Earth 1/Earth 266
Ray was chomping at the bit.
''We're going to get her back'' Kendra tried to reassure him, while packing for might not be a short trip to Earth 266. ''Do you have everything you're going to need?'' She was glancing doubtfully at Ray's nearly empty backpack.
''All I want is Nora'' he moaned, but he did start shovelling extra items into his pack.
A few feet away, Carter and Leonard were finishing their own preparations. Sara stood by the doorway, arms folded, a half-frown on her face. She wanted Nora rescued as much as anyone else, but she also had other concerns. And there was this alien presence on Mars, together with Earth's reaction to it. Make it quick, guys, she thought. She'd already had a private word with Kendra.
''Try to make sure he doesn't overdo it'' she'd asked her friend.
Kendra agreed, although not sure how she would actually manage that.
Finally - Ray thought - they were ready. Nora had been on her own over there for far too long - yes, she was resourceful, had her telekinesis, her magic, her combat skills - but Earth 266 was a bad place to be alone on. Scavengers, Savage's exiles, wildlife, climate change events - he had to force himself to stop thinking about those things. They were going to find her, he vowed.
They breached through to Joe West's old settlement, to get their bearings.
''There are lions in the current U.S. Joe had told them, on a brief trip to Greenworld. ''Zoo escapees. Look further south.''
''She's a long way off - that way.'' Leonard probed for her. ''Doesn't seem to be in any trouble.''
''I'll go first'' Ray decided. Within seconds, he was in the ATOM suit and soaring over the landscape.
Find a landmark that we can use to breach ro.
Yes, I know, he thought back impatiently.
But he was tempted just to keep flying around and searching until he found her. It took an effort on his part - and a few mind nudges - before he did pick out a distinctively shaped outcropping as a reference point. Leonard locked onto him, breached and Carter and Kendra followed him through.
''She's out there'' Leonard told them.
The four of them looked out over the huge grassy plain that stretched to the south and west.
''Our turn'' Kendra said, remembering what Sara had asked her to do.
The three fliers took off, following separate courses across the grasslands. Looking for a lone woman, but also showing themselves so she could spot them. They flew back and forth for long minutes.
Carter, Kendra, bear right. She's seen a distant figure but doesn't know which of you it is.
They both turned sharply in that direction, zooming over the flat grasslands.
It's Kendra. She's -
Gone silent. One moment, she'd been sending him an image of Kendra flying directly towards her - then something odd - she'd used her magic for some reason, he guessed. She'd hidden herself - or something like that - - from him as well as whatever danger she'd spotted.
Uh-oh. That was Kendra. Looks like a gang of scavengers, with some of Savage's folk thrown in for good measure. They have guns and they look mean. They're setting up camp -must be fairly near where she is.
She's using magic to hide. I can't reach her.
Ray swore.
X
Wrapped in something like a cocoon of magic, she lay flat and she waited. She was dimly aware of the noisy human presences perhaps a quarter of a mile away through the grass - it would have been too dangerous for Kendra to have come any closer.
She couldn't reach Leonard to let him know what she was doing. She'd have to wait for nightfall - if the scavengers didn't move off. Then drop the magic and ease away from the camp until it was safe enough for one of them to pick her up. That would probably be Ray with his night vision.
She settled down for a long, uncomfortable, afternoon.
X
They had regrouped at the outcropping, Ray coming in last and reluctantly.
''If she's close to the trail the scavengers have left, she'll be easy to locate'' Kendra argued. ''She'd know that.''
X
Night. A pale half-moon. She let the magic slide away from her and rose quietly to her feet. Cautiously she began to ease away from the camp. The cries of night birds cut through the air. There were small rustlings in the grass. No large predators nearby, thankfully.
She needed to get further away from the scavenger camp before she reached out to Leonard.
She had gone perhaps half a mile when she realised one of those small rustling-makers was following her.
How could she have been so careless - she crouched, beginning to draw magic back around her.
The long grass stems were pulled aside, and a face looked down at her.