The night was uneventful, or at least Tyla slept through any events. She resolved to go get a look at the Sky Army base camp the next night, assuming that it would be just as uneventful. Tyla rolled up her blankets and placed them at the bottom of the tree. Then she sat on them, staring up at the sunlight filtering through the leaves of the tree.

Tyla wondered whether she should go find the squids. She knew where they would be, in their deep-water home, and she'd placed a couple of fence-posts down there, so she could stay there indefinitely. She was a bit afraid of leading the Sky Army there by accident, but they weren't likely to be watching her, and she could probably lose them on the way if they tried to follow her.

She stood up and took a running start, diving into the water with a splash. She surfaced for a moment, took a few deep breaths, then she dove down into the dark water. Tyla was a fairly strong swimmer, but going as deep as what she knew as deep-squid territory always scared her a bit. She knew that there wasn't anything more dangerous than squids down here, but it was so dark that anything could be hiding in the shadows.

Tyla shook her head to clear those thoughts and kicked harder, going down even faster. She could hold her breath longer than most people, but it was still a bit farther to her first fence-post. There! Tyla grabbed onto the post, inhaling deeply from the air pocket it created. Something nudged her foot, and she nearly jumped out of her skin, but it was just a squid.

It did the squid equivalent of jumping up on her to lick her face, and then it swam a bit upwards, floating just above her head. It swam just a little bit higher, then it looked back down, insofar as a squid can look, with it's eyes on either side of it's head.

Tyla shook her head. She pointed upwards, then she made the gesture for 'Sky'. The squid shivered, then it zoomed off downward to get it's friends. Soon, there was a flock (school? shoal? crowd? What's the collective noun for squids, anyhow?) of squids crowding around Tyla, all head butting her and demanding to be scratched. Tyla held onto the post with one hand, laughing as the squids swam around her in their group.

Then Tyla let go of the post, diving even deeper, only this time her view was impeded by squids. She managed to get to the deepest post, though without too much trouble. She was in an underwater hollow, with squids swimming across the giant underwater basin, left and right, up and down, sometimes alone but more often in groups. This was where squids lived when they weren't near the shore. It was an amazing sight.

Too soon, Tyla started to shiver from the cold. One of the squids noticed, and came to float near her, in just the right place for her to hold on. Tyla gently wrapped her arms around the squid, and then it was off like a rocket, shooting towards the surface. Tyla felt herself slipping, but she squeezed a little tighter and held on.

Just below the surface, the squid slid out of Tyla's grasp and swam back towards the bottom of the ocean. Tyla kicked the last few blocks to the surface and trod water for a moment, breathing in the air. "There you are! Hey, Tyla!" Tyla shook the water out of her eyes to see Saylor standing on the shore, waving her arms. Tyla swam back to the shore, and almost immediately, Saylor started talking.

"What were you doing out there? I yelled for, like, twenty minutes and you didn't answer! How could you have been under there for so long?" Saylor said while Tyla shook herself off. "Fenceposts." Tyla said, very much hoping that her friend wouldn't ask why…

"Coleman? Misener? Any news?" Sky stood in the center of the bustling camp, asking his lieutenants for their reports. Andy Misener had several maps on his clipboard, and he flipped through them, shaking his head. "Sir, the only place where squids could come ashore anywhere near here is that beach where that Kirby girl lives, and I report very little or no squid activity there."

Sky ran one hand through his hair and said, in an exasperated tone of voice, "Tyla! She must have told them to go away!" He sighed, and said "Coleman?"

"The squid girl has taken up watch at the beach, sir. She seems to be scared that we'll kill her friends if she leaves. Also, she has formed a friendship with Saylor Campbell, and I suggest we use this to our advantage."

Sky looked warily at Kris. "How exactly do you suggest?" he asked. "I assure you it will not bring the squid girl to any harm." Kris replied. "And Campbell has already been briefed on her assignment, so there is nothing you need to worry about, sir." Sky hesitated for a moment, then he said "Alright. Do it."

Saylor realized that Tyla had probably been visiting the squids, but she couldn't ask about it because of the Agreement, and that was just fine. Afraid of letting something slip, Saylor had quickly excused herself, saying that she had a job to do.

She had gone back, late in the afternoon, determined to act like nothing was wrong, but frankly, Saylor was not the world's smoothest liar. Tyla had realized that something was up. "I… I'll tell you tomorrow, okay?" Saylor had said, and then she'd left, heading back to camp.

Honestly, she was terrified. She knew that she was screwing this up badly, and she knew that somehow Kris would find out and then she would tell Sky that Saylor was a traitor and that would be the end of her. Saylor was afraid of Kris. The girl was as cold as ice, and she was as ruthless to humans as she was to squids.

Not sure what to do, Saylor was uncharacteristically quiet that night, and even Sky asked her what was wrong. Saylor had tried to pretend that everything was alright, but it was hard, especially since Kris was watching her from across the campfire.

Sky caught the direction of her nervous glance, and he frowned. "Come on, Campbell. Let's talk for a bit." he said, nodding towards his tent.