Authors: Lynn Rae
Del smiled and kept her eyes on the terrain in front of the
cart. She’d pestered the man enough. Three hundred bumpy meters later, Del
decided to be merciful and introduce another topic. “What would you like to
talk about?”
“Our drone is interesting. Did you know it has a new fission-cell
drive? It has power for twelve years—well, three years for full-use power—and
if we can work out the guidance system issues, we’ll be able to patrol
twenty-five percent of this continent’s land mass.” Lazlo was back to his usual
sunny self, smiling and gesturing with enthusiasm.
“Does it carry any sensors or is it solely video feed?”
Sensors could potentially pick up hollows in the rocks and help narrow their
search area.
“They come to us set for video, but we can probably add a
few modules to scan for basic things like heat or geologic displacement. This
one is programmed for beaconing, fresh from the factory.” Lazlo shrugged. “You
know, this is our last set of coordinates.”
“I know.”
“Do you have that feeling yet?” Lazlo opened the box of
éclairs and handed her one.
“What feeling?” Right now, Del was only feeling satisfaction
as she breathed in the fresh air and sniffed in the scent of lemon pastry.
“That feeling you told me about, the one you get before you
find something wonderful.” Lazlo took a huge bite of his own éclair after his
question. He licked a smear of cream filling from the corner of his mouth and
Del wrenched her head back to face forward, her stomach tightening with
dreadful excitement. Something wonderful indeed.
“Oh
that
feeling. No, I don’t have it yet,” Del
managed to say and then tried her own pastry so she had something to do with
her mouth.
“Will you let me know when you do?”
“Yes, Lieutenant, I will,” Del needled. It was past time for
her to put a little distance between them if just seeing his tongue had
distracted her so severely.
“Lazlo,” he reminded her with a near growl.
“Yes, I know your name. Lieutenant Lazlo.”
* * * * *
After finding another good hiding place for the cart and
concealing it, Lazlo and Del set off at a moderate hiking pace. She assured him
they had at least a kilometer to go in rough territory before they could
actually start to search. Del was quiet as they walked and Lazlo kept his eye
on her. His guide was constantly scanning the ground ahead of them and the horizon
before them, not often checking the map on her datpad. Since he didn’t need to
use much of his brain for hiking, Lazlo wondered about Del—what was her
favorite food, did she like to read, had she had a broken heart? She was so
reserved, he wondered what she was like on an actual date. Was she flirty? Shy?
Aggressive? The thought of an aggressive Del was mighty intriguing and he
contemplated that for several hundred entertaining meters.
Del slowed and stopped at the start of a narrow ravine, the
rock here shaded from rusty burgundy to near purple, bands of different shades
making the scenery look like an artist’s brush rag. Fungal life was sparse.
Lazlo had seen only a few tough-looking gray patches of domed caps and a few
tattered lichen blankets. Otherwise everything was silent and hot.
“This is where it’s going to get tough.” Del pointed down
and he took a look. The ground sank away in front of them into a narrow,
shadowy gorge. “Let’s fly your drone now. I don’t think we should try it from
down there.”
Lazlo took off his pack and removed the drone’s case,
opening it and activating the engine. All indicators were go within seconds and
he cautiously switched on the jet intake. The little drone sputtered and sighed
in his hand, straining to take off. “Del, come here.” He beckoned to her and
when she reached his side, he took her hand and placed it on the drone. “I want
you to launch it.”
She shook her head and tried to draw back. “No, I’m all
dusty. I’ll make a smudge on it.”
Lazlo shook his head, pulling her back to him. “You’ll be
fine. Come on, just hold it up and give it a little push as you let it go.”
Giving him a skeptical look, Del gingerly picked up the
shuddering drone. “It’s moving!”
“Hold on to it.” Lazlo laughed at her shocked expression. “It
has a tiny engine—the intakes are right there.” He pointed to the small opening
under the nose of the drone. “Solar skin runs along all of the wings.” The
little device glittered and shone in her hands and she nodded, lifting it
overhead.
“I’m going to break it. I’m sure it’s really expensive,” Del
warned him. “I’ll let go and it will just fall and break into a bunch of
pieces.
“No you aren’t going to break it. Just let it fly.” Shooting
a worried look his way, Del swung the drone into the air and it raced away,
quickly spiraling up as it calibrated its location, the orbiting circles
widening the higher it got until it swung out of sight. Del turned back to him
after it disappeared and grinned, enthusiastically grabbing his hand and arm as
she bounced on the balls of her feet. Lazlo held on to her without a thought.
“That was so fantastic! Thank you for letting me do that.”
Del glowed with excitement and Lazlo felt something catch in his gut. He wanted
to do something to make her that happy. Lazlo wanted to draw her closer and
touch her cheek or her hair, feel her press against him. He’d just decided to
lean closer when Del broke the spell by stepping back, pulling her hand from
his, and he was disappointed. Stars, he was liking her. More and more, too
much, too fast. That wasn’t part of his plans while living on Sayre or his
intentions for her. She was right—he wasn’t going to stay and Del was the type
of person who needed permanence.
No more touching
, Lazlo promised
himself. Touching meant she was too close.
Looking up into the lavender sky, she shaded her eyes and
peered around, thankfully not noticing his disrupted thinking. “Where is it
going? How will you get it back?”
Clearing his throat, Lazlo spoke up. “I set the pattern to
survey the area we’re going to be in, a few square kilometers. It should take
about three hours and then it will just circle until I signal for it to return.”
“Good, that gives us some time.” She picked up his pack and
handed it to him, back to business as she took a few steps away from him and
concentrated on the path ahead.
“Let’s go, big guy.” Turning on her heel, Del hopped down in
the ravine and disappeared into the gloom, boots crunching in the loose pink
gravel. Feeling unaccountably irritated, whether with his inappropriate urges
or Del’s hasty retreat, Lazlo followed several paces behind.
Del felt like running, dashing into the narrow canyon and
not stopping until she could find a cave to crawl in. What an idiot she was,
grabbing the man’s hand and arm like that. It was so inappropriate. What was
wrong with her? Lazlo was objectively attractive of course, but she was hardly
the sort of person to simply fling herself at a handsome man. It was likely due
to how nice and kind he was. He brought her coffee for stars’ sake. How could
she not be impressed?
Walking quickly and very much not looking back to see if he
was following, Del kept on, looking at the rock walls enclosing the small
canyon. Nothing caught her attention. Something had to soon, since this was
their last set of coordinates. Without success, she wasn’t going to be paid and
she needed to improve her bank account. What she didn’t need was another
useless infatuation, fawning after Lazlo like poor Trixie.
Locking her muddled feelings down, Del paused, taking a good
look at the topography on her paper map, feeling like an ancient explorer for a
moment, then evaluating her surroundings. These formations were old and solid. Good
for construction and concealment. And since she was where she should be, it was
time to start looking carefully now.
Lazlo arrived silently, standing several meters away and
frowning at a fractured igneous intrusion as if it were a pickpocket on the Boulevard.
“Come on,” Del urged. “This is where we start.”
They started to walk along the valley floor, cliff walls
rising overhead, lavender sky visible as a narrow glowing strip above their
heads. Fine gravel crunched underfoot as they walked and the air around them
was humid and still, smelling of sulfur from a nearby thermal vent and the
mustiness of growing fungus—the signature aroma of Sayre.
“How do you think the drone is doing up there?”
“Probably still circling and gaining altitude,” Lazlo
answered tersely.
“Can it detect us down here?” Del looked up at the little
sliver of sky visible between walls of stone.
“It’s not set for any of our readings, so no.” Lazlo kicked
at a blackish rock. “Do you see anything likely?”
“No.”
“Do you have that feeling yet?” He sounded distracted or
annoyed and Del wondered why as she shook her head. It was hard to listen to
her intuition when Lazlo was radiating such ill humor.
Del kept walking, noting the location of a few interesting
specimens as she passed them—red umbarlite, reticulated obsidian and a nest of
geodes. Too heavy to pick up now, but she could return and get them at another
time. Lazlo kicked at another rock as they walked around a large chunk of
fallen cliff embedded in the sand and split into several sections.
“Why are you kicking at the rocks?”
“They’re in my way,” Lazlo responded grumpily.
“I’ll be sure to stay out of range then,” Del shot back,
irritated by his attitude.
“Stars, Del, I’m not going to kick you.” Lazlo sounded
aggrieved at her suggestion.
“You have long legs, Casta.”
Lazlo stopped walking and stood looking at her, frustration
radiating out of his tensed shoulders and tight expression. “You think I’d do
that?”
Del paused in comparing her map with the terrain and looked
at him. “You seem annoyed. You’re kicking at things. I’m standing right here.
Seems like a natural progression.”
“I am irritated. I’m irritated that you think I would hurt
you, like I’m some temperamental thug who lashes out. Solves problems with
brute force.” He took a breath and stared at her. “All my life, people have
treated me like I was dangerous just because I happen to be big.”
Del blinked, not sure how to approach this issue. “Casta, I
don’t think you’re going to hurt me.”
“Good, because I’m not.”
“That’s good. I don’t want to be hurt.” Del took a calming
breath, wanting to make things better between them. The episode with Trixie and
their subsequent disagreement seemed to have bothered him as much as her. “How
about I stop calling you big?”
“I understand why you do. It’s all right.” He swallowed and
looked marginally calmer. “I’ll stop kicking rocks.”
“Good. I might be able to sell some of them if they don’t
have boot prints all over them,” Del tried to joke.
Lazlo gave her a tiny smile. “I’m not strong enough to kick
rocks apart.”
Del smiled back and took a step toward him, glad he was
returning to affability. “I can’t be sure. You have some muscles on you.”
Lazlo shook his head and looked calmer. Leaning down, he
picked up a hand-sized chunk of fused crystals and handed it to her. “So what
is this?”
“Gravenolure.”
“Is it worth much?”
“No.”
Placing the gravenolure back where he found it, Lazlo took a
few steps and retrieved another sample, this one a little smaller, pale gray
with charcoal threads running through it. “What about this one?”
“Midated borlonium inclusion in granite.”
“Worth much?”
Del held it up and inspected it more closely. “It’s a fair
specimen. If the brolonium crystals were larger, a collector would be
interested, but this one would be good for a teaching lab. I’d sell it for
twelve or thirteen hundred marks.”
Lazlo looked impressed. “So why aren’t you picking up this
stuff as we go along?”
“My job is to guide you, not wander around looking for my
own salvage. Besides, these things get heavy once you start carrying them.” Del
grinned. “I’m making notes on where the good stuff is so I can come back later
with a loaderbot to carry it.”
With an understanding nod, Lazlo smiled back and took the
mineral sample from her. “I want you to have this today. I’ll carry it.” He
pulled off his pack and shoved the rock inside, then pulled out a water bottle.
Del shrugged and unclamped hers from her belt.
Gesturing with her water bottle, she decided to get them
back on track. “Drink up and let’s keep moving.”
* * * * *
After their water break, they both pulled out scanners and
began to slowly survey the area, taking the time to poke the instruments in
between folds in the rock and hold them up high to get better range. As they
approached a narrow part of the gorge, filled with numerous fallen rocks
ranging in size from mere pebbles to several meters, first Lazlo’s and then Del’s
scanners began to hiss. Checking the displays, they found there were several
open areas behind sections of eroded cliff. Lazlo was excited and turned to Del
with a questioning look.
“So what do you think?” He watched her as she sank down to
an awkward slump on the sand, too engrossed in the readings to pay much
attention to what her body was doing. Del muttered under her breath for him to
let her alone and he tried to stay quiet and let her concentrate.
“Either we’ve reached an area full of natural caverns and
fissures, which is possible with this particular strata, or we might have
something.” Del peered up at him and he crouched down next to her, not too
close, but close enough to look at her display over her shoulder. Her shirt was
unbuttoned enough he could just see the tops of her breasts if he were so
inclined. Which he wasn’t. But the initial curves were pretty.
“Do you like the size?” Del asked.
“The size?” Lazlo reacted belatedly, sure that she had been
reading his mind. From what he could see, their size was perfectly wonderful.
Embarrassed by his juvenile reaction, he frowned and tried to reorient himself.