We heard a girl’s voice. All our heads darted towards the source in unison. We couldn’t see anyone past a huge mass of blackberry brambles. Elentinus zipped past me toward it. “No one’s supposed to be out this far.” I gathered up Inga and followed. The Defenders whirred along with us. One of them plowed ahead to trample open a path. “Don’t move, humans!” the Defender said through a booming speaker. I heard several women scream. We ran through the break. There were seven girls: most teenage, two adults, and one elderly. They wore plain green frocks and bandanas. Each had a large tote bags loaded with berries (though one was spilled on the ground). They stood clustered with wide eyes fixed on us. One of them was eating berries out of her bag. Past them I saw two Defenders who hadn’t come out of the ship. They rolled forward. “Lord Elentinus,” one of them said, “the women are out here with our permission.” I heard a piston. The Defender who’d plowed ahead was pulling a little cannon back into one of his compartments. Elentinus approached them. We timidly followed behind.
