Darryn followed Aureth up the winding, lightless tunnels as she led the way to her grandmother’s cave. Anaka was down below, organizing the tribe in case the storm lasted several days, but she had assured him that Aureth was more than capable of checking the bandages on Jaxon and administering any doses of medicine that he needed. 

The tunnels were mostly natural, and only partly carved out. In many places they became cramped and the two of them frequently found themselves crawling up rocky walls to reach a higher level. Aureth could find her way easily in the dark, but Darryn had to carry a bowl with a small bit of flaming moss in it for light, which was beginning to burn low. The girl had assured him it would last just long enough to get them to the cave, but Darryn was beginning to get worried. 

Finally, just as the flame began to wink out Aureth dropped to her hands and knees and scrambled through a small opening in the side of the tunnel. Darryn followed her, less quickly because of his size, and found himself crawling into the back of Anaka’s cave.

The cave was pitch black as the fire had long since burnt out, and was illuminated only occasionally by lightning. Darryn stood at the back of the cave, careful not to move as he waited for Aureth to light fire. He could hear her moving around, but he had no idea where she was, save for the occasional flash of a silhouette. 

Darryn frowned. He couldn’t tell what it was, but something was causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up. Something wasn’t right...

There was a spark as Aureth struck steel to flint and a moment later a flash of blue light filled the cave as the fire began to glow. Darryn blinked, waiting for his eyes to adjust.

There was a sudden rush of movement and Aureth screamed as someone grabbed her shoulders and threw her to the ground. Darryn drew his gun and prepared to aim right as his eyes adjusted and he saw Jaxon had Aureth pinned to the ground with a knife held to her throat.

“Stand down, soldier!” Darryn shouted, pointing his gun at the man. “That’s an order!”

Jaxon froze and looked up at Darryn. His eyes had a wild look to them, and he was panting with exertion. Aureth whimpered as the knife pressed into her throat. 

“Darryn...?” Jax said quietly, his voice husky and strained.

“Stand down, Jaxon,” Darryn gestured to Aureth with his gun. “Let her go!”

There was a long, tense moment before Jax closed his eyes, gave his head a slight shake, and let go of Aureth. He collapsed onto his side, coughing and wincing in pain. 

Aureth scrambled back and crouched at the other side of the cave, eyes trained on Jaxon and poised to spring at the slightest sign of movement in her direction. 

Darryn sheathed his gun and moved to kneel next to Jaxon, pressing a hand into his chest to hold him down. “Stay still. You’ll rip the stitches.”

Jax groaned. “Too late for that.” He opened his eyes and looked around the cave. “Where are we?”

“On Arrida. With the Painted Tribes.” 

“Right...your savage friends.” Jax coughed and looked at Aureth. “Sorry...thought you were someone else…”

Aureth stared back distrustfully, but didn’t say anything. 

Jax turned his attention back to Darryn. “What happened? Is the kid alright?”

“He’s fine. You freaked him out for a second there.” 

“Eh, I’ve been through worse…” he trailed off into a cough.

“Liar.” Darryn gave a slight smile and gently squeezed his shoulder. “Eralis double crossed us. He jammed our signals and forced Mik to download information above our paygrade.”

Jax cursed. “That slimy son of a snake! Told you we couldn’t trust him, Darryn!”

“That you did.” Darryn paused. He wasn’t sure if he should tell him...but Jax deserved the truth. “Jaxon...the information Eralis wanted....it’s from the Enhanced Project.”

There was a long moment of silence that was finally broken by a long groan from Jax. “Starfire, Darryn. Please tell me you shot that sorry excuse for a space slug and fed him to the Krayken.” 

“Not exactly, Jax. He’s sitting in the next cave.”

Jax growled and tried to push himself up. “Why?”

Darryn pushed him back down. “Insurance in case the Feds come calling on us. I did shoot him in the leg for good measure.”

“Darryn, you and I both know his presence can only cause more problems for us! We’ve got to get rid of him now!”

“I need to know why, Jax. The Feds are just going to keep coming for us until we find out what they’re after and how to stop it.”

“You know what they’re after!” 

“But why now?” Darryn slammed a fist into the cave floor. “Fifteen years and not a single Fed on our trail. Why come after us now? Something doesn’t add up, Jax.”

“Whatever it is, he’s not going to tell you!” Jax tried to sit up again, groaning and grabbing at his side. 

Darryn grabbed a hold of his shoulders. “Jaxon, lie still before you hurt yourself again.” 

Jax looked like he wanted to respond but didn’t have enough energy to say anything more than, “Shut up, I’m fine.”

“Aureth, would you come take a look at him?” Darryn looked up at her. “Please?”

Aureth looked skeptical, but slowly approached from her corner. “He is warsick...yes?”

Darryn nodded. “Very much so. But it’s ok, now.” 

“What are you two talking about?” Jax growled. 

Aureth bit her lip and cautiously approached the patient. “No hurt.”

“No hurt,” Jax agreed. “Leastways, not you.” 

Mik tried to concentrate on what he was doing, but the crowd noise was getting to him so he eventually snuck off into the small entry cave to find some peace and quiet. The storm was louder here, but at least it wasn’t ten million voices all clamoring at once, in a language he didn’t know. 

Finally, I can hear myself think. He slid down against one wall and opened up his gauntlet again. He was trying to reprogram it with anti-jamming capabilities in case of later emergencies. But he couldn’t concentrate on the numbers with all of the noise in the main chamber. 

He’d only been out there for a few minutes when Rocky poked his head into the room. “Is alright, small one?”

Mik sighed. “Yeah...it’s just a bit noisy in there.”

“Are very excited.” Rocky came in and sat down next to him. “Is big storm of many time cycles. Great Woman say hunting be great after gone.”

“Great for them.” Mik tried to ignore him and go back to programming his glove.

“Is big creatures they hunt. Rocoram like to see. Sound like Lavaclaws back home.”

“That’s great, Rocky.”

“Storm sound like great ash clouds, too.” Rocky sounded wistful. “Is long way from Gath. Been many years.”

“Maybe we’ll go there next.”

“Maybe...not many Feds on Gath. Not fans of lava and heat.”

“So kinda like here, then?” Mik wasn’t really listening at this point and Rocky finally noticed. 

“Is busy?”

“Uh huh.” Mik thought he might be on to something here. Sure, he’d have to work the bugs out, but…it could be promising.

Rocky smiled and patted Mik’s head with his huge hand. “Will bother Honor instead.”

“Thanks, Rocky.”

Rocky chuckled and walked back into the main cave. Mik went back to his calculations. Let’s see…if I start with pi and move the decimal point a few microsecs to the right, and then I add a few prime numbers…

A hand grabbed the front of his shirt, hauling him to his feet. Mik yelped and tried to pull back, but instead found himself being yanked towards the cave entrance. 

“You’re coming with me!” Eralis growled.