"Interesting," I said, watching one of the sparks. It was hard to tell, givenour distance and perspective, but the craft seemed to be traveling remarkablyslowly and zigzagging as it went.

"I noticed it about forty minutes ago," Ixil said. "I thought at first it wasthe reflected light from a new community that I simply hadn't seen before. ButI checked the map, and there's nothing that direction except a row of hills andthe wasteland region we flew over on our way in."

"Could it be a fire?" I suggested doubtfully.

"Unlikely," Ixil said. "The glow isn't red enough, and I've seen no evidenceof smoke. I was wondering if it might be a search-and-rescue operation."

From the edge of the window came a gentle scrabbling sound; and with a softrodent sneeze Pix appeared on the sill. A sinuous leap over to Ixil's arm, aquick scamper—with those claws digging for footholds the whole way up—and hewas once again crouched in his place on Ixil's shoulder.

There was a tiny scratching sound like a fingernail on leather that alwaysmade me wince, and for a moment Ixil stood silently as he ran through the memorieshe was now pulling from the ferret's small brain. "Interesting," he said. "Fromthe parallax, it appears to be considerably farther out than I first thought. Wellbeyond the hills, probably ten kilometers into the wilderness."

Which meant the glow was also a lot brighter than I'd thought. What couldanyonewant out there in the middle of nowhere?

My chest tightened, the ache in my leg suddenly forgotten. "You don't happento know," I asked with studied casualness, "where exactly that archaeology dig isthat the Cameron Group's been funding, do you?"

"Somewhere out in that wilderness," Ixil said. "I don't know the precise location."