Home.
He set his face toward the sea chasm, a false direction first. He would take the true one when light faded, when he was sure that there were none to watch him. He would bury the kit in the rocks there against future need, not trusting to bring any human gift among the mri; his weapons also he would strip and examine, distrusting what had been out of his hands among them. They would not trace him.
The she’pan’s service. The wild, fresh land. He inhaled the wind, and only when he had come a He looked back and saw a small figure standing in the hatchway, watching him.
He turned and kept walking, and finally heard it go.
It passed over. He looked up, saw the shuttle bend a turn as if in salute, and depart.
The End