Unexpectedly, their search of the other domes actually went rather well. Following the paths and tracks made by the locals, they uncovered some gadgets, some tools and even some pocketable pieces which still had some demonstrable traces of trilium.

Neither of them were sure what most the tools and gadgets were actually for, although Goa did have some ideas. They would certainly be worth trading in the north. And traces of trilium meant potentially months or years of use.

They were, in fact, free wandering for a couple days before the locals found them. It was in a twisted structure, a half fallen tower, what looked to have been labs, filled with derelict industrial equipment they heard the noises, then the voices.

“What do you think this does?” Goa said, showing Kel what looked to him like some sort of hand tool. He hadn’t the slightest, but it was powered. It was certain someone north of the Iceline would find some use for it.

“Wait,” Kel cautioned, cocking his head. “Did you hear that?”

Abek stopped the device, and listened. Yes, there were voices. Closer than they had been. Much closer. Damn if his hearing wasn’t nearly as good as it had been even a few years before.

“Time for us to go,”Goa told him.

Making a run for it, however, was not meant to be. Weighted down by their discoveries and up against a group that was clearly far more familiar with the area than they were made it easy for whoever was after them. The structures around the broken tower was a maze, and they were being lead through it. Wherever they ran there seemed to be people ahead of them.

“I’ve got a feeling we’re going to have to fight our way out of this,”Goa said as they rested a moment near a pile of rubble where he hid another egg surreptitiously.

“What are you thinking?” the kid asked breathlessly. He fingered his small pistol nervously.

“I’m thinking there are more of them than we have seen,” he offered. He knew his gun would effectively deal with a few, its large bore shells capable of killing a man with a shot. But there was no idea how large the group hunting them was or what weaponry they were carrying.

“Where?” Kel wanted to know.

“Not sure,”Goa told him. “But we’d better find a different route out than what’s ahead.”

He had a sense they were being lead, but needed to guess right to find a way out. They had to outwit their pursuers somehow. And that meant finding a higher position. They needed to get the drop on the others. There was a path on the left, one that lead to an overhang, but it did look rather treacherous.

“Hold this,” he told the kid handing him his gun. “I’ll climb up and you follow.”

Kel nodded, watched as Goa climbed the rubble, then handed the gun up. The veteran reached down to help his partner reach the overhang.

“Alright,” Abek told him, getting down on his knees to look out at the surrounding ruins. “Let’s see where they are.”

He took out his binocs, scanned the area, spotted two groups hiding behind nearby broken walls. He pointed them out to Kel.

“How do we get past them,” the kid asked.

“Through there.”Goa pointed to a raised walkway that split the plaza the others were watching. “If we are quick and quite we can get past them and out beyond before they have a chance to follow.”

Kel nodded. The made their way carefully along the overhang to the walkway.

If things had gone as he has hoped, they would have been far from the trap in mere minutes. But neither Goa nor Kel knew this territory well. And they also didn’t know their adversaries had a secret weapon; one which would be deployed as soon as the two greggas moved out onto the walkway.

Sometimes, Abek knew, there was no way out of a trap. No way at all.