Devon was fairly certain that her fingernails were now permanently blue. The little juniper berries seemed to burst open with the slightest pressure, and she had yet to master the art of cleanly removing the downy, thistle-like stems. Bess had quickly applied a bit of antibacterial gel to her finger tips before beginning, so quickly Devon had barely had time to question the action before the first little berry exploded in her hand. Now Devon watched as the deep blue juice blossoming into tiny flora in the ridges of her battle-scarred finger nails.
Something about her own innocent mistake embarrassed her. Bess' preparation had obviously been hard-learned, and the leader herself became sharply aware of how little time she spent helping to prepare the group's meals. She wondered how many moments like this one she'd missed; insisting that her time would be better spent elsewhere.
Even today, she put off joining Bess and True in the Mess Tent, choosing first to spend some time with the navigational data, during which she'd gotten precisely nothing accomplished. Her thoughts were all a jumble; Bess' sudden presence as a shoulder to lean on, True's casual proclamations regarding her memories of her mother, her most recent knock down, drag out brawl with Danziger-- all pf them fighting for dominance.
Eventually, she realized that all her posturing was nothing but a pretense. There was no route to plan, no new data to speak of, and even the prospect of dreaming up new scenarios to worry about with Yale didn't seem at all pro-active or appealing. What she needed, just this once, was not to think about anything. Finally, a few hours later, she ended where she'd begun, sitting next to Bess with a lap full of berries.
Most days, this would be exactly the type of mindless activity that she would try her best to escape doing altogether, but now somehow the task seemed soothing. The soft, slippery, visceral feel of the fresh fruit in her hands, the lulling drum of drizzle on the roof of the dome, and even-- especially -- the quiet lullaby-sweet babble of Bess beside her. She was tickled with the strange turn the morning had taken, that she'd suddenly found herself so comfortable in the Earth-Res' presence; this virtual stranger she'd spent the last eleven months with.
Devon was thrilling in her recent discovery that she didn't always have to be singular; alone in her experiences and feelings. And even if she wasn't quite ready to share her emotions with everyone so openly, it had never occurred to her that anyone else could even understand them. Now sitting here, turning into The Creature from the Synth Lagoon, she realized she been a fool.
Truly being with others didn't always mean you had to give pieces of yourself away. The heart to heart that she and Bess had shared with True had shown her all the gifts there were to receive, if you opened yourself to the experiences of others.
"…And so I was telling her about summer vacation, and True seems to think it should definitely be enforced once we start cultivating crops at New Pacifica." Bess shook her head, chuckling as she expertly plucked three stems at once, tossing the whole berries into a pot filled with cool water to rinse.
It took Devon a minute to catch up to the conversation, which she then decided had gotten too far away from her to be salvaged.
She smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry Bess, I was light years away. Um, summer vacation?"
Bess nodded eagerly, clearing a large pile of stems into the small flame she'd started in a stone ring on the floor. Devon had been flummoxed as to why she didn't just use one of the Therma-Plates until Bess revealed that the sweetest jam had to be stewed over an open flame, and that was that.
"Summer vacation is pretty much the sweetest sound an Earth-Res kid can hear," she smiled fondly, remembering. "It's an earth thing- an old earth tradition that just sort of stuck. Back before pre-modern technology, when children of farmers were needed to help harvest crops through the warmest months. The children wouldn't attend school for two or three months of the year. Summer vacation. Anyway, True insists it's going to be vital to the success of the colony." She finished with a smirk, seeing Devon's skepticism.
"Oh, I'm sure she does. And I'm willing to bet Uly also has a strong opinion on the matter."
Her son was growing up to be so much like her in so many ways, it wouldn't surprise Devon in the least if he'd come up with a speech for her in their tent this evening, one that would no doubt outline the benefits of putting 'summer vacation' into practice. As much as she appreciated that he was well behaved, sometimes she just wished he'd throw a good old fashioned tantrum for once.
There was something completely endearing about those seldom, yet sure as the tide, screaming matches that took place in the Danziger tent. Or anywhere else in camp, for that matter. She felt humbled in the presence of John's fierce, all-encompassing love for his daughter and the rays of affection that shone in True's eyes when he dad returned home, whether it be from a week long scout or from just across the campsite. Despite the fact Devon loved her son more than life itself, that she'd crossed the galaxy to give him a chance at life, the Danziger's relationship sometimes made her feel like she and Ulysses were business acquaintances at best.
"My father never mourned my mother's passing." Bess' abrupt subject change took her breath away for a moment, and studying the Earth-Res' carefully composed face Devon realized this was the conversation that Bess had really wanted to have all along.
"I'm convinced it's what killed him at such an early age. It was like one day she was there, and the next she was gone, and after the shock of it all he just woke up one morning having convinced himself she had never existed. If he ever once shed a tear, or took solace in the memories he had of her, we never saw him do it.
"He was a truly great father, don't get me wrong! He gave my siblings and I everything we needed and he did it with grace, but he wouldn't give himself an inch. And then he was gone, too. It wasn't until all my friends and family commented to me how it was so sudden, so unexpected, that I realized that they couldn't be more wrong. It had never occurred to me just how long a person's body can survive when their heart is broken."
Two small berries plinked into the metal pot, and Devon learned another important lesson of the kitchen. Talking was fine; baring your deepest thoughts and fears was totally acceptable-- as long as you kept working while you did it.
A hundred questions floated to the surface of Devon's mind at Bess' soft confession. Had her father truly never loved again? Hadn't his love for his children been --wasn't John's love for True enough? Did she think Danziger's well-being was honestly in that much jeopardy? How can you convince a man that strong it's okay to be weak?
"Oh my gosh, Devon, don't look so pained!" Bess' laughter restored the balance in the room like a breeze blowing aside the curtain of shadows. "I didn't mean for it to sound so grim! My father's life was his own, and even though Danziger and my father are cut from the same cloth, they are two very different pairs of pants!."
Devon attempted a small smile, and Bess leaned in until Devon was forced to meet her eyes. "My father spent his whole life on Earth, in the same mines his father helped drill and on the land where his family had been living for generations. He was surrounded, for better or worse, by his family. If he'd been a loner like John, I'm sure he would have made new friends, shared new loves. Besides, Arthur Klempt was always a solitary, reserved soul. He wouldn't be caught dead having a shouting match in the middle of camp with his daughter over lost socks, and he would never have allowed himself to be so bold as to take the risks John takes for those he cares about. In many ways, John has had a lot more to lose in his lifetime than my father ever did. But that just means he still has so much to gain."
Devon found herself nodding, not trusting herself to speak. Instead, she concentrated on keeping the berries intact as she removed stem after stem.
"Don't tell me True's willingly submitting to a math lesson. Where'd she run off to?" She finally asked, clearing her throat, not quite ready to comment on Bess' so aptly put observations regarding the girl's father. Bess finished shucking the last of her pile, shrugging as she used a dish rag to wipe the gel from her fingertips.
"Actually, she never turned up. I think she just needed to spend some time with her dad. She's been worrying about him probably as much as we've been." She gathered the last of Devon's pile and added them to the pot along with her own, carefully draining the sediment-ridden water and rinsing them again.
It was a strange sensation for Devon to take such a comment in stride. Normally, she'd be running her mouth, eager to convince Bess that she wasn't at all worried about John Danziger. Just yesterday, she would have been insisting emphatically that he could take care of himself. Of course, now that the cat was out of the bag that this simply wasn't true, it didn't stop Devon from feeling a slight blush rising on her cheeks. Dear lord, she'd spent so many months on this planet lying to herself and to everyone else about her relationship with Danziger, and now she could see with clarity and chagrin that she hadn't succeeded in fooling anyone but herself.
"Well, then I hope they're both getting the rest they deserve," she added, reaching for a small broken piece from one of the long-since jettisoned mesh grids of the 'Rover. It had been rigged with a spoke from the ATV as a handle.
Devon remembered the day a few months back when Danziger had unceremoniously plopped the crooked shard of metal next to Bess' dinner plate, giving the Earth-Res a quick wink as he sat down across from her and began rapidly shoveling down meager Spirolina rations. As she gently took the instrument from Devon and began methodically mashing the berries, a quiet chuckle from Bess signified that she recalled it as well.
"You remember when Danziger made this for me?" Bess mused, standing from her stool for better leverage.
"I found you a masher, so you'd better find me some potatoes." Devon quoted from memory, knowing that there probably wasn't a soul in Eden Advance who didn't remember that particular gem of 'Danziger Logic.' Bess laughed, wiping a rogue splatter of berry from her cheek.
"You know, every time I use this thing, I look forward to someday making poor John a decent meal."
"He's a piece of work." Devon sighed, unconsciously slipping back into her old routine. At the first sign of affection it was de rigueur to say something derogatory. That was how she handled all topics involving John Danziger, wasn't it? Bess took her comment with a grain of salt, gently reminding Devon to look at it a different way.
"He's a considerate piece of work, Devon. I don't want to fix him dinner because he's always griping about rations like Morgan or Baines, I just want to because…well, he made me a masher." Bess had the peculiar ability to imbue even the most matter of fact statement with a deeper emotional significance, and Devon immediately knew exactly what her friend was trying to say.
So, he'd made Bess a masher. He'd made Alonzo a splint. He'd made Uly mobile--and ultimately gotten him literally up and running again, despite her maternal paranoia. He'd made his daughter a home, time and time again, no matter where the work had taken them. Of course, more often than not he'd made Devon herself just plain furious.
She was beginning to realize that maybe that was his gift to her; the ability to feel so strongly about another human being that the actual emotions themselves didn't so much matter. Maybe he'd been calling her bluff this whole time, patiently waiting for the day she would realize he was saving her a spot on the inside of the joke.
Devon caught the rustle of movement in her peripheral vision, and turned to see her son had somehow snuck into the tent with neither she nor Bess being the wiser. He was currently crouched, rooting through the small bin of fruit the recent excess of vegetation had enabled them to offer as "snacks" operating with a sort of 'take a penny, leave a penny' sensibility. It encouraged the Edenites to always keep an eye out for more provisions, and lessened the chance of the entire bin falling victim to Morgan's private stash.
Devon noticed, with a slight furrow of the brow, that her son was acting awfully furtively for someone who wasn't doing anything wrong. Which meant that he probably was.
"What are you up to, Uly?" She asked good naturedly, watching as Bess expertly siphoned the mashed berries from the small amount of juice that had accumulated at the bottom of the pot. Devon knew the Earth Res would most likely use it later to flavor whatever bland concoction would ultimately be served for dinner. They'd found in recent months that just because the native vegetation was edible, it didn't necessarily mean it tasted that way. Bess Martin had an arsenal of tricks up her sleeve for combating this problem.
"Nothing mom, I'm just getting a snack," Uly responded mechanically, finally settling on a small oblong piece of fruit that had quickly become a favorite with the kids. Despite it's mottled brown, somewhat fuzzy exterior, the juicy green pulp hidden inside was almost sickeningly sweet. Rising from his crouch, her son quickly brushed off his knees and made a bee line for the exit.
"Hey, Uly, come here for a second," she beckoned, more amused than concerned about his behavior. Head ducked, he sidled over to the table, and she reached out to grab him and give him a peck on the cheek, ruffling his hair despite the slight glare she received for treating him like such a little boy. "How you doing out there, you're not getting soaked are you?" She carefully patted the sleeves of his jersey. He seemed reasonably dry, considering. Uly shrugged, darting an eye toward the tent flap. With a bit of difficulty, he scrambled up onto the stool next to her own, his pendulous feet nearly a foot off the ground.
"You don't have to worry about me mom," he assured her somberly, without a trace of the usual sarcasm reserved for children exasperated with their parents. "I know you're busy."
Devon felt a small chuckle escape at his seriousness tone, and beside her she heard Bess do the same.
"Well, I'm not that busy, Honey." Uly deflected his gaze towards the entrance once again, the worry lines in Devon's brow deepening at his despondent face. "Are you lonely out there without True? You could show me how to play your Sheriff vid," she offered, knowing he'd never turn down a chance to play with someone who would let him be the hero in every round.
At the mention of True, a fleeting trace of something Devon couldn't name clouded her son's eyes.
"I guess she needed some time with her dad all to herself, " he mumbled, the slightest bitterness in his tone. Devon and Bess shared a brief look of understanding.
"Don't worry, Uly." Bess smiled sympathetically. "She's just wants to see that her dad gets some rest."
"Yeah, you'll see her later, Champ." Devon stroked his hair, bending to meet the boy's eyes. "Why don't you run and get our Gear, I want to see how you handle that six shooter you're always telling me about." Smiling a bit, Uly wiggled off the stool and landed with a boyish squeak.
"That's okay, Mom. Mr. Danziger said not to bother you. Besides, I'm building a fort!"
Shrugging off the boy's mention of Danziger's warning as a general edict rather than a single occurrence, Devon rolled her eyes in Bess' general direction. This was yet another prime example of their differing parenting styles.
"Well, okay, but be careful. And come inside if it starts coming down again, okay?" She knew full well he'd be soaked to the bone before he even thought of coming inside. While all the Edenites still harbored a bit of childlike curiosity at the feel of actual rain, none more so than the actual children. Well, the children and, amusingly, Denny Walman.
"I will." Uly answered automatically. He'd made it almost as far as the door when Devon called to him again, helping Bess lift the heavy pot of mashed berries over the fire.
"And later on we'll find True and you can both teach me how too lasso those outlaws, okay?" She promised, expecting a much different response than the one she received.
"When are the coming back?" Uly asked, a bit of his prior irritation returning.
"When is who coming back, Uly?" Bess inquired as she wiped her hands on a nearby dishrag.
"True and her dad. They wouldn't tell me where they were going," he informed the two women sullenly. Before Devon could make heads or tails of this revelation, Baines blustered into the Mess Tent with a flurry of flailing sun-bronzed arms and sunny yellow tarpaulin.
"Devon, you'd better get out here! Zero's gone bananas and I can't find Danziger!"
Without offering any further explanation, he exited and took off again at a run, and out of sheer force of habit Devon was up and running toward the next crisis even as she struggled to wrap her brain around just what the hell Uly had meant. Correctly assuming that Bess and her son had followed suit, she addressed them without looking back.
"Stay with Bess! I don't want you anywhere near a malfunctioning Zero Unit, Uly, do you understand me? Why don't you go get Mr. Danzi--"
"He's not here, mom! I told you, he and True took the Rail! I want to see what's going on!" He jumped up and down at her side, and just across the clearing she could hear several of the crew members shouting, only to be answered by the cool, detached and incredibly irritating voice of Zero.
"What do you mean, Uly? He's supposed to be in his tent resting with True." Bess asked anxiously. The two of them skidded to a halt when Devon stopped short, whirling around.
"Uly, did you see them leave?" She asked gravely, and the boy nodded distractedly, watching the frantic goings on several yards away. "Where where they going?"
"Mom, I told you! They wouldn't tell me, they just got in the 'Rail and Mr. Danziger told me not to bother you, and then they--"
"Devon! We need you over here now, it's destroying the 'Rover!" Walman's demand rose above all the other rabble, and Devon shook her head in disbelief, torn between the situation at hand and hearing the rest of Uly's story.
"Go, Devon! I'll keep him away, and we'll have a little chat, okay?" With a swift nod, Devon accepted Bess' offer and did her best to run across the rain slicked terrain towards the chaos.
"…at 09:43 my voice recognition lock was activated by Danziger, John."
Devon didn't have the slightest clue as to what was happening, but as she drew close enough to hear the Zero's declaration, she realized that their mechanical problems had just become a another matter all together.
"Override!" Cameron shouted angrily, ducking just in time to narrowly avoid being struck by the Transrover's mammoth hood, which had been completely removed and weightlessly hefted by Zero. The robot placed the giant piece of metal gently on the ground in a growing pile of components. Devon could see that several of the "wheels" had been unbolted, and the vehicle's rubberized tread had been cleanly severed, twisting like tree roots from where it was pinned by the weight of the cab.
"Zero Unit override! Voice command override!" Cameron continued, shouting frantically.
"I'm sorry, I'm unable to accept any override command that does not match the voiceprint of Danziger, John. Rest assured, I am fully equipped to perform this operation. I come with a complete line of vehicle assembly accessories." With frustratingly deliberate movements, Zero returned to the front end of the mining vehicle and with a series of sharp, clanking noises it removed what could only be a vital piece of circuitry before adding it to the pile.
"Damnit, Baines, what's the damn code!" Walman shouted from where he, along with Mazatl, Denner and Magus stood in a half circle around the renegade unit, futilely watching the robot's methodic destruction. They knew better than to attempt approaching the unit, less they be seriously injured by its strength. Baines was hanging out of the cab, relentlessly pushing buttons on the computer dash.
"The entire system is down!" He shouted angrily. "Not only is the vehicle not responding, but the navigational equipment and data log are completely non responsive!"
As Zero purposefully strode past the newly arrived leader, Devon could see what was clearly the 'Rover's engine being effortlessly deposited in the pile.
"What the hell is it doing?" She asked a acutely pissed off Magus, jumping at the loud thump of another half-ton of metal hitting the ground.
"Where's the damn manual!" Alonzo shouted from the Worm Tent nearby, where he was riffling through a stack of data pads frantically.
"It's taking the shankin' thing apart, piece by piece!" Magus informed her with a tinge of panic in her voice. "It's telling us John ordered a complete disassembly!"
Devon could understand the woman's fears, having always had an aversion to mankind's dependence on Droids and Zeros. She knew there had never been an officially recorded instance of a Zero Unit ever harming a human being, but there had been rumors in the upper-echelon that, during testing, the newest models of Domestic Aide Units had become noncompliant, even territorial.
"Lonz, you gotta find that manual…" Walman nearly begged, as Zero easily unbolted the six-foot radiator grille.
"I come with a complete internal manual feature," Zero informed them nonchalantly as he continued to work, "Feel free to ask any questions you may have about my functions and features."
Hoping that the disaster could be averted by simply asking the right question, Devon spoke loudly to Zero, carefully choosing her words.
"Zero, I have a question! What is the factory reset code on this unit?" By the time she'd finished asking, everyone was silent enough to hear a pin drop, hoping for a small miracle.
"All reset, abort and modify codes are classified under Voiceprint Auto-Protect. At 09:43 my Voice Recognition Lock was activated by Danziger, John. Unfortunately, I can only acknowledge code requests from Danziger, John's voiceprint."
Devon rolled her eyes, dropping her face into her hands.
"And where the hell IS he?" Cameron demanded angrily. Devon doubted she'd ever seen the engineer so angry. "Who the hell does he think he is?"
"Danziger, John. Chief of Operations for Starship Roanoke. Immigrant Worker number 72354160. I'm am currently secured to his voiceprint." Zero supplied helpfully as the Transrover listed dangerously to one side. The crew scattered, Baines skittishly leaping from the cab.
Devon was at a complete loss as to what to do but she knew that, before they could try to locate John and True, they had to stop the Zero Unit from completely dismantling their only source of mass transportation. It made no sense that Danziger would leave without telling anyone he was taking the 'Rail to begin with, but it was inconceivable that he would willingly sabotage anything that the group relied on to survive. And even if he would, he would never damage the 'Rover. To him it would be akin to murdering a human being, both in terms of his affection for the vehicle and what its loss would mean to Eden Advance.
"It's just taking it apart? For no good reason?" She asked the crew, flabbergasted. "Has it said anything about useful about what 'task' it's completing?"
"It just keeps saying 'currently scheduled Vehicle Disassembly and Maintenance,'" Alonzo commiserated as he approached the leader from behind, having admitted defeat in finding the cargo manifest documents.
"Zero, what is your currently scheduled task?" Devon asked quickly, infuriated by the oxymoron of such a machine, with it's calm, humanoid voice and computer driven circuitry impossible to reason with.
"I am currently executing task number 9948276, Complete Vehicle Disassembly and Maintenance. Assigned by Danziger, John at 09:47. I am currently secured--"
"We understand, Zero!" She shouted at the machine in frustration.
"Wait a second, Zero. Repeat task information!" Walman suddenly spoke up, and when he did so several other crew members began nodding, as though they understood what Walman was hoping to achieve with the command. Devon didn't have the slightest clue.
"I am currently executing task number 9948276, Complete Vehicle Disassembly and Maintenance. Assigned by Danziger, John at 09:47. I am currently secured by his voiceprint. Start time of task 11:00. Estimated completion time of task 22:35. Next scheduled task, number 9948317. Day 246, 11:00." With another metallic screech the Transrover leveled out once again, now sitting a good two feet closer to the ground, all six of its wheels completely removed.
"Zero, give me task information for number 9948317!" Walman demanded quickly, and the robot cheerfully replied.
"Task number 9948317, Vehicle Assembly and Systems Reboot." As Devon deciphered what this new information meant, the crew began to grumble angrily. Cameron threw his hands up in the air and let out an oath, kicking one of the detached wheels in frustration.
"What a bastard," Magus sighed, abruptly stomping back towards her tent in a fury. It was raining harder now, and despite Zero's continued dissection of the 'Rover, it looked as though several crew members were admitting defeat and moving back towards camp.
"What does that mean, Walman?" Devon asked impatiently. From the corner of her eye she could see Bess quickly making her way over to the Transrover, slipping and sliding every few feet.
"That shankin' maniac is playing some sort of prank, Devon. He's programmed Zero to take apart every single system and then rebuild the whole damn thing in twenty four hours!" Devon shook her head in disbelief.
"But why? Why would Danziger ever do something like that? He's been working on these vehicles for days! None of this makes any sense! Where could he have gone? Why would he leave without telling anyone?"
"And why would he take True?" Denner asked quietly, her eyes wide with worry. "He's been warning her that she's going to catch a cold since it started raining! He would never take her farther than they could explore on foot."
Breathless, Bess finally arrived at their sides, her face grave.
"Their tent looks like it's been completely ransacked. All of their belongings are gone, and everything else is toppled." Holding something up for inspection, she continued. "I found John's Gear on the bunk, he didn't take it with him." Instead of the usual anger and annoyance that would swell inside her at such a discovery, Devon felt a pang of panic deep in her stomach.
"Does True have hers? Did she have it on this morning?" Bess nodded quickly.
"Yes, she was definitely wearing it when we were foraging earlier. I think she's still got it, Devon, I didn't find it in the tent." Taking a moment to compose herself, Bess met Devon's gaze with a nervous intensity. "What is he doing, Devon? Where would he go? Why would he leave us?"
Devon felt a strange sense of comfort as Bess confirmed the awful notion she'd been desperately trying to quell in her own line of thinking. Though she had no idea how, and certainly no idea why, Devon was instinctively sure that this wasn't some kind of misunderstanding. This was no routine scout or spur of the moment father/daughter adventure. He'd taken their personal effects, he'd left behind his gear, and he'd effectively sabotaged the one way anyone would be able to track him down.
She stared at Bess in shock. The ramifications of John's desertion were impossible to comprehend. Grabbing Devon by both shoulders, Bess leaned in, as to be out of earshot of the dwindling group.
"Devon, he's sick. I think he's very, very sick," she said calmly, explicitly, at the same time soothing the leader's angst and prodding her to action. Bess was right, there was time to worry about the 'how' and 'why' later. At the moment they had to concentrate fully on the 'where.' Wherever Danziger had run off to, he was physically exhausted and exposed to the elements. He had, in his care, a small and most likely terrified child. And he was hurting. Whatever personal demons had reared their ugly heads, they were killing him.
"How can we track him, Bess, there has to be some way…" She jumped at a sudden wetness on her cheek only to realize it wasn't falling rain, but tears that had welled in her eyes without permission. Bess wisely chose not to acknowledge them.
"Alonzo and Julia have already gone off in the ATV. They're not going to be able to cover much ground in this weather, but they're going to look for any tracks of the 'Rail. Walman is fuming, he wanted to go himself but I, um, I strongly implied that Julia should be the one to go with. I didn't want to get everyone in a panic." Devon nodded, scanning her mind for any clues, and way that she could somehow predict the musings of this man who had suddenly become a stranger.
"Oh my gosh, the Gear Logs!" Bess exclaimed suddenly, instantly starting back for camp, trusting Devon would follow.
"What about them? Bess, I don't really think Danziger is the type who would keep a diary log--" Bess found it somewhere in her heart to chuckle, cutting her off. The sound was like salve on a wound.
"I highly doubt Danziger even knows how to work a diary function, Devon, but the Gear Log records the date and times of all transmissions. We might not be able to get any information about where he went, but we might be able to figure out where he was trying to go or what he was trying to accomplish. It would be a start in the right direction," she persisted, nodding in agreement with herself.
"If he went so far as to change Zero's settings, why on earth wouldn't he secure his own Gear?" The leader asked wearily, nearly falling as the ground beneath her shifted and squished. It did nothing to help the off kilter whirling of her thoughts.
"There's a chance he didn't think of it, Devon. He obviously hasn't been thinking very clearly." Bess caught Devon's arm to steady her as the rainfall increased, the wind whipping it from all directions. "Besides, even if it is locked, there's not an encryption system in existence that Morgan can't figure out. He's a genius with the things."
Devon nodded, hearing what Bess was saying even as she couldn't fully assimilate it.
Every moment she'd spent with Danziger over the past few days was being psychologically analyzed. Every gruesome, uncomfortable combative verbal spar; every ache and pain, every wince was being cataloged. When she did speak again, what she heard coming out of her mouth was nothing like what she was thinking.
She was thinking that there had to be a logical reason for Danziger to flee so suddenly. She was thinking that they needed to get Morgan out of that damn VR game and that he needed to crack John's gear as soon as possible. She was thinking that they needed to organize search parties to go out on foot with jumpers to look for some trace of Danziger's direction. They had to act now, and they had to act fast.
"He's out there in the rain, Bess," was all she could say. "He's hurt and he's alone out there with True."
Over and over.
Stopping all forward motion, Bess quickly swept the distraught woman into her arms, hugging her with such force it bordered on pain. They were right in the middle of camp, and it should have bothered Devon to have such a moment of vulnerability right here for all to see, but at that moment it was the furthest thing from her mind. She took a deep breath, grateful that Bess hadn't bothered to try placating her with niceties and false promises, and when the Earth-Res pulled away she met Devon's eyes with complete conviction.
"Let's go rip that set off my husband's head."