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"Right," Slek drawled.
"That's enough rest," J'avet said suddenly.
It was only four and a half minutes, but I didn't bother to say so. I pushed myself to my feet. A blur of movement caught my eye. This time I managed to focus for a second or two before it disappeared behind a tree.
"Please tell me someone else saw that." I pointed.
"I did," Danec said. "It looked like a sphere of…" He shook his head.
"Of stone," I said. "Black stone."
"Stone doesn't fly," Slek said. "It was probably some kind of metal."
"Oh good," I said sarcastically. "Are you sure this planet is uninhabited, because things like that don't just float around by themselves."
"No, they don't," J'avet said, his voice tight. "Do you think it saw us?"
I frowned in thought. "It did seem as though it stopped to check us out."
"We should hurry." J'avet gave the order to resume walking, but faster now.
"Do you think that's what happened to the ship?" I asked, my voice low so only Danec could hear.
"It's possible," he replied, "but whatever that was, it didn't seem aggressive. It looked like it was scared of us, or something."
"I am pretty scary," I agreed. I gave him a cheeky smile.
He smiled back, but his eyes were laced with worry. "If that was a scout of some kind…"
"Then they've been watching us for hours," I finished for him. "That's the first time I got a good look, but I'm sure I've seen something floating around before now. I wasn't sure if I imagined it, or maybe it was a bird or a bat, or…" Some other alien species I was unfamiliar with.
"Me too," Brinley said. "Whatever they are, they're trying to avoid being seen."
"Until now," I said.
"Or you seeing it was a coincidence," she said.
"I suppose it could be," I conceded. I had the niggling feeling it wasn't.
"Maybe we shouldn't be going this way," I said loud enough for J'avet to hear.
He stopped and turned around, his customary scowl in place. "What do you suggest?" he asked in a tone which clearly indicated he didn't much want to hear it.
I chewed my lip. "I don't know. Deeper into the forest?"
He sighed. "Unless that's a couple of bags of rations under your shirt?" He looked about ready to grab one of my breasts and find out.
I crossed an arm over them. "I have half a ration bar in my pocket."
"Then we continue this way, but stay alert," he said curtly. "Although, some of us could stand to miss a meal or two." He gave me a pointed look, then turned and stalked away.
My jaw dropped, and I know my face turned bright red.
"Why you fucking—" I started forward, but Danec and Slek each grabbed one of my arms and held me back.
"Don't, Edie, it's not worth it," Slek said.
"Yeah," Danec agreed. "You'll be in trouble when we get off this planet."
