CHAPTER 10

Johanna drifts in and out of delirium aboard a fast, twin-hulled sailboat under a shifting polar sun. As pain clarifies, she recognizes her captors as the same coordinated wolf-like “rat” creatures that killed her parents. She observes two packs, one in each hull, moving with uncanny precision and constant gobbling exchanges.

The pack in her hull unties her net bag and opens her plush “Pink Oliphaunt” dataset by synchronizing actions, then triggers its child safeguards. They mimic Johanna’s recorded voice to unsettle her, but when she resists further panic, the packs revert to their own speech. Their coordination and curiosity reveal intelligence and shared intent.

The opposite-hull pack fishes up green, shellfish-like creatures and delivers a bowl to Johanna’s side. Despite fear and nausea, Johanna eats a little and accepts water offered by the largest, most cautious Tine. She notices its mostly white rear pelt marked with a deep Y-shaped scar and realizes it is the one that killed her father.

Seizing the moment, Johanna lunges, pins the scarred leader, and smashes its head against the hull. Other pack members swarm her, their close presence producing a bone-rattling buzz as they pry her grip loose. Her injuries reopen, but the strike leaves the scarred leader bleeding and multiple pack members disoriented, whistling and staggering—evidence that harm to one head hurts the group’s shared mind.

As the immediate struggle subsides, the Tines regroup while Johanna, bleeding but defiant, takes grim satisfaction: her captors can be hurt, and she has the will to fight. The boat continues south, farther from the crash and Jefri, with the balance between captor and captive newly unsettled.