uncomfortable, frankly, that I like you. I don't like everyone I meet.'
'Oh.' He was uncertain how to respond to this. 'But then I got in trouble at work,' he finally continued. 'About some of the things I told you about.'
She shrugged. If she'd betrayed his confidence she didn't want to admit it.
'It got me thinking,' he went on, watching her. 'I'm not really happy at my job. They're not happy with me. Maybe I need a break. So I got curious about this Australian thing you mentioned, this Outback Adventure. I've never heard anything about treks like that. I wonder if it's even true. So I tried to find them and couldn't. They're not easy to find.'
'I know.' She looked at him speculatively. 'I mentioned it because I thought you might be interested, but then as we talked I changed my mind. I doubt it's for you.'
'But it is for you?'
'Not necessarily. They probably wouldn't pick me, either.'
'Pick you?'
She avoided his eyes again, playing with her coffee spoon. 'I told you it's not like the usual adventure company. It's limited entry, a privilege. You have to find them, and apply, and then they don't take everyone. It's very exclusive.'
'But how do people find them?'
She shrugged. 'Through an acquaintance.' She was careful not to say 'friend,' he noticed. 'Sometimes people just stumble across it, the ones looking for something. Sometimes the company finds you. It pops up on your screen.'
'That's weird, isn't it?'
She took a sip. 'Is it? They seem to find the right people to go.'
'Outback Adventure is listed as an export company, not a tourism outfit.'
She shrugged.
'How do you know they're even legitimate?'
'I've talked with them.'
'And?'
'It's exciting, Daniel. Life-changing. They just have to keep a lid on information about the situation in Australia. That secret part adds a thrill.'
'But not for me.'
She sighed. 'That's for you to decide, isn't it? I'm just trying to… not waste your time.' Raven glanced out at the mall for a moment, then returned her gaze to him.
'Why wouldn't I fit?'
'Because you're confused. Because you have to be absolutely certain you belong there. It's a very rugged experience. Maybe you're better at adjusting to the city than you think, even if you don't realize it right now. My advice is not to give up on Microcore. It's a good company. They know what they're doing.'
'But I'm not adjusted. It's always the sideways view, like we talked about.'
She glanced out the cafe again. Did she have some boyfriend waiting out there? Her distraction irritated him. 'Then call them up if you want.'
'I can't. It's encrypted.'
'I know. There's a password. Or words.'
'Can I get them?'
She shifted restlessly. 'I'm only hesitating because I don't want to mislead you. It's dangerous, difficult.'
'Which you can take and I can't.'
'I didn't say that.'
'Give me the password, Raven.'
'I warned you, right?'
'You've done everything but let me judge.'
'All right.' She conceded the point. 'You can log in with 'Erehwon.' ' She spelled it.
'What does that mean?'
'It's just code. And the passwords are 'Getting Back.' '
'Getting back? To what, nature?'
'It means whatever you want it to mean, I suppose.'
'But why an export company?'
'To deter the casually curious, I think. To discourage mere tourists. After you listen to them it will make more sense.'
'What if we looked into it together?'
She took another sip. 'I don't think so.'
'As friends. We could even go together. Friends.'
'I'm not your friend, Daniel. I'm just this strange woman you met who's revealed a potential opportunity and decided it's better for us each to go our own way.' She stood abruptly. 'Look, this discussion is hard for me but I can't really explain why. Maybe you should just forget it. Forget me. Get on with your life.'
'I don't have a life.'
'Don't look for it from me.'
'I'm looking for something to shake up my life. Maybe this Outback Adventure is it.'
'Maybe. But you have to decide without me.' Then she walked quickly away.
The code gave him access to a web site with an opening picture of a red-sand desert, dotted with bright green trees. Australia, he assumed. Projected onto his apartment video wall, the scene had a brilliant vividness. Daniel felt like he was standing on a dune, heat on his back. The immediacy was arresting. 'Welcome to Outback Adventure,' a female voice intoned. 'To begin your adventure, please enter the passwords.'
Dyson remained puzzled. Why would any company make it an obstacle to hear about its product? Surely that violated some profit commandment. Maybe it was a kind of reverse psychology.
He cleared his throat. 'Getting Back.' There was a pause and then two tiny figures appeared at the edge of his screen, confirmation that the site had been activated. The two began angling up the dune toward Daniel.
A teaser scrolled across the bottom of the screen. 'For people who ask not what they do, but why they do.' Then the picture froze.
So Raven DeCarlo was a parrot of slogans. Not that different from Mona Pietri, perhaps.
'Show more,' he ordered.
The couple advanced again, coming side by side near the top of the dune and closing to almost fill the screen, wind blowing through their hair. Daniel almost laughed. They were both striking and bizarre. The woman had flame-colored hair and sapphire-blue eyes (Daniel suspected imagery augmentation) and was a model of barbarian chic: her fur and leather garb was cut to show a flat midriff and a muscled thigh. She wore armbands of bone and leather and was holding a staff. The man, dark and chiseled, was in skintight Ninja black from neck to boots, a bandolier with silver throwing knives cinched taut across his chest. The pair looked like they belonged in a B-grade fantasy. He knew they were actors in front of a blue screen, projected onto a distant Australia. What kept Daniel from surfing on in dismissal was the look in their eyes as they gazed out over the desert. Whether acted or real, they seemed to have found what they were looking for. It was a look of triumph, of fulfillment, of satisfied destiny.
No one in the city looked that way.
'Welcome to the Outback, Daniel Dyson,' a voice boomed, its amplification like a growl of thunder.
Hello God, he thought wryly in reply.
'Can you meet the challenge of Outback Adventure?'
Daniel was surprised at the speed with which his identity had been confirmed by the company. Corporate identification of those logging on to web sites and the greeting of electronic customers was routine, but this time it happened so fast it was almost as if they'd been expecting him. Raven again? Or just good demographic sifting?
'I've never heard of your company,' Daniel challenged.
The redhead turned to look and smile. Her teeth were perfect, her skin glowing, her breathing… fetching.
