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something else: barking.
    Dogs. They have bloody dogs.
    Glancing back, she saw the search beams and heard their shouts. From somewhere behind her, hidden amongst the trees, an air vehicle was sent aloft. Sigrid glanced skyward. Thunderhawks . She counted three of the heavy gunships rising above the canopy of pines. Two of them rumbled toward her and then past, close enough for her to feel the heat of their thruster wash blast over her.
    She hadn't even remembered cloaking. It was perhaps the only thing that saved her.
    The third Thunderhawk stayed back. It hovered above the soldiers, moving with them. Belly-mounted floodlights illuminated the woods, lighting their way. They'd be scanning for her. She could only hide so long. She had to move; she had to stay ahead.
    Alone and armed only with the stolen knife, Sigrid ran.
    It was a brutal pace. The ice was cold against her feet and the bare flesh of her legs, yet Sigrid felt no sense of chill; she never would, not at these near-freezing temperatures. She was designed to withstand far greater cold than this. Still, the deep snow made every step a plodding chore. Twice she sank up to her chest, and she was forced to scramble on her hands and knees. The only saving grace was knowing the soldiers behind her were having just as much trouble.
    The woods ended abruptly. Stumbling to her knees, she broke through the brush into the clearing on the other side. There was a lake ahead of her, frozen and gleaming, with more woods on the far shore. Beyond that… She heard it: the sound of vehicles moving. Scanning ahead, she saw the strings of bright lights moving in the distance. It was a road, maybe a highway. At least it sounded like a highway. If she could get there, she might be able to flag someone down, maybe get help.
    If she could get there. That road was still six-point-two-seven kilometers distant and across that frozen lake. That would mean running nearly a kilometer out in the open. Sigrid glanced back over her shoulder; they were sure to see her.
    But there was nothing for it. She had to risk it.
    Running as fast as she could, she sprinted for the lake—not nearly as frozen as she thought. The ice flexed beneath her feet, dipping with each of her long strides. Every step threatened to shatter the ice and send her plummeting into the cold depths below. Not once did she look back. When she reached the far bank, she dived headlong into the cover of the brush. Her foot caught on a root and sent her sprawling. She landed hard, face first, knocking her chin on a rock, hard enough to leave her dazed. Rising to her hands and knees, she did her best to shake it off, but the ringing in her ears was being drowned out by something louder.
    Engines. Thrusters.
    That Thunderhawk had seen her. It was moving her way.
    Scrambling to her feet, Sigrid plowed onward. Three more kilometers—that was all she needed. Get to the road. Move!
    She'd barely covered half the distance when another road intersected her path. Not much of a road, just a path bulldozed through the trees. A single truck sat idling. Soldiers stood huddled together in the cold with their rifles slung over their shoulders. Sigrid saw their uniforms, the same ones worn by the guards at the facility: Cheung-Yoshida Multi-Planetary. They should have been patrolling for her. Instead they were busy warming their hands over a fire burning in what looked like a spent fuel bin.
    Don't they know who I am?
    Sigrid shrouded and became invisible once more.
    The snow was falling heavily now. Thick flakes were landing on her arms and legs and catching in her hair. She might be all but invisible, but the snow that fell on her certainly wasn't. Even her breath was betraying her. It misted in front of her face, and there was no hiding the deep tracks she made with each step in the waist-high snow.
    Sigrid halted her steps. Too late. One of the uniformed soldiers turned towards her. She froze and held her breath, but the soldier kept walking