"Captain," Kai's voice came. "You're wandering. Do you need some help?"

There was a pause before he answered. "No," he told her.

Kai sighed. Brooks's moodiness was always a factor, but being down here seemed to have made it worse.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I needed to take a walk," Brooks replied shortly. Then, after a pause he spoke again. "Do you know where there might be red ochre around here?"

"What?"

"Iron-rich mud," he said.

"Scanner drones have marked some out, actually. The iron is detected easily from its magnetic resonance. Why?"

"Just send me the location."

"Should I go and be in contact with the !A!amo while you're on your search?" she asked, letting a little exasperation through in her voice.

"That's a good idea. You should be spending time with them, too. Just bear in mind that they're upset from the death of Hard Biter."

Kai considered that. "Are you upset?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied. "Losing a friend hurts."

A friend, she noted.

It was natural to get close to these people, she thought. Necessary, even. She hadn't spent as much time with them as Brooks had, but she already got along with them.

What was going to happen, though, if when it was time to leave, the !A!amo refused to go?

She knew what it was like to lose your charges. To lose your team.

All those years ago, she'd lost both. It had been determined not to be her fault, she had made the correct calls.

It didn't make it any easier to deal with, she thought. She could tell herself that every night - for years she had done just that.

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But it still hurt.

And she wondered if it would be the same here.

Discipline was a tool that needed to be kept honed, she reminded herself.

Shoving her self-pity away, she knew she could not let those shadows of the past dim the present. Get too desperate to hold onto what was before you, you'd lose it even easier.

The !A!amo wouldn't understand it if she became clingy. She had to keep her focus on the mission at hand.

She rose, slinging her rifle across her back. She'd set her drones to study every aspect of the attack by the Day Stalker. They would be watching for them in the future with better results.

Next time, she would be ready, aimed and in position to pull the trigger on the thing before it hurt one of these people.

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The !A!amo were gathered in a cluster around a tree.

The tree was near their camp, it was a short thing, its branches spreading out only three meters from the ground instead of the dozen or more from most of the tall trees of the jungle. This made it special to the !A!amo.

At its base, a pit had been dug, the size and shape of a grave.

It was an empty, lonely hole, Brooks thought.

Long ago, humans had interred their own dead in graves like this. There were few other options - cremation too difficult without a proper oven. A sky burial - leaving the body exposed to the elements - was an option, but rarely chosen.

"Return to the Earth, old friend, wherever you are," Knows the World said.

One of the women let out a howl, Young Mother. She threw herself down, and with the motion flung a handful of small shells into the hole.

They were hundreds of kilometers from the coast, Brooks thought. These shells must have been traded for from other groups and made their way here. They were one of the few things besides food that was of value.

Now given to the dead.

Others threw their own gifts into the hole. Some, carved stone heads for spears. Others, leather bags or thongs.

It went around the circle, until it came to him.

The !A!amo watched him, pensively. There was a tension.

He sensed Diver next to him stirring. They did not know if he knew what to do, if he would partake, and it made them uneasy.

He stepped forward.

"I knew you a short time, Friend," Brooks said. "I give this, to remember you; the blood of the many animals you hunted. May your spear ever bite deep."

He threw the compacted sticks of red ochre into the hole.

There was a feeling of surprise through the group. For a moment he feared he had done something taboo. Perhaps red ochre was not for the dead?

But the moment passed, and in its wake, he sensed relief from the !Xomyi group.

Diver stepped up next, offering his own gift.

When they had come all the way around, back to Knows the World, there seemed an end to it. Members of the group began to drift away, talking lightly - but most going back to mundane acts.

They felt it just as much as anyone else, he thought. As much as a human or Dessei or Sepht mourned the death of a friend.

But life did not end with the death of someone else. They still had to eat, to live.

Knows the World was the only one still near the grave.

Brooks approached him.

He saw Diver watching him, wondering again if it was best to just leave the wise man to his grieving. But he had to take this chance.

Diver did not move to stop him.

"I am sorry for your loss," he said to Knows the World.

The !Xomyi did not look up. "I have had seven sons and two daughters. I have laid five sons and one daughter to sleep in the earth. All who died but this one never lived long enough to take their adult names."

He shook his head. "I once felt blessed with so many children, but now I feel it was a curse. Losing them is hard and I hurt."

Brooks was shocked at that death rate; six out of nine dead?

"No words are strong enough to match your loss," Brooks said. "But I say anyway that I feel sorrow for your pain."

Knows the World's head inclined slightly in acknowledgement.

"This son was not born to me but he became mine, my eldest son in whom I was very proud. Now, he has gone to the Sky Child. He gazes down on us and I hope he smiles."

Brooks looked up at the moon. It seemed still and harmless now.

"Sometimes danger comes from unexpected places," Brooks said.

Knows the World peered at him, but said nothing in return.

"There may yet be dangers to come," Brooks said.

"There are always dangers," Knows the World said, almost puzzled.

"If something comes that threatens all your people," Brooks said, "I may be able to help."

For a moment, he thought he had made an inroad. Knows the World looked at him, and there was a hint of understanding in his eyes.

But then it closed off. "I have lost too much today. Thank you for your gift. My son would have appreciated the red ochre, you did him great honor."

He then closed his eyes, putting his arms and wings over his head.

Brooks knew the conversation was ended, and he turned away.