Junebug moved off at a brisk walk. While she wasn’t an infantryman, she had worked on enough jungles to have some idea of how to move. Rainwater runoff had carved what were now dry streams through the vegetation and she used one as a footpath to work her way inland towards the rendezvous point. The light amplification function on her helmet was the best choice for the conditions, gathering up starlight and applying a computer enhancement to the result that rendered the jungle in a black and white approximation of daylight. Without active sensor inputs the result didn’t give her great depth perception, but was far better than staggering around in the dark would have been.

Despite using the dry creekbed she was frequently obliged to climb over fallen trees or work her way through networks of vines. As the slope grew steeper she was also forced to climb several small rock faces, rarely more than ten feet or so but enough to slow her down and ensure that she was sweating by the time she closed in on the Rendevous. As she reached the top of the last rockface she spotted Neil crouching behind a three bhole some thirty meters ahead of her. Beyond him the motion detector carroted a bored looking soldier in green on black battle dress meandering along a game trail, a cigarette between his lips highlighted by her infrared sensors.

Where Saxon was she had no idea, though given she had seen him come down, he couldn’t be two far away. The night was suddenly split by a monstrous bellow that seemed to combine elements of a Terran elephant and some sort of vast serpent. The guard froze for a moment, his hand going to his rifle before he hurriedly checked something on his wrist before seeming to relax. Junebug frowned, uncertain as to what was going on, and uncertainty was something with which no veteran was comfortable. Crouching down behind a large rock she waited for the guard to past by or, if it was necessary, for Neil to take him out.