Victor takes a drive up to the river, and Penny continues to be more persuasive than Vijay.

On the Riverbed

Victor came out of her family's jupiter with a grouchier face than he'd gone in. Paler too, actually. Which Penny found incredibly suspicious.

"Miss Robinson," he greeted her with what Penny could only describe as a long-suffering sigh. He pinched the bridge of his nose, "If you could, please…" He waved his hand from the ATV and Penny moved to get out.

Penny gave him points for holding her crutches up so she could take them from the edge of the seat. She flashed a smile, "Finished the adult conversation then?"

"No," Victor shook his head, eyes narrowing even as his lips twitched. The Dhars really weren't fans of sharing smiles. He nodded towards the tree line, "Hiroki wants me to check something out up by the river."

"Why? I thought he was just taking samples," Penny quirked a brow.

"Apparently it's not there anymore." Victor told her as he got into his seat. He huffed as he leaned his head back against the top of the cushion.

Vijay's brows rose up, "The river isn't there?" Victor nodded. "But we were just there yesterday."

"Thus the concern," Victor drawled, rubbing at his neck as he straightened in his seat. He started the vehicle, then turned sharply around as Penny climbed into the cargo space. "What are you doing?"

"Coming with obviously," Penny grinned at him as she settled in beside the emergency gear, her crutches across her lap and her ankle in the air as she propped her leg up over the back.

"You're injured," Vijay pointed out, brow furrowing, "You should-"

"Arguing with me will just make this take longer," Penny looked expectantly at Victor. He chuckled, eyes closing for a moment, before he shook his head.

"You're a stowaway," Victor said flatly as he started driving. Vijay's eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open. Penny smirked, basking in the sun as they drove away from the Robinson camp site.

Vijay looked from her to his father, frowning, "That never would've worked for me."

"I'm very persuasive," Penny quipped. Victor snorted. He shoved his sunglasses on and focused on their route.

Hiroki had sent coordinates and the computer was sending them over a very different terrain than the one Penny had hiked with Vijay.

It was significantly more desert-like for one.

As they moved deeper into the valley, Penny realized they were driving along what should've been the shoreline of the river. The riverbed was dry. Sand, silt, and stones. Not a drop of water.

"Disconcerting," Penny mumbled under her breath as they followed the remains of the river all the way up to the base of the waterfall.

"Victor!" Hiroki waved from where he was crouched, not far from his jupiter. Victor stopped the ATV beside the jupiter and climbed out.

"Don't touch anything," Victor warned them both, leaning back into the vehicle to make pointed eye contact, "Last thing we need is for the two of you to go wandering off."

Vijay held his hands up, nodding swiftly, "Staying in the vehicle, got it." Victor's eyes snapped to her and Penny gave him a quick thumbs up.

"I'm in no hurry to find something else that wants to kill me."

He narrowed his eyes on her before he left and Penny chuckled. She twisted in her seat to face the front.

"Is your dad always so…" Penny trailed off as she leaned forward into the cab of the vehicle. A strong burning scent filled her nostrils, almost like a fire, but… older. Almost ashy.

"He's definitely freaked about something," Vijay whispered, brows furrowing. He glanced at Penny, at her nose wrinkling. "You can smell it huh?"

"Is that what the burning smell is?" Penny tilted her head, exposing her neck. Vijay's eyes fluttered as her scent leaked into the air, overtaking the panic Victor had left behind.

"Yeah…" Vijay said slowly, throat bobbing. "He's usually better about… keeping his scent down."

"Well, hate it, hiding it," Penny put her elbows up on the back of each seat. She took a deep breath and her scent stopped pumping into the air.

With a huff, Vijay tossed his head back against his seat. His eyes squeezed shut.

Penny probably should've warned him before she'd done that. It would've been the polite thing to do. On the other hand, pushing your scent into the air on purpose is always rude and Penny found the way he was fidgeting in his seat very cute. A little sheen of sweat had even appeared on the back of his neck.

"If I said sorry-"

"You'd be lying," Vijay turned his head, eyes narrowed on her. His throat was bobbing with each breath. Her eyes flicked down to his hands, the fingers were flexing as he squeezed his thighs.

"I am merely collecting data points," Penny pursed her lips to hide her smile. Vijay rolled his eyes. "So, what do you think I smell like?" Penny quirked one eyebrow.

Vijay snorted, chin dropping back to his chest, "I don't know." He shook his head and turned in his seat.

"Aw, come on, I told you what I thought of your scent," Penny pouted, blinking rapidly in her best attempt to look sad and pathetic.

Smirking, Vijay leaned closer, "Technically… you said you hadn't figured it out yet. Just that you ruled out flowers."

"Shut up!" Penny slapped at his arm, mouth gaping, "I said 'earthy!' That's a descriptor."

"Okay," Vijay nodded, "Then, I'll say your's is smoky."

"Smoky?" Penny narrowed her eyes. Vijay shrugged. She huffed, blowing out a breath, "You're officially ruining my fun here."

Whatever possibly witty response Vijay might have had was interrupted by her brother. Yelling and panicking.

"Robot is hurt!" Will shouted, making a bee-line for Penny when he saw her. Victor and Hiroki both rushed over.

"What do you mean your robot is hurt?" Victor cut off Penny before she could even speak. His face was long and his eyes narrowed.

"There was a cliff. I started to fall, he saved me, but he fell. When I looked over the edge, he was in pieces!" Will was gesturing wildly. "We have to go get him!"

"We will, don't worry," Penny climbed down from the ATV and placed both her hands on Will's shoulders. His eyes were trembling. She squeezed lightly. "Robot will be fine."

"It all happened so fast," Will said quietly, looking towards Victor as the man whispered with Hiroki.

Penny followed his gaze, eyes narrowing as both the men lowered their voices even further.

Hiroki cleared his throat, turning to face Will, "Do you know where the robot is exactly? Is it close?"

"Sort of?" Will shrugged, head tilting. Penny winced. Will had also thought the cave was close enough to hide Robot and it had taken a whole afternoon to hike there.

"Show us on the map," Victor nodded his head towards the chariot, arms crossing. Vijay slid from the ATV then, handing Penny her crutches as they all moved towards the other vehicle.

Will pulled up an aerial view of the area and pointed to a spot at the base of a steep cliff. The cliff was close. The valley between it was... less so.

"We won't have time to get the robot and take the samples Hiroki needs from that cave of yours," Victor pursed his lips, forehead wrinkling. His gaze focused on the horizon, "We need to be back at camp before the sun sets."

"What're you saying?" Will huffed, bottom lip coming out in a pout, "I can't leave Robot."

"Your Robot will still be there tomorrow, the samples may not be," Hiroki gestured towards the river.

Penny raised her hand, "Why do you need samples from the cave? Vijay and I didn't-"

"The riverbed has some soil with... curious properties. Will said it looked similar to the rock in the cave you and your siblings visited," Hiroki explained.

Curious properties. That was code for 'does something' if Penny had ever heard one.

"What if we split up then?" Penny suggested, she squeezed Will's shoulder, moving to stand beside him, "We could go get Robot."

Victor looked pointedly at her ankle, "That route is going to include quite a bit of climbing, Miss Robinson."

"I'll go with Will then," Vijay cut in, eyes flicking to Penny, "Both groups have to walk from here anyway right? So, Penny can stay with the vehicles. Provide support if necessary."

Oh, she hated that suggestion. But, Victor was considering it. His gaze was moving from Vijay to her and back with progressively more squinting each time.

"Or, Vijay and I could stay here while you three hit the cave," Penny smirked, drapping an arm over Vijay's shoulder, leaning on him instead of her crutches.

Vijay's face reddened. Victor rubbed at his neck.

"Alright, Vijay, go with Will. You have two hours, if you don't have the robot by then you'll have to come back tomorrow, understood?" Victor had a pointed look to match his sharp hand gestures.

Vijay agreed readily, and with some not-so-subtle prompting from Penny (a wack at his shins with her crutch), Will reluctantly agreed. They headed out while Hirkoki prepped a bag with stuff to collect samples. Some of the containers were bigger than her hands and Penny was fairly positive Hiroki's interest had firmly shifted away from her and Vijay's condition.

"You're not to leave the vehicles," Victor reminded her before they left as well. He nodded at the chariot as she climbed into the driver's seat, "You should stay in the Chariot, maintain radio contact with us and the boys in case something happens."

"Got it!" Penny gave him a double thumbs up. He sighed, head shaking.

"Don't get in to any trouble."

Penny made exactly zero promises. She clicked the button to close the chariot, ignoring Victor's blossoming scowl.

The next hour was extremely boring. Penny did read a few more chapters in a book on her phone. But it was done in silence, which, as a middle child, Penny was against on principle.

"Penny?" Vijay's voice came over the radio. She reached for the speaker.

"Go ahead," Penny set her phone down.

"Can you double check the coordinates Will wrote down for where Robot went down and compare them to ours," Vijay's voice was carefully measured.

Her nose wrinkled as Penny did as he asked, "Yeah, you're in the right place. You made good time, what'd you do, run the whole way?"

"Pretty much, Will is anxious to find Robot," Vijay huffed, and there was a pause, "Robot's not here."

"What?" Penny arched an eyebrow, eyes widening.

"There's drag marks. Will thinks Robot might have put himself back together."

That sounded like Will's optimism, but it also didn't sound possible from Will's previous descriptions.

"We're gonna go a bit deeper into the valley, see if we can find a clue," Vijay sounded skeptical, but Penny knew Will was probably freaking out.

"You've got 45 minutes before your dad's time limit," Penny reminded him.

It was a long minute before he responded, "Acknowledged."

Oh.

Victor was not going to be happy.

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