The landscape west of Landee consisted of miles of rocks. Some were hundreds of feet tall, and the rest ranged in size from fifty feet to the gravel size rocks that lay on the ground everywhere. A paved roadway ran toward the cliffs, winding around the largest rocks, and between piles of others, that had been pushed out of the way during construction. The road was forty feet wide and had fallen into an advanced state of disrepair, there were continuous spider webs of cracks large enough that the team members found themselves having to be careful to step over or around them. A steady light rain fell the first day of their journey and as darkness settled on the team they sought shelter under the overhanging side of one of the huge rocks. For dinner they ate cold rations and went to sleep without even attempting to light a fire.

The next morning they rose before it was fully light, ate quickly and resumed their journey. They walked west, taking turns carrying the boxes of ammo and other supplies. Roquette had Larry practice by shooting one of the small rifles they had obtained in the Maze. Fink talked pretty much all of the time. Telling fantastic stories of his adventures and the people he had rescued, raptors he had faced, mutants fought, and places he had visited in the past. By the end of the second day Telini commented that he thought Fink was stuck in a loop, because he was beginning to hear the same stories over and over again.

Early on during the third day they reached the base of the great cliff. It loomed over the plain, rising thousands of feet above their heads. Rainwater dripped from every surface, collecting into rivulets and occasionally small waterfalls. The roadway along the base of the cliff was in worse shape than before, with rocks of all sizes imbedded in its surface and potholes where other rocks had hit it and bounced away. The team walked in a long single file, fifteen feet between each other and glanced up often to see if any rocks were falling. Despite the condition of the road, they made good time, covering almost thirty miles before they called it a day and settled under a rock the size of a building. Again they ate their rations cold and afterwards they prepared to crawl into their damp sleeping bags. Derrik had the first watch of the night and walked out to survey the area.

“Lieutenant?” Larry’s voice was quiet, but clear.

“Yes Larry,” Lewis answered, thinking that Larry had been more quiet than usual that day.

“I finally figured it out,” Larry said, with an edge of excitement in his voice.

“Figured what out?” Lewis asked.

“Well, when we were on the ship I kept thinking those uniforms looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite think why,” Larry looked like he was still puzzling something out in his head.

“What uniforms?” Telini asked suddenly, causing Larry to jump a little.

Lewis held up a hand to silence Telini. “Go on,” he said gently to Larry.

“Your green uniforms,” Larry said. “I just realized something, it isn’t the color of the jacket that counts, is it?”

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Everyone except Fink was staring at Larry, who was beginning to look quite nervous.

“I think you should tell me what you’re getting at,” Lewis said to Larry.

“Well, just now I was looking at your longcoat, it’s different than everybody else’s, right? And I realized that it’s the patches that distinguish who you are,” Larry said slowly, looking like he might be regretting having opened his mouth. “Am I right?”

“Yes,” Lewis said. “You used the word familiar. So, did you see some patches like these before you met us?”

“Yeah, but,” Larry said. “At the time I didn’t know I was supposed to look at the patches because the jacket looked different. It had patterns kinda like these ones,” he extended his hand and swept it to encompass all the Romeo team members. “But in brown and tan on a light background.”

“Sounds like chocolate chip,” Telini put in.

“Can you describe the patches for me?” Lewis asked.

“They looked the same as yours,” Larry told him. “Except for that one,” Larry pointed at Lewis’ name tag. “They’re different on all of yours too. The one with the red stripes and the one with the wings, they were there.”

“Where did you see this jacket?” Roquette inquired.

“The masters were taking some of us to Hillar, and one of the boys showed it to me,” Larry said.

“What do you mean, masters?” Gomez asked.

“Where did he get it?” Telini asked.

“What’s that boy’s name?” Roquette asked.

Larry looked from one person to another, and Lewis saw panic set in, in full force. Larry jumped and scrambled, bent on escape, but Fink stepped down on the boy’s calf pinning him to the ground. He let out a howl, but dropped onto the gravel and was still. Lewis helped him sit against the rock, gave him a drink of water, and asked if he was feeling better. When Larry had caught his breath and nodded Lewis explained that it was very important to them that they locate the original owner of the jacket. In order to do that they needed the whole story from him.

Larry told them a tale about being held by slavers, he and several of his cell mates were being marched cross-country to Hillar to be sold. They had been walking for three days when they were jumped by a reaper. The guards wounded the reaper so badly that it died, but only three of the boys and none of the guards were still alive at that point. The boys searched the bodies of the guards and found weapons, as well as the keys to their shackles. Larry picked up a knife and the other two boys took some guns. One night, after wandering around lost for a couple of days, one of Larry’s companions showed him the jacket. The boy claimed that a lady, who was also a prisoner, gave it to him after he had been kind to her. He said that he had sat up all night with her after she received a nasty beating, wrapping her up in a blanket and giving her water. Larry’s other companion died in a gun battle with some pursuing slavers, and he lost track of the boy with the jacket when they were separated in the battle. Larry was found by some Hagen near Hillar and then he went on to Port Mist, where he survived by begging on the street. He didn’t know how long he had been there before Lewis had grabbed him.

They ate in silence, even Fink didn’t talk, with each lost in their own thoughts.

Finally, Roquette voiced everyone’s concerns. “You realize what this means. We have a soldier out there, probably an airborne ranger, in a slave camp. She’s been captured and beaten. I’ll bet she has no clue where she is or how she got there. We’ve got to find her.”

“This won’t stand,” Lewis answered. “But we have to finish the mission and we’re not splitting up the team. I think this supports Mack’s assertion that we need more resources. We need to cover more miles, so we can get back to Ascore as soon as possible. Get some sleep.”