Chapter Seventeen
Mashtuk padded back. ‘I think it’s Tsendi’s other friend, the human-looking one.’
‘What’s it doing?’
‘Coming this way. Looking for the cubs, I’d say. But—’
‘But what, beloved?’
‘Something’s wrong. It doesn’t seem to know where it’s going. And it’s Outside, alone, at night.’
‘That’s unusual, is it?’
‘Yes. Maybe they sent it out to fix its error, the one Tad spoke about. Saving other intelligents.’ Mashtuk glanced down at the sated, sleeping human cubs. ‘Beloved, you take Romulo, I’ll take Remo.’
‘Romulo and Remo?’
‘History.’
Hector trod cautiously. Here, in the Outside, it paid to be careful. Tad had taught him that much.
Not that being careful had helped Tad any. Hector remembered the night Tad had left for the last time, sent Outside with orders to collect liv
