I smiled at her. “Well, even though I’ve only known you—what, a day and a half—I can tell you are super smart and super capable.”
She shoved me playfully. “You’re just saying that because I let you have your way with me.”
“Me have my way with you? Try the other way around!”
“In your dreams, Adventure Boy.”
“Anyway, I was thinking. Someone like you would be in big demand with Parabola, or MB3, or—if you were looking for something smaller—even my company, Beck Salvage.”
“Your company? Since when does a salvage company need botanists?”
“You’d be surprised. Last year we were hired to retrieve an Edilaceae from Nantilla IV.”
“You went to Nantilla?”
“Well, not me personally, but one of our teams did.”
“Who wanted the Edilaceae?” she asked.
“I think it was the Zygeeto.”
She made a face. “Ugh. I would never have anything to do with them!”
“What are you, prejudiced?”
“Of course not. Let’s just say that I don’t have a lot of respect for their academic standards.”
“Whatever. It was just a suggestion.”
Kira moved closer and took my hands. “Hey, I appreciate it. And I will think about it. Dynark knows, I’d have more fun working with you than with my parents.”
I grinned at her. “I can guarantee that.”
She kissed me tenderly. “Let’s get back to bed. We have an early morning.”
I motioned towards TenSix. “What about him?”
“TenSix, will you keep watch?” Kira asked the bot.
“Of course, Dr. Lark. I will just charge myself, if you don’t mind.”
“Over by the door, if you please.”
“Yes, Dr. Lark.”
“And no looking at us,” I added. “Especially if we’re, um, fornicating.”
This caused Kira to erupt into laughter and she pulled me back down on the bed.
“Lights off.”
The next morning we woke early, but my head was thick with sleep as I toddled off to the bathroom. TenSix was still on guard, standing in front of the door, with his visual scanners faced away from the bed. Thankfully.
I took a quick shower and then availed myself of some of the clothes that had been left in one of the lockers. By that time, Kira had dragged her shapely ass out of bed and lurched toward the bathroom like a zombie.
“Should not have gotten into those leppies,” she murmured as she passed me.
“I told you. Nasty habit.”
“Whatever.”
Twenty minutes later, the three of us—Kira, TenSix, and I—headed back to the mess hall and where I found some frozen aebols and dried oat spada. I reconstituted the spada and cooked the aebols and even scared up juice of some sort as well as all the instant moxa we could drink.
“TenSix, are you still planning on traveling to Ganga Kos?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“And when are you intending to leave?”
“In approximately twenty-eight minutes. Unless I encounter Mayir before that time.”
“Got it. Kira and I are also traveling to Ganga Kos. Maybe we could go together.”
The little bot tilted his head as if considering the proposition. “Will you be departing within twenty-eight minutes? Correction: twenty-seven minutes?”
“More or less,” Kira said. “We need to check a few more sample collection sites, then we will head back to our camp. Are you familiar with the Oeri-USV team?”
“Not specifically. I am aware that there are or were research teams from Oeri-USV and Kashimoga Corporation working in the area, but I have no specific knowledge of those teams.”
“Well, I’m part of the Oeri team,” Kira said. “We’re breaking camp today and will depart tomorrow morning for Ganga Kos.”
“Are you a member of the Oeri team, Jannigan Beck?”
“No, but I am traveling with them to Ganga Kos. You really should too.”
I knew how literal most bots were. Especially lower-level ones. But at the same time, I wanted to find out more about this message TenSix had been entrusted with. There was definitely something up with this Marlington research group and their hasty departure from the Rhinobo Basin.
“I have reviewed my directives and there is nothing that would prevent me from traveling with you,” TenSix said.
“Superb!” I said.
Kira looked at me in admiration. Or maybe just surprise.
“That okay with you?” I asked her.
“Of course. It’s not safe for anyone to cross the Mothaatas Wastes on their own. Especially a bot.”
After breakfast we gathered our gear and headed out, back into the jungle. I was amazed at how well TenSix was able to navigate the rough terrain, including bogs, tangled underbrush, snaking roots and vines, and fallen trees. It was remarkable to watch him jump and climb. He must have a micro z-field generator to make him able to propel himself vertically. Either that or his motorized legs were a lot more powerful than their small size suggested. TenSix easily kept up with us and sometimes even ran ahead to scout.
We got into a rhythm of finding and checking the sites, and fortunately the next three collection boxes were fairly accessible, so there was no need to climb up any large plants—or fungi for that matter. Kira made quick work of collecting the samples while TenSix and I kept watch.
“Last one is in Uolopys Vale,” Kira said. “It’s not far.”
“Uolopys Vale?” TenSix asked. “You collect samples from there?”
“Of course. There are some amazing Mesmagia there.”
“Yes, but it is a hazardous area. Class 5. Our team was forbidden from entering.”
Kira shook her head. “Yeah, well what can I say? Oeri is a little less risk-adverse than a private university.”
As she pushed ahead, I asked TenSix, “What kind of Class 5 hazards are we talking about?”
“I guess we’re about to find out.”
But he wouldn’t elaborate.
An hour later, I saw the first of the hazards with my own eyes. We had dipped down into a jungle-choked canyon. It was so dark down there we had to break out the hand lamps. TenSix had his own little illumination device which extended from his head unit, but it was more for my benefit than the bot’s. Tensors had all sorts of scanners and visual arrays that were not dependent on visible light.
“Hold up,” Kira said.
“What the hell is that?” I raked my hand lamp up and down what appeared to be
