Tommy hadn't needed the warning from Billy to know he had to be careful, but Billy's words still served their purpose of reminding him not to be so reckless.
It wasn't until that night, when he was staring up at the ceiling and listening to the even sound of Jason's breathing from the bunk against the other wall, that Tommy remembered he'd gone to the command room to find out what Billy knew about the desert, with an eye toward figuring out the local geography beyond the patrol route maps – and how it differed from the landscape back home. The more he thought about it, though, the more he thought he'd made the right decision by not bringing it up just yet.
His place here was shaky enough as it was. He'd have to be careful about arousing suspicion or else the Elders would get the wrong idea. Between that and Kimberly… he was walking a delicate line here. Rather than accepting that sooner or later he was bound to fall, he rolled over and shut his eyes, letting sleep wash over him and hoping that tomorrow would be better.
He went back to Billy's control chamber the next day and for the next several days after that, though he was careful to stay away from the communications equipment and to keep from bothering Billy or any of the Elders that bustled in and out. Based on his earlier visit, Tommy hadn't realized just how busy that control room could be during the day. Not wanting to be in the way—or to seem like he might be snooping around for Ranger secrets—he found a table that was more or less off to the side, gathered up the maps he was interested in, and took a seat.
For several hours, he almost spent more time watching the controlled chaos unfold than he did actually looking at the maps that had brought him here in the first place. Watching the goings-on in the control chamber was more productive than looking at the maps, anyway. There wasn't a single sign of anything he'd been hoping to find. No familiar landmarks. No Command Center.
He had known all along this was probably a hopeless endeavor, but he'd still hoped to find some sort of clue among the Rangers' maps. With no clues in sight, he wasn't sure what to do next. Ask to borrow an airship and go look for an ancient alien building that might not even exist in this world? The Elders already looked on him with suspicion and mistrust. Making bizarre requests was not going to help. He knew that much for sure.
"I wasn't joking, you know," Billy said when the activity had at last begun to die down for the day. "It really is my job to know everything that goes on around here, and with the Rangers out on patrol."
"How'd you get stuck with this gig?" Tommy asked. It was beginning to feel pretty claustrophobic in the command chamber. He couldn't imagine how Billy could stand being in here day in and day out.
"I didn't get stuck with it, per se," Billy told him, pulling up a chair and dropping into it. "Believe it or not, I enjoy what I do here."
That revelation wasn't actually all that surprising to Tommy, but he kept his opinion to himself. "What do you do here, anyway?"
"I'm the man behind the curtain, pulling all the strings," he said ominously, and with a totally straight face. It took Tommy a second to realize he was joking. "I keep the patrol reports organized," he went on more seriously. "I keep track of who's checked in and who hasn't. I also track the supplies that are coming in from the cities, the training schedules for the new recruits, and so forth. It's boring, but necessary, and I can do it faster and more efficiently than just about anybody else."
"I thought you said you liked what you do."
"I do. But what you see here isn't all I do."
Tommy was starting to understand. "That science book we brought back for you from Stone Canyon. And the airships and gliders and stuff… Kimberly said you designed all of it. That's the part you like, isn't it?"
"Exactly," Billy said with a grin.
"And you don't ever go on patrol because you're doing all this engineering stuff?"
"I used to." Billy shrugged. "But now… no."
"Any chance you'd be willing to tell me why?" Tommy asked, although he had a feeling he wasn't any more likely to get a real answer out of Billy than anyone else he'd tried asking. "I gather it's a touchy subject…"
For a moment Billy hesitated. He didn't quite seem to know what to say. "Jason and I got into trouble on a patrol once. Trini…" He trailed off, suddenly looking as if he were very far away—or remembering something he would rather have put behind him. "She nearly died getting us out of it. So now I stay here at the 'Hold because, as Trini would say, my mind is too valuable to risk out there when I could be here designing the next breakthrough weapon for our fight against the wasteland."
Much of Trini's behavior was beginning to make sense to him now. Tommy was intensely curious about what Billy might mean by 'trouble', but he also recognized that it wasn't his place to demand more information. So instead he asked, "She's really determined to put an end to all of this, isn't she?"
Billy shrugged again. "I think…" He glanced around, as if making sure they wouldn't be overheard. "Don't repeat this to anyone, especially not to the Elders, but I think a number of us feel that way. This has… the situation has gone on long enough. We can't keep trying to hold the desert back the way we have been. It's not sustainable. And, frankly, we're winning every battle and still losing the war."
Tommy didn't even think about it. He just asked. "How can I help?"
"I was starting to think you'd never ask."