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They hadn’t been dropped at random into the forest. The pods had been programmed to deposit them at specific co-ordinates. That suggested the spheres had also been positioned purposefully. So surely there was a way to find them that wasn’t just a matter of blindly stumbling around until she got lucky.

Ela had said they had everything they needed in their rucksack. Maybe she’d overlooked something. She searched through the rucksack again, checking for hidden pockets or a false bottom. There was nothing.

Frustrated, she leaned back against the tree. There had to be more to it.Shaa’baarawas supposed to test their intelligence and ingenuity. What was she missing?

She found herself twisting the metal bracelet round and round her wrist. Ela had said it was measuring their vitals, which made sense. The Potentials were the daughters of some of the most important families in the Empire. No way were they letting them disappear into a forest without supervision.

This little wrist gadget was probably tracking their heart rates, hydration and stress levels. Possibly their horoscopes too.

It was also sending a GPS signal. She knew that because it was transmitting her position to the handheld map. Moodily, she glowered at the device. There she was, a black dot marked ‘13’. Motionless. Useless.

Again, it was logical that their locations were being monitored. If any of the Potentials ran into trouble they would have to be extracted quickly. What was it Ela had said in the briefing? ‘Any problems and we’ll come get you.’

Okay. That meant the signal from every Potential’s bracelet was being beamed back to base.

She rolled her shoulders, wondering if this train of thought was helpful or just a waste of time. So everyone’s bracelet had a GPS signal, so what? The handheld map she’d been given was only calibrated to show her own position. Even if she could somehow rig it to show everyone else, how would that be useful?

It was a full five minutes before another thought crept in. One that made her sit bolt upright in excitement.

If the Potentials were being tracked, why not the spheres? Surely they’d been equipped with trackers so their positions could also be monitored. It wasn’t a stretch to imagine the powers-that-be watching them all on a big monitor, seeing who was within reach of their quarry. Vahn and Baelon especially would want to see if their favored contestants were closing in.

Fuck. If I’m right…

She grabbed her handheld map and went into the software settings. She wasn’t an IT specialist by any stretch, but all SDF officers had a working grasp of communications technology. And all she really had to do was change the calibration field.

It took her six minutes to figure out. By the time she’d finished, the map – which until then had only been showing her position and the finish line – was awash with markers.

Thirty

There were thirteen black dots on the map, all numbered for the thirteen Potentials. She could see Layahn somewhere to the north. Vysh wasn’t far from her. All the dots were moving except her own.

The other set of markers were red and there were dozens of them. Kara counted sixty five. She was surprised. If these were the spheres, there were five times as many as the number of people looking for them. Clearly the organizers were taking no chances.

She watched the map for twenty minutes, trying to get a sense of what was happening. Most of the Potentials looked to be following a grid search pattern, as she had done initially. The spheres stayed put unless a Potential came too close, then they changed position. When they did, they weren’t followed.

Kara surmised no-one had got as far as recalibrating their devices. They were all working blind.

Good.

She gathered her things and checked for the nearest sphere. It was about two kilometers north. The trajectory brought her closer to Layahn, but no matter. Now she could see where everyone was, she could grab the prize and be at the finish line before the Vraxian even knew she was there.

She started to jog through the trees at a moderate pace, careful to watch for protruding roots. The last thing she needed was a broken ankle.

It was now more than eight hours since dawn. She estimated there was another three hours of daylight left, less if it started to cloud over again.

She figured the biggest problem for the other Potentials would be fatigue. They were all fit and healthy but aside from herself, only Layahn had military training. The others would be anxious and uncomfortable with their unusual surroundings.

It was unlikely any of them had managed to trap food like she had. And they definitely didn’t know where the spheres were lurking. But she couldn’t rest on her laurels.

Knowing where the spheres were gave her an advantage, but there were so many of them in the forest it was only a matter of time before they were discovered.

She checked her device. Sphere dead ahead. She slowed down as she got closer. It was right behind the thick tree trunk directly in front of her. But as she circled to the right, she saw on the map the sphere was circling to the left.

Damn it.

She stopped moving and the sphere also halted, still concealed on the other side of the tree. She realized it was sensing her movements.

Slowly she took off her rucksack. With an underarm swing, she launched it past the tree and into the forest. Something small and bright came zipping round the broad trunk in the opposite direction. It seemed to sense her presence and stopped abruptly.