There was the Eastern Territory colonial headquarters at Yavan. It was three days ride back the way they had come. That settlement housed a small garrison of soldiers, and they could ask the Governor to send them out and deal with this tribal situation. That would be a sensible thing to do - a proper colonial response. Yet it would put a stop to their pursuit of Eyeman.

  Should they go back to Yavan?

  They would report the attack, hand Urdo over and request a detachment of soldiers. Temon knew the Governor. He’d listen to the news and then what? Issue a proclamation? He might just call it a "tribal dispute" and advise the colonists to use caution.

  By the time any official action was taken, Eyeman would be long gone, and the thousand Sols reward would be a dream.

  No.

  The killer was real. Justice for the murdered colonists was a real. All of that was here, now on this plateau, not in a government building days away.

  "I don't want to go back to Yavan," Temon said.

  "I understand," Rejah replied. "But if we're attacked again we'll have to go back. "

  They rode on in silence.

  Temon was trying to work out if the group that attacked them was with Eyeman? It was too much of a coincidence that they wanted Urdo and the Eyeman had imprisoned him too. Yet If they were with Eyeman, why not travel with him? It made no sense to work for someone who left you far behind. Or, perhaps, the Eyeman and the four attackers were acting separately?

  Too many questions.

  "Rejah, wait up."

  Rejah rode up beside him. Urdo was well behind on one of the captured tribesmen's horses, but would eventually catch up.

  "What is it?"

  "My head's spinning. too many loose threads. It's all got too complicated!"

  "Talk it through," she said.

  "Those four Ashok tribesmen. Were they working for Eyeman? Why would he leave them behind ? It doesn't make sense."

  "Maybe the four who attacked us aren't even connected to Eyeman. Just do a random band of tribesmen with their own score to settle?

  Temon let out a frustrated sigh, the sound swallowed by the vast, empty landscape. "I can't make the pieces fit."

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  "You're trying to solve it all at once, Temon. Urdo probably has the answers somewhere in that scrambled head of his."

  "The attacker who got away," Temon added. "He's running back to someone. To Eyeman? Or to a tribe that now has a reason to hunt us for killing three of their men? We've made enemies without even knowing why!"

  He looked at the horizon, his eyes no longer tracking a fugitive but searching for refuge. "We need to hide out here tonight. See over there, and at that cliff face. Those rockfalls."

  Halfway up a red stone escarpment, a massive slab of tcliff had given way, creating a chaotic pile of giant boulders and jagged debris at its base.

  "It's a defensible position. There's only one way in - that narrow gap between two slabs. We can post a watch there and hold it against twenty men."

  Urdo arrived, sagging forwards on his mount.

  Temon just couldn't work him out. He was a colonist, yes, but the tribesmen hadn't wanted to kill him; they had come for him. Their leader's fury when Rejah stepped in wasn't the rage of an opportunist, it was personal.

  Maybe Urdo was not what he appeared to be? His amnesia seemed too perfect, the timing too convenient. Was it a genuine injury from that punch, or was it a shield? A way to hide in plain sight? Maybe Urdo was playing a game with them.

  "His mind might be a fog," Temon said, "but whatever's in it is the reason for all this. He might not remember why he's important, but the people hunting him certainly do."

  He patted the map tucked into his belt. "This map is written in a language we don't speak."

  The desire to hunt down Eyeman still burned in him, a hot coal of justice and reward.

  "The rocks. We head there," Temon said. "Rejah, take the lead with Urdo. Stay ahead of him and I'll bring up the rear."

  They angled their horses away from the setting sun, moving through the deepening shadows cast by the towering cliffs. The going was slow because Urdo rode like a sack of grain, slumped in the saddle, swaying with the horse's every step.

  Temon kept a constant watch, his gaze sweeping the horizon behind them. Every distant dust devil, every shimmer of heat haze, looked like a pursuing warband. The pain in his shoulder was a dull, throbbing annoyance.

  As they neared the base of the cliff, the scale of the rockfall became apparent. It was a fortress built by nature. House-sized boulders were piled up in chaotic layers. The only entrance inside this natural hideout was a narrow cleft that led into the shadowy heart of the boulders. They rode inside.

  "Urdo you can dismount," Rejah said. She swung down from her saddle and moved to help the colonist, who fumbled with the stirrups before practically falling to the ground.

  "Rejah, I'll secure the horses in that opening over there. It's well hidden and the boulders will muffle any noise they make.

  They scavenged what little dried scrub they could find, the brittle branches snapping in their hands.

  Their small campfire could not be seen from the outside.The fire was a tucked into a deep fissure between two boulders.

  Rejah used their water and linen to dress his wound. "You're lucky. A little more to the left and the blade would have hit bone."

  "That counts for luck out here? " he chuckled.

  Urdo sat across from them, staring into the flames as if he could see ghosts in their dance. He hadn't spoken for a long while.

  Temon said, "I'll take the first watch."

  "No," Rejah replied, "You take last watch, just before dawn.You need to rest that arm." He didn't argue.

  He handed her the map they had taken from the dead tribesman. "See if you can make any sense of it while I try to sleep."

  He found a flat patch of ground near the fire, propped his pack against a rock for a pillow and lay down. The pain in his shoulder was a dull, irritating throb that pulsed in time with his heartbeat.

  Sleep felt a long way off.