Sahara Desert, Mali

Marie looked over the sand dune at a supply pad with orange and purple colors over it. She wasn't certain what group had those colors, but that just meant they weren't anyone she had a truce with.

There were only two people on the pad. This either meant the other two were back on the ship, or they were patrolling. Marie didn't see anyone on the sand dunes around them, but that didn't mean much.

"What should we do?" Sophie asked. She'd brought the shield from the Caterpillar woman, and was laying on it to protect herself from the sand.

Marie had an idea, but looked at Peter. "What's your instinct, cowboy?"

He scanned the dunes. "Let's wait half an hour," he said. "If they have someone on patrol we'll see them and shoot at them. If not, at least then we'll know for sure we're only facing two enemies."

"We should have asked Antoni for details about their fight," Sophie said. "Then we'd know how two people defended their pad from four."

"It's possible this isn't the group they fought," Marie said. "Or that they defended the pad from another group between the Foxes leaving and us arriving."

"Still, next time we should ask for details," Peter said, checking his watch.

"Feel free to do so," Marie told him. "Going in blind is much more fun."

"You prefer fun to safety?" he asked, clearly disappointed.

She smiled. "I was a pirate. Not a privateer. Not a sailor. Pirate."

He almost spoke, but shook his head and scanned the horizon again.

"As a thief, I also prefer fun to safety," Sophie decided.

Peter smiled. "Where's Razan when I need him…"

Razan watched the group coming down over the sand dunes. They wore yellow and grey; colors which camouflaged them surprisingly well in the dark desert.

"Bees," Chimeg reported, pulling her crossbow around.

She aimed and shot in one motion, almost casually. Even more impressive, one of the distant figures recoiled as the bolt hit. Razan stared at her, wondering if he should beg her to teach him.

Chimeg was still sitting on the sand, reloading as if she'd done this from infancy.

The people on the dunes immediately backed away.

"No, those are the Wasps," Antoni said, squinting.

Razan hesitated. "We have a truce with the Wasps."

"That's why they were just strolling over," Chimeg said, stretching her arms.

"We don't have a truce with them," Innoka said. "What should we do?"

Antoni thought it over. "We'll fight them if they come closer. If Razan wants to leave and give them water, he may do so."

"I cannot leave," Razan said. "You may fight them, but I will remain neutral."

Chimeg leaned back. "You're the melee fighters, I'm staying here."

"I wouldn't mind going out there to attack," Innoka said. "And it would be polite to let them see the Drifters haven't broken their truce."

"Let's go, then," Antoni told her, stepping off the supply pad. "I don't want to be impolite."

Innoka gave Razan a smile before following Antoni.

Chimeg set her crossbow across her knees, watching them leave. After a few seconds she glanced at Razan. "Innoka was right. She said you were formal… thoughtful… cute… I can't argue with any of that."

Razan smiled, then dropped it and bowed. "Thank you for not arguing."

She shrugged. "Not that it matters. Antoni will never let her go."

He kept his face neutral, turning to watch the man. "Thank you for the warning."

Sophie stared at the stars, waiting for Peter to say half an hour had passed. He and Marie were watching for scouts. Sophie had been excused from the duty.

"Sophie," Peter called softly. "Look."

She rolled to her stomach and crawled over to see what he was pointing at.

A tiny, fluffy, cat-like creature with ears twice as big as its head was trotting along the sand. It paused, comically large ears swiveling as it sniffed in their direction.

Sophie nearly died from how adorable it was.

"What is it?" Marie asked, also watching.

The creature turned, tail swaying as it trotted away from them.

"Not a clue," Peter admitted. "Some kind of miniature coyote?"

"Are pets allowed on the ship?" Sophie asked. "If they are, I want one."

"I haven't seen any pets," Marie said.

Peter checked his watch. "It's been half an hour."

"No scouts seen?" Marie asked, sitting up.

"No scouts seen," Peter repeated, scanning the desert one last time.

"Good." She brushed sand off her clothes, then looked at Sophie. "Take that shield and walk down to the pad. Stop halfway there. Hopefully that will draw them out, and Peter and I will snipe them."

"If it doesn't?" Sophie asked, using the shield to push herself to her feet.

"Wait a few minutes. If they don't come out, come back here and we'll all go down together," she ordered.

"Yes, ma'am," Sophie said, saluting. She smiled at Peter, then lifted her stolen shield and slid down the sand towards the supply pad.

It was only a few seconds before something heavy hit the shield and bounced off. Sophie peeked over the top, seeing a purple-painted rock in the sand in front of her. She looked at the pad just in time to see a rock hurtling towards her face.

Sophie squeaked, dropping to a crouch behind the shield. The rock hit the top edge, spraying paint as it bounced off and over her. She wasn't sure if that counted as a hit, but hoped it didn't.

When resting on the ground, the shield reached to just above Sophie's hips. She realized if she stayed on her knees, she could shuffle forwards without having to lift the shield. Thus, she would be completely safe. They wouldn't even be able to aim at her feet.

Feeling another rock hit her shield, she scooted towards the pad.

It wasn't long before she came to the first rock. Pausing, Sophie picked it up.

It was the size of her fist, perfectly round, with three layers of something like eggshell covering it. Between the layers was thin paint, thinner than what was in the little paint balls Marie used as ammunition.

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Sophie pulled the rock out of its shell, rolled it in the sand, and slid it into a pocket. She was going to keep this rock forever.

"It's the atlatl man," Peter said, looking through the spyglass.

"The who?" Marie asked.

"Remember when you first took me to the shooting range, there was a man with an atlatl for cannonballs," he said. "That's him."

She blinked, then took the spyglass. "I would call it a handheld catapult," she decided. "That's the weapon, all right; don't recognize him specifically."

"I'd like to know how hard those balls are hitting," Peter said, watching him launch one at Sophie.

Marie raised an eyebrow at him.

"What? Given their size and the range he's getting, either they're lighter than they look or they've got some solid thrust behind them."

Marie looked back through the spyglass. "Aye, the man's clearly putting some thrust into his big balls," Marie said flatly.

"I- That's- I'm being serious here," he stuttered.

"Of course. The next question being, how long can he keep it up? Solid, as you said. Hopefully he doesn't run out of stamina before the job's done, or his partner down there won't be satisfied with his performance."

Peter pulled his hat down over his face, sighing.

She hit his arm. "They're moving."

He pushed the hat back up, reaching for his crossbow.

The non-atlatl man left first, carrying a two-handed sword. He had an orange breastplate and purple vambraces, and Peter wondered if wearing armor increased the number of times he had to be hit. The man was moving straight, not dodging at all, so he presumed the answer was yes.

Marie sat up, aimed with both pistols, and fired. Not waiting to see if her aim was true, Peter pulled the trigger on his crossbow and reloaded. His captain fired with her rifle as he let loose a second bolt.

The man shimmered with blue light and vanished.

"How many of those hit?" Peter asked, helping her reload.

The atlatl man had backed into the exact center of the supply pad.

"I counted three," Marie said. "But he had paint on him from earlier."

"No help, then," Peter said.

"How fast are you on sand, cowboy?"

He shrugged. "Fast enough."

"Fast enough to dodge…" She paused, then grinned. "Big, well-thrust balls?"

Peter gave in. "Captain, he can thrust his balls at me all day long and I'll be fine."

"Wonderful. Run down there and beat the hell out of him."

Peter hesitated.

Marie looked into his eyes, reading his soul. She reached out and he flinched, pulling his arm under his poncho.

"How many bones did they break?" she asked softly.

He got to his feet, reloading his crossbow with suddenly sweaty hands.

"Go down, follow Sophie to the pad, see if she can talk him into bailing," Marie ordered, her voice normal again.

"Yes, captain," he said.

She gave him a curt nod, and he set off down the dune.

Sophie debated going back. One man was gone, but the other was staying put.

She heard footsteps and turned in time to see Peter run up behind her. He crouched, putting his hands on her shoulders as a rock flew just over their heads.

"Marie wants you to convince him to bail," he said, peeking around the shield's edge. He ducked back as another rock hit the sand next to them. "He's wasting ammunition like he's got an endless supply."

"Ammunition is one of the things we're given on the pad," she pointed out.

"True, but Nop told Marie there's a limit," Peter said, looking over the top of the shield. "Good guess, though."

She smiled, then leaned back against him. The night air was cool, and he was warm.

"We… need to move," he told her, sliding his hands to her hips. "Focus on the contest."

"Right," she nodded, sitting up. She pushed the shield forward, shuffling along on her knees.

For the first time in at least a day and a half, Sophie wondered what her mother would say if she suddenly appeared in front of them. Her daughter, in trousers, moving on her knees, with a man touching her? The woman would die of outrage. Sophie almost wished she had a photograph of this moment to send her.

"Stop!" the man on the supply pad called. His voice was very deep.

Sophie stopped, looking around the side of the shield. "Yes?"

"Come any closer and I will destroy you," he promised. There was a slight tremor in his voice.

"You're not particularly good at bluffing, are you?" she asked.

Peter gave a soft laugh, dropping his hands as he sat back.

"I'm not bluffing," the man said.

"Then tell us exactly what you'll do."

"I'll run over and club you to death."

"No, we'll shoot you with crossbow bolts as soon as you leave the pad," Sophie told him. "How many times have you been hit already?"

"None!"

"Not good at bluffing." She moved the shield forwards a bit. "Honestly, your friends are probably waiting for you. How much longer do you want to be here, alone, in danger, while your group is back home, clean, enjoying a nice drink…"

"I shall never bail," he decreed.

"They also have their choice of food for dinner," Sophie continued. "Then they get to sleep in their own beds, while you have to sit there, not sleeping at all, hoping yet another group doesn't appear and come at you from behind. That sounds very stressful."

"I'm not listening to you," he decided.

"How much more ammunition do you have?" Peter asked. "You've wasted a lot, playing target practice on the shield. You threw it all at us cuz you know it don't matter, ain't that right?"

"I have plenty," the man said. "And I'm not bailing."

A sharp whistle rang out, and Sophie turned to see Marie pointing. She turned again, and spotted someone coming from the south.

"How do y'like your odds now?" Peter asked.

The man cursed. A blue glow shone out, letting Sophie know he'd bailed. She stood, squinting at the new group.

"Green and… I think it's just more green," Peter said. "To the pad, grab water, and we run back to Marie. Got it?"

"Got it," Sophie echoed.

They ran.

Razan frowned, reaching out. He stopped, pulling his hand back.

"You do know there's no terrible penalty if you lose, right?" Chimeg asked, annoyed. "We're not even betting."

He touched one of his pieces and moved it across the board. "Yes, but I have pride."

"Not any more, you don't," Lydia said, hopping her piece over his. She took it, grinning. "One more turn and you're dead."

"Not if you die first," Innoka said, moving her piece down the board. The move went over two of Lydia's pieces.

The Wasp cursed good-naturedly.

Two hours earlier, Antoni had chased down Lydia's teammates, and they'd fought back bravely. All three vanished within seconds of each other. Innoka had gone after Lydia, who swiped with her naginata-type weapon and cut straight through Innoka's vambrace. Wisely choosing to retreat, Innoka had run back to the pad. Lydia followed, and Razan decreed the supply pad a neutral territory.

After bandaging Innoka's arm there hadn't been much to do, so Chimeg had suggested this cursed board game.

Chimeg moved her piece, hopping over one of Innoka's pieces and Razan's last piece. "How does defeat taste?"

Razan leaned back. "Citrusy. Faintly of squid."

Chimeg grinned as the other two laughed.

"Let's see if he's right," Lydia said, hopping her piece over Innoka's final piece. "There. Do you taste citrus?"

Innoka debated. "No, I taste acorns."

Razan smiled, then sat up as he saw someone come over the dunes to the south.

The three women followed his gaze, Chimeg and Lydia reaching for their weapons.

"It's your group," Chimeg told Razan, setting her crossbow back down.

He got to his feet, moving to the edge of the supply pad as Lydia and Chimeg finished the game. Peter was in the lead, with Sophie close behind. Marie appeared a few seconds after them, limping slightly. They didn't seem rushed or hurt, so after a moment of debate Razan grabbed a canteen and went to meet them.

"Thank goodness," Sophie called, picking up her pace. "I was worried we'd gone off at an angle and missed the pad."

"Oh ye of little faith," Peter said, stopping to wait for everyone. He squinted at the pad, then looked at Razan. "You traded Antoni for a Wasp?"

Razan bowed slightly. "The Wasps arrived, and the Foxes made a half-hearted attempt to defeat them. Miss Lydia chased Miss Innoka back to the pad, which is now a neutral ground for the teams."

"Will they all stay?" Sophie asked.

Marie finally reached the group and stopped. "If they agree to keep watch I won't complain," she said, her shoulders sagging a bit.

Razan offered her the canteen, which she accepted with a nod.

"Sky's getting lighter," Peter said. "It'll turn hot soon. Not too hot to travel, but no one will want to."

"We've been here almost twelve hours," Sophie said, pulling a watch out of her pocket to check. "Most people will want to sleep in three or four hours."

Peter checked his wrist, found a lack of watch, and stared at Sophie in baffled amazement. "When- How-"

"We need to make a schedule for guard duty," Marie said. She nodded towards the pad. "But we'll need to make it with them. Let's go."

Peter and Sophie immediately started towards the pad. Marie sighed, taking half a step. Razan bowed, then offered his arm.

She shot him a suspicious glare before accepting it. "Being old ain't my fault."

"Of course not," Razan said, feeling her put her weight on him as they slowly made their way across the sand. "Did they not offer to help?"

"The girl would have ended up dragging me along," Marie told him. "Peter's training won't let him suggest his commanding officer is weak. And my pride won't let me ask for help."

He frowned. "I would never suggest you're weak. Pain is not weakness, it is a signal of our limits as mortal beings. And surviving to old age is something to be respected."

She smiled. "I like your philosophy, samurai." They reached the pad. "All right, when's food?"

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