Gilbert nodded, then realized the gesture was lost in darkness. He said, aloud, "We'd better put some distance between us and the camp."
They returned to the trail, plodded through the hot darkness. They walked for three hours and reached high ground as Gilbert had expected. "We can sleep here," he said. "But we'll have to be up before the sun. And we'll have to hunt for our food, too. Mulveen has provisions."
"Do you hate Mulveen?" Wenzi asked.
"For his proposition? No, why should I?"
"For his arrogance—"
"He is an outworlder," Arnaud said.
"For what he wanted of you," Gilbert told Wenzi, "yes. But only for that."
"Do you have any plans?" Arnaud asked as they settled on the hillock.
Gilbert thought about it. They would need a plan, all right. It was what the animals of Earth lacked. The ability to plan, to rationally pursue their survival. And so the animals of Earth never had a chance.
"Mulveen will probably stalk us in the morning," Gilbert said. "We'll have to move fast. We'll be able to move faster than Mulveen because he'll be tracking us. We can circle around behind him—while he still believes himself behind us."