6AM. Not yet dawn, but the sky was definitely lightening and had a mountain not been in the way, the two men would have seen the barest beginnings of pink at the horizon. Venus, the Morning Star, was high in the heavens and Nick recognized it as a harbinger of daybreak. He glanced over at Grissom and saw that his bosswas awake and staring at the sky himself. So much for taking off without the Big Guy knowing.
Gonna have to use your smooth talking, Stokes. Convince the man it would be best if you left him here to wait to see if help shows up. You're good at talking to people- your one real skill. Use it.
"Hey, Gris. Sleep well?" he asked with a grin. "You're a lucky man, wearing that beard," he chuckled, rubbing a hand over his stubbly face. "This itches. First thing I'm gonna grab when I get home is my razor. Then again, maybe I'll grow a beard too, huh?"
Grissom tried to picture the young man's strong jaw covered by a bushy dark beard. "Nah. You'd look like a lumberjack. All this back to nature stuff is getting to your head."
Nick laughed and nodded. "Okay. But I changed my mind. After we get back I eat everything in my fridge-then I shave!"
"Tell you what, Nick. When we get back, pancakes are on me."
"Sure thing, Gris. You are making the Big Boss' salary after all." Nick laughed more at that thought. They all knew they didn't do this job for the big paycheck. "You know, I've been thinking. As the Big Boss, maybe you should stay here at our little crime scene. Secure it, you know?" Lame, Stokes. "Besides, you know the captain isn't supposed to be part of the Away Team."
Grissom stared at Nick like he had suddenly switched to speaking in French.
Good, Stokes. Star Trek references. If only it was Archie you were trying to convince. This is going swimmingly. Hey! I'm trying here! Not doing so bad considering no sleep, no food, and this knife stuck in my gut. Damn! Cut me some slack!
Grissom's stare only increased in intensity as he saw that Nick was obviously trying to put together a coherent thought. His concern grew and he felt he'd better break up the fight, internal though it may be. "Nick. If you're trying to suggest that we split up and you go for help, may I remind you that we have only one gun?"
"Well, I was gonna leave it with you, Gris. I've been thinking on it and I'd have to admit, I'm not gonna get very far if I try to scale the canyon back up to the road, but it can't be more than twenty miles to the ranger station if I walk that way," he said, gesturing with his head in the direction Grissom had been plotting earlier. "If I walk at an average of three miles an hour and start out now I should be there by this afternoon. Call in the troops and get our butts home." He finished with a big smile, hoping his perceived enthusiasm would close the deal.
"Well, I can see you've thought about this…but I have no desire to sit here and wait on this log. I may be older, but I'm not feeble, for Pete's sake. I can keep up with you. I also think we will find that it is closer to thirty miles, Nick. And I have even less desire to sit here when nightfall returns, thank you. We go together, or not at all. Plutarch wrote in his Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commandersthat King Scilurus on his deathbed, being about to leave four-score sons surviving, offered a bundle of darts to each of them, and bade them break them. When all refused, drawing out one by one, he easily broke them, —thus teaching them that if they held together, they would continue strong; but if they fell out and were divided, they would become weak."
It was Nick's turn to stare at his boss. And I was using Star Trek analogies! "Grissom, Man. You lost me at Apophthegms. But I get what you're saying. Together we stand, divided we... yada yada. I hate starting out a journey without a hearty breakfast, but I don't guess we have much choice. Not much to pack up, at least," he finished with a smile.
Grissom hated to put a damper on the younger man's good humor, but he had been thinking about it at length and knew he had no choice but to ask for the one thing he'd been dreading to ask. "Nick, unfortunately we have one major stumbling block. The water here is all alkaline. While some alkalinity is safe, too high an alkalinity can be dangerous to drink. And we aren't walking thirty miles without a water supply. We have a way to check the pH of the water here, but I'm afraid it will entail another climb."
Nick sighed. "Litmus paper. Back in the truck. Looks like I bond with the tree one last time." He rose slowly from where he had spent the night, leaned up against the log. He favored his side, but made a show of stretching his arms and legs. Rocked his head back and forth, working out the kinks. Cracked his knuckles.
Okay, Stokes. Stop stalling. Go. Climb. Can't believe I used to do this for fun.
He returned a short time later, though his trip seemed to take longer each time. He brought back with him a vial of blue and pink slips of litmus paper and a dandynew scratch that ran the length of his face from ear to chin. Feeling the deep scratch and pulling his hand away to look in the new dawn light at the fresh blood covering his fingers, he realized that he probably wouldn't be shaving any time soon.
Lumberjack, huh? I might have to stop off at Walmart and pick me up some flannel shirts.
Grissom silently opened up the first aid kit and offered it to Nick, who shook his head. "Nah. It's just a scratch. And it's so long I'd need to cover my face in ten Band-Aids. Nope. No more stalling, old man. Let's hit the road."
Grissom raised an eyebrow at the "old man" jab, clambered to his feet, and set some weight on his bad ankle. No pain, no gain. Isn't that the adage? Whose adage? Probably a sneaker company ad exec's. He looked Nick in the eye. Was he reading his own pain into the inscrutable expression on his partner's face?
With a final sigh he gestured towards their destination.
"A journey of one thousand miles begins with but a single step."