a resigned twist of her lips.
“What feeling?”
“Just something I get sometimes when something really
wonderful is close by. And I don’t have it.” Del rubbed her fingers in her hair
and looked around, contemplative. That left her brown hair sticking up in angry
spikes and he wanted to smooth them down, it would be a good excuse to touch— No.
No touching.
Lazlo tried to boost her confidence. “We aren’t close enough
to the coordinates yet. Not that I doubt your intuition, but I wish that we had
some broad-spectrum sensor drones. Five or six of those would make the whole
operation go that much more quickly.”
“How about getting better maps while we’re at it?”
“I guess if we had drones and maps, we would be out and back
in a few hours.”
Del laughed, a full-throated guffaw that made him laugh
along with her. “Where would be the fun in that, I ask you?”
“No fun at all,” Lazlo agreed with a smile but then they hit
another dip and he bit his tongue. He decided to hold on the grab bars for a
while and let her concentrate on driving.
Chapter Four
Lazlo checked his datpad again and sighed. The custom geolocator
he’d installed on his personal device kept positioning them in a cornfield at
least forty kilometers from where he thought they actually were, and not
knowing his location was making him anxious. Del Browen just kept hiking,
pulling herself up slopes and sliding down gullies as if she was exploring someone’s
backyard. Water dripped from the walls of the canyon they were exploring
fruitlessly and the sound made him thirsty.
“Could we stop for a moment? I’d like to recalibrate my
geolocator.” His guide stopped and turned to look at him, expression neutral as
she pulled a small bottle from her waist and took a sip. So far she hadn’t said
much to him, other than to order him to look in certain places and use his
scanner.
Lazlo requested an update on his datpad and waited for an
acknowledgement. Del watched him for a moment, then began to scan the mucky
floor of the canyon, shuffling along, head down, apparently more interested in
mud than what he was doing. Or failing to do. The third attempt he made to
recalibrate was concluded yet again by an apologetic error message. Crack
it.
“Citizen Browen, do you know where we are? My equipment is
not really working well.”
“I know where we are,” was her calm reply. She was now
crouched in the mud, poking at something with a gloved fingertip.
“Where are we?”
“Section eighty-seven, grid nineteen, focal point sixteen or
seventeen. Approximately.”
Feeling exasperated, Lazlo tried not to sound it as he
manually plugged in the numbers, his geolocator chiming happily. “How do you
know that?”
“I was in this area once, about eight years ago.”
And of course she remembered it. At least she seemed
entirely competent and confident in what she was doing, Lazlo tried to assure
himself. That made one of them. She had now pulled out whatever interested her
and was rinsing it in a puddle of water.
“Are we close to the search coordinates?”
“We’ve been in the middle of them for the last hour.”
And they hadn’t found anything. He would have noticed
something like that, wouldn’t he? “What’s that you’re washing there?”
Then Del looked at him, gray eyes bright. “My guess is some
sort of garnet matrix, but I have no idea of what the inclusions are. There are
a lot of them around here.” She shrugged and pitched the rock back to the
ground.
Taking a drink of water, Lazlo watched her. She was watching
him and looking as if she were trying to understand something as she narrowed
her eyes. “What is it?”
“Nothing. Just wondering if you’re ready to keep going.”
She nodded.
Lazlo walked after her as Del headed into a narrow opening
in the canyon wall, formed by two pieces of dark-red rock that had fallen
against each other. Lazlo wondered if he would be able to fit through it—she
was much more
“What feeling?”
“Just something I get sometimes when something really
wonderful is close by. And I don’t have it.” Del rubbed her fingers in her hair
and looked around, contemplative. That left her brown hair sticking up in angry
spikes and he wanted to smooth them down, it would be a good excuse to touch— No.
No touching.
Lazlo tried to boost her confidence. “We aren’t close enough
to the coordinates yet. Not that I doubt your intuition, but I wish that we had
some broad-spectrum sensor drones. Five or six of those would make the whole
operation go that much more quickly.”
“How about getting better maps while we’re at it?”
“I guess if we had drones and maps, we would be out and back
in a few hours.”
Del laughed, a full-throated guffaw that made him laugh
along with her. “Where would be the fun in that, I ask you?”
“No fun at all,” Lazlo agreed with a smile but then they hit
another dip and he bit his tongue. He decided to hold on the grab bars for a
while and let her concentrate on driving.
Chapter Four
Lazlo checked his datpad again and sighed. The custom geolocator
he’d installed on his personal device kept positioning them in a cornfield at
least forty kilometers from where he thought they actually were, and not
knowing his location was making him anxious. Del Browen just kept hiking,
pulling herself up slopes and sliding down gullies as if she was exploring someone’s
backyard. Water dripped from the walls of the canyon they were exploring
fruitlessly and the sound made him thirsty.
“Could we stop for a moment? I’d like to recalibrate my
geolocator.” His guide stopped and turned to look at him, expression neutral as
she pulled a small bottle from her waist and took a sip. So far she hadn’t said
much to him, other than to order him to look in certain places and use his
scanner.
Lazlo requested an update on his datpad and waited for an
acknowledgement. Del watched him for a moment, then began to scan the mucky
floor of the canyon, shuffling along, head down, apparently more interested in
mud than what he was doing. Or failing to do. The third attempt he made to
recalibrate was concluded yet again by an apologetic error message. Crack
it.
“Citizen Browen, do you know where we are? My equipment is
not really working well.”
“I know where we are,” was her calm reply. She was now
crouched in the mud, poking at something with a gloved fingertip.
“Where are we?”
“Section eighty-seven, grid nineteen, focal point sixteen or
seventeen. Approximately.”
Feeling exasperated, Lazlo tried not to sound it as he
manually plugged in the numbers, his geolocator chiming happily. “How do you
know that?”
“I was in this area once, about eight years ago.”
And of course she remembered it. At least she seemed
entirely competent and confident in what she was doing, Lazlo tried to assure
himself. That made one of them. She had now pulled out whatever interested her
and was rinsing it in a puddle of water.
“Are we close to the search coordinates?”
“We’ve been in the middle of them for the last hour.”
And they hadn’t found anything. He would have noticed
something like that, wouldn’t he? “What’s that you’re washing there?”
Then Del looked at him, gray eyes bright. “My guess is some
sort of garnet matrix, but I have no idea of what the inclusions are. There are
a lot of them around here.” She shrugged and pitched the rock back to the
ground.
Taking a drink of water, Lazlo watched her. She was watching
him and looking as if she were trying to understand something as she narrowed
her eyes. “What is it?”
“Nothing. Just wondering if you’re ready to keep going.”
She nodded.
Lazlo walked after her as Del headed into a narrow opening
in the canyon wall, formed by two pieces of dark-red rock that had fallen
against each other. Lazlo wondered if he would be able to fit through it—she
was much more
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