They were three hours from the eastern community when the first response arrived.

Not through the ground channels. Through the broadcast.

Marina felt it as a pulse from the western territories, distinct from the anchor's acknowledgment and distinct from the standard pack frequency background. Someone in the western territories was actively using the broadcast as a receiving channel, the reverse technique the third system had demonstrated, and whoever it was had understood the principle within hours of the distribution reaching them.

She pressed her palm to the nearest tree and read the frequency.

Renna.

The Bloodfang hybrid whose terrain reading had identified three approach vulnerabilities in her first two hours...