or less limp. The girl lowered them both down to their knees. Saketa’s entire body was buzzing with a sensation she didn’t quite understand, and Vanaka made soft little noises. The wave flooding Saketa’s body threatened to overwhelm her mind. Her will to resist was going as limp as her body. She was forgetting where she was and what was going on. In a moment or two she would be utterly helpless.

But she fought back against the encroaching oblivion. The mental discipline instilled in her since childhood let her power through long enough to call on strength and drive her fist into Vanaka’s lower back. The girl gasped and lost her grip, and Saketa flung her away. Vanaka rolled on the ground and landed in a heap. She lay still, fighting for breath after an inhumanly strong blow to the kidney.

Saketa’s mind returned a bit and she rose. She swayed on her feet; it felt rather like getting up quickly after a lengthy hot bath. Her body just wanted to lie down quietly, but she wouldn’t let it. She continued fighting for clarity and touched the side of her neck. Her fingers came away with a little bit of blood on them.

She took a shaky step towards Vanaka. The girl turned a bit to look her way, but let out another gasp at the pain of the movement.

“You... didn’t... need to do that...” Vanaka groaned.

“You were drinking my blood.”

“Just a little,” the girl forced out, then hesitated. “I-I know how that sounds. I... look... I am sorry! I just panicked! Saketa, I-”

Saketa drew her sword. Vanaka tried to shrink away but was simply in too much pain.

“Wait!” she gasped. “I’m sorry-”

“Precaution,” Saketa muttered, still feeling weak, and held the tip close to the prone girl. “Just a precaution,” she repeated as she continued the fight to get her bearings. It was as if she was suddenly aware of her entire vascular system.

Vanaka took four breaths, each one slightly deeper than the previous, and seemed to be fighting a battle of her own. She calmed somewhat and looked firmly at Saketa.

“Put the sword away,” she said. “Saketa, please put the sword away.”

Saketa’s arm moved for a moment. That strange drugging effect churning through her system wanted her to obey without thinking. But she did think. She had no intention of stabbing the girl as she lay helpless on the ground. She probably did want to put the sword away. But where was the dividing line between her own decision and the compulsion?

Unsure of herself, she compromised by letting the weapon hang by her side. It didn’t look like she needed it anyway.

“I-” Vanaka began.

“You are a Vylak,” Saketa said as her thoughts steadily cleared up. “Exotic human subtype.”

Vanaka’s eyes went wide in alarm.

“You do not generate enough blood,” Saketa continued. “So you need to take it from others. And you... have some sort of venom in your saliva. Among other things it can delete a few minutes of memory.”

“That is all I wanted,” Vanaka pleaded. “I was... I was never going to hurt you,” she went on, with enough sincerity to make Saketa inclined to believe her. “I do not hurt people.”

Saketa looked at the blood on her fingertips.

“That’s... because you threw me away,” Vanaka said, looking embarrassed. “Normally the holes would basically seal. Look; people want to kill my kind. We are supposed to be discreet, and not reveal our communities.”

“I am a Kalero Warden,” Saketa said. “I do not judge by origin. Only behaviour.”

She went over her history with this girl, going back to the beginning.

“You bit me as I slept, correct?” she said. “In that homeless camp, before you woke me up? You wanted to compel my cooperation.”

Vanaka bit her own lower lip. Now that she was watching for it Saketa did notice that her eyeteeth were on the sharp side. The girl took a deep breath.

“People treat us like monsters,” she said with emotion in her voice. “Murderers. Life-stealing fiends. The last slaughter wasn’t even that long ago. But we are just people.”

She awkwardly sat up, gazing earnestly into Saketa’s eyes with an air of desperation.

“Look: I am strong and I have sedating venom in my bite. But I am only sixteen years old, I am just a student, this planet is going to Hell and I am very, very afraid. I just want to make it home, to my parents and my little siblings and my friends. I just wanted you to protect me.”

She exhaled and looked downwards for a breath, then looked up again.

“I am sorry I grabbed you like that. I just wanted to smooth things over. I did not lie to you about anything. My father is waiting for me on Xivioth, and it makes me sick to think how worried he must be. Please don’t abandon me out here. Please?”

Saketa was mostly recovered by now, and with it came clarity.

“You can stop pleading. I am not going to abandon you.”

She sheathed the sword.

“But do not bite me again. It will be easier for both of us if I do not have to tie you up and carry you over my shoulder.”

That got a nervous little titter out of Vanaka. Saketa took a deep breath and centred herself. Then she held out her hand. Vanaka took it, looking more like a skittish kitten than a predator. The girl groaned a bit as Saketa helped her to her feet.

They stood in front of one another for a few silent seconds.

“We ought to talk,” Saketa then said. She glanced at the tunnel. “Out of the rain,” she added, as the first drops began to fall.