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Well he at least felt better with the air sleds since they were medics and not rogues. But he still didn't waste any time getting to sanctuary. It was twilight when he finally got to the edge of the wooded area that opened onto the meadow leading to sanctuary itself. He took a few minutes to hide the things from his parents before going into sanctuary with the rest of his supplies and pack.




No one was there and he wasted no time setting his pack and clothing under one cot and stepping into the medical center as Ellen had suggested. He felt relief as the door slid shut behind him and locked. He took off his med-alert bracelet, dropped it on the floor and pounded it with the heavy hilt of the knife he had brought with him. Under the heavy pounding it broke into three pieces and he left it there. He knew the medics would be alerted when he had taken it off and then would be even more alerted when it suddenly stopped broadcasting. He was hoping one of them would be there when he came out the other end in a few hours.




Three hours later he had a new med-alert bracelet and fresh clothing and equipment. As the door slid open he cautiously stepped out into the gloom and stood still waiting for his eyes to adjust in the dark. His knife was in his hand and he knew he was not the only one in the room. He stood silently waiting for someone to make the first move.




"Tobal, is that you?" He heard Ellen's voice coming from near one of the cots.




Relief spilled through him, "Yes, is it safe?"




"For now", she said. "Come, we've got some talking to do."




He shouldered his new equipment and carried it over to the cot where he had stored the rest of his stuff. He searched under the cot and found he had been right. His things had been searched and gone through carefully while he had been in the medical chamber. He laid everything on the bed and tried to determine in the dim light if he was missing anything. Everything seemed to be there. Ellen stood silently by and watched as he sorted and repacked things. Tobal saw there were two other very serious Masters standing guard at the entrance.




"What's going on?" She demanded. "We were monitoring your signal and then the alarm went off as if you were dead. Then the signal stopped completely and we came immediately to see what was wrong. The first one here saw three rogues dressed in black running out of the sanctuary building and into the woods. It was dark and they didn't show up on the air sled monitors so we lost them. We don't know where they are now."




"We went inside and saw that your pack had been searched but you were not here. Then your signal showed up once more on the monitors and we figured you must be in the medical chamber so we waited for you to come out."




"They followed me from the lake", Tobal said. "I knew they were following me. I could feel it and hid at night. I came here as fast as I could just like you said to."




"How could they follow you from the lake?", Ellen frowned. "They don't have monitors like we do on our air sleds."




"They must have some way of tracking me", he repeated. "They would have gotten me if you hadn't shown up when you did. It's not safe out here anymore!"