Lauren kissed Grace’s forehead. “Mom and Dad should be back soon. I love you. Try to get some rest.”
Lauren departed and made her way behind the cabin to the shed, noticing a few augmentations had been made to it. A tripod, steel mast, and a white fiberglass antenna, possibly taller than she was, had been erected above the metal roofline. Several runs of round black coaxial cable in varying diameters flowed from holes newly drilled in the side of the building. One looked to be connected to the antenna, while others snaked around the building’s edge, disappearing into the tree line yards behind, leaving two lonely cables to run through the halfway-closed lid of a five-gallon bucket.
She halted to study the scene. Neo had been up to his old tricks again. As a favor to her, Lauren had asked him to reassemble her father’s radio equipment and verify its working order before they had parted ways in Cumberland. Understanding his ingenuity well, it didn’t surprise her seeing that he’d gone above and beyond.
She continued inside the shed to find Dave Graham’s RTO perched on an old barstool before a plywood bench covered in random radio equipment, most of which she recognized as being her father’s. He had headphones over his ears and a microphone in his hand pressed to his lips, appearing back in his element.
When Neo saw Lauren enter, he held up a finger and keyed the mic. “Net control, AmRRON Tango Papa. Check me out for a few; something’s come up on my end. I’ll recheck momentarily. AmRRON Tango Papa out.” He removed his headset and placed it on the bench along with the microphone. “What’s up? Are you here for the radios?”
“You guessed it.”
Neo pointed to a five-gallon bucket near the door. “It’s all in there—everything you need plus extra batteries and antennas, enough for each team.” He rotated away awkwardly, then cast a glance at Lauren over his shoulder. “Did you need something else?”
“Nope. Just the radios, I think.”
“Are you sure? You’re giving me a look.”
Lauren tilted her head slightly. “I am?”
“Yes, you are. It looks like you have something to tell me. What did I do?”
Lauren took a few steps closer to get a better look at the bench. “I think the better question is, what didn’t you do?”
Neo’s look signaled confusion, but Lauren gesturing to the radios squared him away. “Oh, you mean this. I only did what you asked of me. Are you disappointed?”
“Hardly.” Lauren snickered, smiling at him. “I’m astounded. How long did it take you to do all this?”
Neo shrugged. “This? Not long at all, really—and this is nothing. I mean, it’s not nothing, it’s something. Just…not in any way complicated. Maybe for some, but not for me. But to answer your question, a few hours total.”
“A few hours, huh? How precisely long did it take you?”
Neo’s eyes lit up and he looked away shyly. “One hundred ninety-six minutes. And forty-three seconds.”
Lauren beamed. “I’m impressed. It probably would’ve taken me ten times that to figure all this out.”
“You’re estimating on what you can see, but there’s a lot you can’t see. That was the most time-consuming part. I’ve strung about five hundred feet of wire through the trees.”
“What for?”
“Antennas,” said Neo, his brows beginning to dance. “I didn’t find many commercial aerials stowed away. Your dad had mostly homebrew. I found G5RVs, dipoles, slopers, inverted Vs, random wires and baluns with matching counterpoises…”
Lauren held up a hand. “Whoa, whoa, easy there. Slow down before you lose me. I don’t know what any of those things are.”
“I told you already. Antennas. When do you want your lesson on radios?” Neo asked expectantly, turning away to fidget with knobs. “You told me you wanted to learn, remember?”
Lauren nodded. “Oh yes, I remember. And I still want to…someday soon when there’s time and less craziness going on.” She inched closer. “I need to get going, but I want to tell you something important before I leave. Can you look at me?”
“No.”
Lauren grinned. “Okay, can you try looking in my direction, then?”
Neo’s hands squirmed. “I can try.” His head angled low, he turned to face Lauren but didn’t lock eyes with her. “Is this okay?”
“It’s fine.” Lauren took a breath. “I wanted to say thank you, Neo. For finding my dad.”
“But I didn’t find him.” Neo withdrew, leaning back into his chair. “All I did was answer a radio call.”
“And if you hadn’t answered that call, we would’ve never found him.” Lauren moved in even closer and gently lifted his chin with her finger. “You are a special person, Theo Parsons, to everyone, but you’re incredibly special to me. You’re a good person, supportive and talented beyond comprehension. You see and hear the world differently than everyone else. You knew my dad’s voice over a radio speaker. You made a miracle happen, and I appreciate you, more than you know.” She then hugged him. “And I needed to thank you.”
Somewhat taken aback, it took a second for Neo to accept Lauren’s affection, though he did fail to reciprocate.
Lauren pulled away and started off after giving him a quick peck on the cheek. “Okay, you’re off the hook. I won’t embarrass you anymore. Get back to your net or whatever you were doing.” Taking hold of the bucket of radios, she made her exit.
The display of gratitude uplifting her, Lauren almost skipped her way to the bridge over Trout Run, stopping short when she heard a call from behind.
“Hey, Lauren. Wait one.”
Lauren turned to see Neo holding in the shed’s open doorway.
“You’re welcome,” he said, the overtures of a smile showing, but Neo’s expression underwent an immediate, drastic change as the ground rumbled underfoot, trailed seconds after by an explosive boom in the distance.
“Jesus!” Lauren cried out, her legs resonating in conjunction with the ground. “What was that?”
Neo reached for the shed’s doorway to brace himself, the look on his face tightening. Holding back a response, Neo held
