The dawn rose red and angry, the sun barely peering through the darkness.

The dust let only slight views of it, but where the sky could be seen, it was the same red all over, even well past dawn.

The smell of smoke hung heavily in the air, and aside from soft talking between the !A!amo, there was only the occasional cough.

"Impacts have set fires to our North and West," Kai told him.

"Is the route to our escape ship still clear?" he asked.

"For now," she said. "That's going to be our last update from above, the network is going down soon."

Y had sent them a message through the drone earlier, wishing them good luck and skill, as well as a reminder to drink plenty of water.

"And move quickly," he added. "Time is growing perilously short."

The !A!amo were experts at packing, though many were bringing more than they'd really need; tools, food, even some tents and ropes. Things that would slow them down, but they argued that they would need to rest and eat along the way.

Brooks could not argue the point; they would not consider anything else.

Worst of all, he could not find a few of them.

The idea that some might leave, refusing to go, had occurred to him, but the missing were Diver, Tracker, and Fast of Wing, leaving their families behind. When he asked, they only shrugged. "He had something important to do," Young Mother told him of her husband. Picky Little One squirmed in her arms. She seemed scared, and so Brooks stopped a moment to talk to and play with her, giving her a !Xomyi-safe treat before moving off.

The reason for their disappearances soon became clear, as Diver returned, leading a group of !Xomyi.

Brooks had never met these ones, and when they spoke his system could only pick up some of what they said.

"We hear," the newcomer said. "Much danger. We come. We live."

Brooks was shocked. "Are they from another clan?" he asked.

"They are related clan," Diver told him. "We meet and arrange marriages and news. They are our neighbors, and I did not wish them to die."

There were only six with him, Brooks noted. "Is this all of them?"

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"All who would believe," Diver said with a shrug. "Those who doubt will die."

Brooks heard the callousness, but at this point he could understand it. Survival in brutal conditions required a frank coldness, an acceptance of death.

They should have left by now, but they were still awaiting Tracker and Fast of Wing. The latter returned next, leading eight !Xomyi, again from another clan, who he called !ugon, that lived nearby and were friendly to the !A!amo.

The extended nature of their society was something he had known to be a fact, but still it surprised him. These !Xomyi were coming solely because of the trust the !A!amo had in him. It spoke much to how they viewed the world and the nature of trustworthiness.

It was early afternoon when Tracker returned. He seemed exhausted, having gone the furthest afield to find this last group. There were thirteen of them, dressed distinctly from the others, and from them he sensed caution and controlled aggression. They eyed the !A!amo and other groups carefully, but they did not overtly threaten anyone.

"These are the !y!ik," Tracker told him. "They are sometimes friends, sometimes not. But they are of the tribe of my wife and I could not forget them."

Brooks looked to the group, who regarded him with suspicion. "Welcome," he said. "I will lead you to safety."

"The world burns," one of them, an older one with more decorations that may have marked him as a spiritual figure, said. "We are skeptical there is safety to be had."

"There is," Brooks told him. "But we must hurry."

With the members of these three other tribes, they had grown from twenty-five to fifty-two.

"Can we fit them all?" Kai asked him carefully.

"Yes," he said. "The shuttle can handle fifty-five, counting us. We'll just make it."

They set out; he had feared, with all the newcomers, that their start would be staggered, their movements slow.

But these were nomadic peoples, and once they started, they were moving quickly.

Brooks took the lead, with Kai as the rearguard.

They were moving faster than anticipated, but not fast enough to make up for the delays they'd had in setting out. The red sky turned darker and darker, eventually hidden under smoky clouds.

Nothing big had hit yet, Brooks knew. Once it did, they'd feel it. Its impact might even be the impact, the one that would wipe all life out.

They'd have a little time once it hit. Not long, a few minutes if they were lucky and it was far enough away.

"Craton," he messaged, hoping to get a response. None came.

Part of him was concerned, the Craton could be in trouble. But a communications blackout was expected. At this point, their entire satellite network would be in shambles from the moon debris.

Looking up at where Omen, the Sky Child, should be, tried to picture it in his mind's eye. Would its calving and cracking be visible from here?

They had very little time.

The ground rumbled; something large had hit. It was not near, or it was not that big - yet.

"As fast as we can move," he told them all.

They were not the only ones aware of the changes. Animals were crashing through the jungle near them, and Kai kept her rifle ready.