"They're alive!" Emma opened her eyes joyfully, relaxing from her lotus position on the semi-comfortable boulder. "They're alive! I felt them!"

"Knew it." Shalimar hadn't. She had also refused to admit that she hadn't. "Are they okay?"

"I'm not sure. I felt Adam, and Jesse. Brennan's thoughts were very faint."

"Which means—?"

Emma shrugged. "Anything, or nothing at all. This is not an exact science, Shal."

"Which, I suppose, also means that you have no idea where they are?" Shalimar was still thinking of the thousand square miles to cover.

Emma looked unhappy. "I can't even narrow it down to this continent."

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Brennan staggered. Adam steadied him, using a sturdy tree for additional support.

"Take a break, Jesse," he called ahead to the molecular.

Jesse trotted back, trying to hold back his dismay. It was the third time already this morning alone, but Brennan was all in. Jesseruefully thoughtthat they couldn't havetraveled more than two miles from the crash site, and certainly nowhere near anything resembling civilization. The brush was thick and made travel difficult even under the best of conditions. Trees ascending to the sky all aroundturned it all but impossible to see more than twenty feet in any direction and he doubted that he'd be able to see a paved road until they were on top of it.

There was no help for it; Jesse hooked his hand under Brennan's arm, assisting Adam to slide the man down to the ground before he fell and ruined all of Adam's handiwork on his arm from the night before. The make-shift splint looked sloppy and painful, but if it helped… "Morphine?" Jesse asked, raising his eyebrows.

Adam shook his head grimly. "Better not," was his opinion. "We've got a long way to go, and we may still be out in this wilderness for another night. I've got one dose left; I need to save it for tonight. Without it, Brennan will never sleep, and we'll never be able to drag him back to his feet the next morning if he doesn't rest."

"Second that," Brennan groaned, slumping against the tree where they put him. "Dammit." Whether it was a specific complaint about his arm, or a generalized complaint about the situation over all, no one asked. It didn't matter. But he summoned enough energy to fix both of them with a determined eye. "Listen, guys. You're never going to make it down this mountain with me falling down every other step. The two of you go on ahead. Come back with help."

Adam shook his head. "Not a chance, Brennan. You wouldn't last one night; the wolves would have you for a midnight snack."

"But—"

"Listen, Bren." Jesse stretched himself out beside the elemental, looking for all the world as though he was out on a gentle hike with chilled champagne and strawberries waiting for him by the brook over the next hillock. It was an act, but it was a good one. "I can't afford to get rid of you. Whenever you're around, you make me look good."

That drew a snort and a wince from Brennan. He started to aim a punch in Jesse's direction, and gave it up in favor of resting. Adam smiled crookedly; the two were closer than brothers. "Relax for a bit," he directed. "I'll look around. Maybe I can spot a town in the distance, or a road. Something to give us a direction to go in."

Brennan nodded wearily. "And a place to camp." He jerked his thumb—the good one—up toward the sky. "We may be in for another soaker."

Adam surveyed the thick clouds rolling in sourly. "I think you're right. I won't be long. You rest." He caught Jesse's eye. Watch him.

I will.

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Shalimar scanned the topo maps, looking for a clue. So far there was nothing. The trio of men had given them precious little to go on, only that they had been forced off their flight plan and were somewhere else. She and Emma had traced the route that the Helix was expected to take, but knew that that would only eliminate part of the area to be searched. The Helix had been blown off course even beyond what Brennan had reported, and chances were that the storm had only blown them further south. Still, it did cut down the sheer acreage to be searched. All they had to do was to survey everything south of here. And East. And West. If that didn't work, then they'd head North. Shalimar stabbed at the offending spot in dismay.

Emma hustled up, a bulging pack over her shoulder and another one dragged at her side. The jeep was parked behind her, gassed up and ready for a jaunt into the backwoods, although Emma carefully parked the vehicle out of sight of the helpful park service clerk inside the tourist center. The man would certainly, they knew, come out to helpfully object to their plans if he should catch wind of them and refuse to let two such lovely and fragile ladies go out into the nasty bushes where they might break a fingernail.

Then they would be forced to deck him. For his own good, of course.

"Got everything?"

"Everything I could think of," Emma replied. "Shalimar, how are we going to search more than a thousand miles? People walk that in a year. We've only got days to find them before they perish from exposure. Winter is coming in."

"Got a better idea?" Shalimar hefted one of the packs. "I'm open to suggestions." She jerked her thumb at the topographic maps. "The wind currents through these mountains are treacherous enough that nobody can get through them. Even the big airlines simply go up high to avoid the problem. We're not going to be able to spot them from the air. I'm hoping that we can get lucky by narrowing down our search area to the most likely spot. And that we get real lucky by being right." She glanced around. "Let's move out, before Ricky the Desk Ranger decides to look for us and won't let us break trail."

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"We're being watched," Brennan mumbled, stumbling in Adam's wake. He paused to lean against a tall pine, not out of breath but out of stamina. He silently cursed the injury that was causing him to be a drag on the other two, wishing there was some way to speed up the pace of the group.

"You're just paranoid." Jesse came up behind, ready to catch the man if he fell down. Again.

"No, really," Brennan insisted. He let his head fall against the rough bark, telling himself that his arm didn't throb, that he didn't have the mother of all headaches, that this was really just a simple mile long stroll in the forest. That Shalimar would have fresh lemonade and a hot shower waiting at the end of it. Or coffee. Yeah, coffee. The mere thought of the steaming mug sounded good against the oncoming cold in the high mountains. Emma would do coffee. Bless her.

Adam too closed in. "You'll feel better tomorrow," he promised. Brennan summoned the best smile he could manage. It looked pitiful. "No, really," Adam insisted. "This was the worst of it. We'll find shelter for the night—"

"And soon," Jesse put in, pointing at the dark and ominous clouds drifting in.

"—and soon." Adam accepted the addition, "and after one more night of sleep your arm will feel much better. The swelling will go down, the bones will begin to knit, the pain will begin to go away. It's why I held out on the morphine this morning. You'll thank me later."

"Right." Brennan pointed out past them. "Tell him that."

Not easy to see in the darkening afternoon light. The figure appeared vaguely man-like, short and stocky, and covered with fur. The man, or whoever it was, was wearing a shaggy fur coat that they could barely see in the distance.

"Hey!" Adam yelled. "Help! Help us! We're lost!"

There was no doubt that the man had seen them. There was also no doubt that he turned and left the trio behind to perish in the wilderness.

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"This time I'm going for warmth," Jesse announced, dumping a pile of brush in front of the impromptu shelter that they erected. It was much like the first night; Jesse had spotted a grove of trees bent over in some storm, and he and Adam piled brush on top until they were reasonably certain that it would keep out the impending rain. It definitely blocked the wind; that they both could tell.

Jesse took their new home a step further, building a small circle of rocks and acquiring a small stash of wood for a fire. It was not an easy chore; most of the potential firewood had been soaked from the night before. But Jesse had persevered, determined to keep Brennan warmer than they had the previous night. Adam hadn't objected; there was a very real possibility of pneumonia, not only for Brennan but for all of them, soaked to the skin as they were. Another lean-to would protect their fiery investment from the impending rain predicted for tonight, or so they hoped. As long as the wind didn't drive the water droplets in the wrong direction, they would be fine.

Brennan too took part, refusing Adam's morphine until Jesse had completed his task. "How else are you going to light this fire?" he asked reasonably. "I know damn well you don't carry a cigarette lighter. You don't smoke. Gonna rub two sticks together?"

"Maybe I'll ask your disappearing friend," Jesse grinned, more satisfied now that he had Brennan down on the ground and about to become comfortable. There was also a certain relief: it was tough to fall off the ground, and Brennan had already demonstrated his ability to topple over while standing upright. The silver survival blanket was tucked in around the elemental, and he and Adam intended to crawl in to add body heat as soon as possible.

"Not my friend," Brennan grumbled good-naturedly. "Come on; give me some tinder to work with. Something dry." Grateful to be able to contribute something to the survival effort, Brennan had a small flame going in moments, a blaze that Jesse coaxed into a stronger fire by feeding it small bits of tinder until it was crackling merrily in the dark, sending up smoke and also leftover steam from the rain droplets.

Adam trotted up, bare-chested despite the cold mountain air. The other two stared at his antics until their mentor spoke. "Raspberries," he offered with a grin, indicating the fruit that he had collected using his shirt as a basket. "Not exactly four star fare, but better than nothing."

"Way better," Jesse acknowledged. He picked one small and red fruit up in his fingers, regarding it as though it was a glass of wine. "Tart, yet sweet. Piquant, yet full-bodied. Small, yet delightfully filling."

"Hah." Brennan broke off his teammate's antics. "Filling for you, maybe. Me, I'm a growing boy. Give."

They tucked Brennan in for the night with berries and morphine, feeling better in body than any of them had in twenty-four hours. Adam came out of the shelter to stand beside Jesse, watching the dark clouds drift past a sliver of a moon, the clouds growing taller and more threatening. "I estimate sometime around three AM it'll start raining. Maybe snowing."

"Better than last night," was Jesse's opinion. He indicated the sleeping figure inside. "How is he?"

"Also better than last night, although I won't be satisfied until I can get him to some real medical care. As far as I can tell, the arm is set properly but unless you've suddenly developed X-ray vision I can't tell for sure."

"Sorry. Not part of the mutant repertoire." And—"You think we're going to make it out of here, Adam?"

"Of course," Adam said stoutly. "Shalimar and Emma are searching, we're making progress downhill toward civilization. Trust me; Brennan will feel a lot better in the morning, even if he can't use his arm. We'll go much faster tomorrow, maybe even avoid the tripping and falling down parts. Why wouldn't we get out of this mess?"

"That guy we saw earlier," Jesse mused. "I wonder who he was."

"What you're really wondering is why he wouldn't help us," Adam corrected. "Three people, hurt and lost in the woods, begging for help, and that man turns and leaves us. Not exactly the most charitable of actions."

"You got me there," Jesse acknowledged. "Not something I could have done. I'd have at least found out what the story was, to see if I could help."

"Ah, but you're the upstanding citizen type." Adam wagged his finger at Jesse. "Not everyone is Jesse Kilmartin, Defender of the Weak."

"Adam…!" Jesse felt himself blushing.

"No, our mystery man was probably some hermit type who wanted to keep it that way. How many people live out here, with nothing and no one around? He saw us, and ran." Adam shrugged. "We're no worse off. At least he wasn't a rogue mutant out to get us."

"Wouldn't that be just ducky." Jesse nodded in agreement. He yawned. It wasn't late, but it was dark and the day had been strenuous. "Let's turn in. You want me to take the first watch?"

Adam shook his head. "Don't bother. We both desperately need sleep, and anything wild will give the fire a wide berth. We'll both hit the hay."

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The night time was the best time for a psionic. There were fewer thoughts to guard against, fewer barriers to be breached, fewer deliberate thoughts of anger to defend her soul from. Emma drifted aimlessly out of her body, seeking nothing and everything.

She had a goal in mind but, with the perversity of the spirit, to pursue her target was to be swept far away. For those who sought answers, the psychic Overworld was an exercise in frustration but Emma, and those like her with the spiritual fortitude to be patient, it was a haven.

Her body was safe and warm in the tiny tent that Shalimar had insisted on packing along. The feral would have been perfectly happy to perch in a tree for the night but, mindful of both her companion and her quarry, elected to bring protection from the elements. A large canvas could serve many purposes: a tent for the night, or a lining for a stretcher if they found the remainder of their team in a less than mobile condition. There was a multitude of things in the oversized pack that Shalimar so effortlessly carried on her back, things that they both hoped that they wouldn't need.

Emma gently touched the feral mind. Shalimar was patrolling their campsite; she knew that Emma was making this journey, and was determined to protect the physical body as she couldn't the psychic. Shalimar's mind was quick and open to the night, inhaling the scents and the sounds of the night. Like a night hunter, Shalimar didn't rely on her eyesight to bring her information. The owl hooted in the distance—unimportant at the moment. The squeak of the mouse as the fox caught its dinner, and the snarl of a coyote as it missed the rabbit that it had intended for its own meal: all part of the environment. They maintained a hunter quiet, but to Shalimar the scent of the wolf pack a mile away was as clear as if the canines had approached with gifts in hand. All of secondary importance. There were no people about, that Emma determined from Shalimar's satisfied thoughts. People were the dangerous ones.

But Emma shared the undercurrent of worry with the feral. After that one Mayday, there had been no signal from the men of Mutant X, no true trace of them. It was as if the Helix had been beamed away to an unknown planet with alien technology.

Emma knew better. She had touched their minds shortly after, in the middle of the night. Adam's dreams had been filled with signals as strange as any alien culture, Jesse's more straightforward—and embarrassing as only a healthy man's could be to a woman peeking in. Brennan had been difficult to contact, and Emma feared for him although with both Adam and Jesse so calm there couldn't be too much wrong. Damaged, then, but not in danger of dying. At least, not yet. The mountains were cold and wild. Death could still be a very real possibility for her teammates.

Another night, another psychic call. Adam, she knew, would be expecting it, would try to leave his mind as open to her as he could. It wasn't easy; by the very nature of the man he was closed and secretive. The essence of psionics was to remain open to possibilities; the essence of science was to seek clear answers. Opposite ends of the spectrum. Adam would be easy to read, but difficult to understand.

Yes, there he was, sleeping, his mind bright with ideas and thoughts tumbling over themselves. Emma regretted being an empath, only able to feel emotions, not able to read the brilliance that swirled in those neurons. He was well; not comfortable, but well. Emma tried to determine something about his surroundings, something that would give her a clue as to their whereabouts, but there was nothing. There were only thoughts, and few emotions. Emma moved on.

And there was Jesse, his dreams again enough to make her redden. It wasn't clear if he was dreaming of her, of Shalimar, or of some other girl he'd known. It was very possible that in his dream world it was some idealized version of all three. Emma grimaced mentally. If there was any thoughts of where he was physically, Emma wasn't going to be able to get to it. Not through that fog of romantic dust.

Last hope: Brennan. Yes, there he was on the psychic plane, but his feelings were sluggish and dull. Emma finally recognized the sensation: drugged. While that made it easier to slip inside his mind, it also made it difficult to determine anything else. Brennan drowsily resisted any suggestion to go anywhere in his mind but a comfortable bed. There was an undercurrent of pain, and Emma verified her initial impression from last night, that Brennan had been injured when the Helix sent out its mayday. How bad it was, she couldn't tell but again: if it had been serious, both Adam and Jesse wouldn't have been sleeping so peacefully themselves. Emma reluctantly withdrew.

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Nudge.

Nudge, nudge.

Jesse grumbled, and hauled on the blanket. It was cold, his semi-conscious told him in no uncertain terms, and the blanket that he clutched was the only thing between the frigid air and the shirt that was rapidly turning to shreds in the elements.

Nudge. Sharp poke.

"Hey!" Jesse sat bolt up straight.

Only to find six men with spears aimed at him and his teammates.

'Men' was almost a misnomer. There were two eyes and a mouth for each but after that the resemblance to humanity ended.

Two noses were better described as snouts, perfect for dogs and one would have appeared at home on a grizzly bear. That one boasted pointed ears that also could have come from the grizzly and, Jesse noted with dismay, he had a similar body structure: huge. Yet another resembled a wolf, and the third went for hawk. The shaggy coat of last night had been no coat; at least, not a coat in the usual sense. They all wore fur coats, attached fur coats, coats that tended to shed stray hairs in the spring. All of them, Jesse realized, had once been men. It was if it was a feral mutation run wild in several different directions, and every oneof the directions looked scary.

Hawk poked him again with the spear, nudging him awake.

"I'm up!" Jesse said indignantly. "Quit it."

Hawk poked at Adam. "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to get out," Jesse replied. "Leave him alone."

"What—?" Adam came suddenly awake, only to find the same spears located less than two inches from his nose. He froze.

"That one." Hawk indicated the still drugged and sleeping Brennan. "He's one of us. I saw him last night, making fire from his fingers. Wake him."

"Do as he says, Jesse," Adam quietly instructed. These people weren't going to take no for an answer. Jesse shook Brennan's shoulder.

"Um."

"Brennan, wake up."

"Go away."

Hawk poked.

"Ow!" Brennan sat up sharply. "Hey!" Then: "Huh?"

"You're all coming with us," Hawk informed them.

"Hey, wait a minute—" Adam started to object.

"I am not certain whether to kill you or not, norm," Hawk told him coldly. "It will take very little to push me in either direction. Shut up and walk."