Ep 2 -- Dam Tourists (Closed)
Jun 8, 2015 22:33:11 GMT -5
Post by Dart on Jun 8, 2015 22:33:11 GMT -5
Set- Week 2, Day 4.
In the night, the Calico Hills came alive.
During the day the high desert heat drove most animals to the coolest places they could find. They ducked into low canyons, crawled into deep burrows, spent long hours lying under scraggly bushes and twisted trees. Mule Deer would tuck long legs under themselves and go to sheltered places to chew their cud and pant away the heat. The only birds that bothered with the high noon were the tiny brown and grey finches that fluttered from one dry patch of grass to another hunting for seeds.
The moment the sun slipped past the horizon and the long shadows turned to sunset, creatures began to shake off their heat lethargy. The deer tiptoed up into the hills, hooves finding easy purchase as they bounded easily up the rough sandstone crags. Coyotes rose from their nooks and shook the dust off of their tawny coats, gearing up for an evening of searching out rabbits and mice. Cicadas buzzed and whirred; sounding like a hundred gears grinding together, a constant creak and snarl of sound.
All sorts of creatures, on their nightly patrols and searches, loping through the growing dark.
Nose to the wind, one of them was trotting easily along. As the long-legged creature drew close to a low fence in a parking lot, she didn't even pause. Barely lifting her feet, she hopped easily over the worn split rail. Gravel crunched under her toes as she landed lightly on the other side.
Long stretches of open flat land both made her nervous and confident; she might be easily spotted, but she could spot and sniff just as easily and show them her heels. One foot lifted and pawed lightly at the earth. Gravel kicked back, pinging off the stones behind.
Dart lifted her head and sniffed; picking through a thousand scents. Her sensors processed them; drawing them in. Some of them were familiar, the scent of plants and animals. Humans really didn't come around here anymore, no budget for land managment patrols, and what once had been open to the hikers had been long forgotten about. Safe for now. Her nose touched on a scent, one that was as out of place here as her own. Mechanical. Tinges that had no place on Earth.
The courier couldn't describe it in words. She simply knew what it was.
He'd been here. She couldn't pinpoint an exact idea when; in the desert, the scents took longer to deteriorate. Recently at least. He must have picked up the book and she'd said she'd be back in a few days to drop off the other. Well she could just hope he came out here tonight, maybe... just maybe...
This was a seriously crazy idea. For a whole lot of reasons.
Most of them were terribly obvious ones, but...
It might be the only chance she'd have to do this for a while. Well, one of the safest chances. Pyrotech was gone working with along with his Vehicons. Buffalo was taking up the reins of the close patrols and she was grateful for that. It meant she could be gone for a little longer than usual. Honestly, she figured the huge mech was probably as grateful for the stretches of silence where he didn't have to report to anyone as she was, and Dart was sensitive to those things.
Soft mechanical sounds gave way to a long-hooded sports car parked in the gravel. The rustle of a plastic bag, thunk of a heavy door. Then a much smaller figure began to lope aross the parking lot; holding tight to an object in one hand. It quickly disappeared up into the narrow canyon.
-- --
Set into that dry, safe geocacher's chink in the wall, the paperback waited as patiently as it had on that bookshelf in Portland. Only this time, not only slightly yellowed pages were inside the cover.
A postcard written in purple gel pen, the handwriting careful and neat. A cheerful greeting, then a question...
In the night, the Calico Hills came alive.
During the day the high desert heat drove most animals to the coolest places they could find. They ducked into low canyons, crawled into deep burrows, spent long hours lying under scraggly bushes and twisted trees. Mule Deer would tuck long legs under themselves and go to sheltered places to chew their cud and pant away the heat. The only birds that bothered with the high noon were the tiny brown and grey finches that fluttered from one dry patch of grass to another hunting for seeds.
The moment the sun slipped past the horizon and the long shadows turned to sunset, creatures began to shake off their heat lethargy. The deer tiptoed up into the hills, hooves finding easy purchase as they bounded easily up the rough sandstone crags. Coyotes rose from their nooks and shook the dust off of their tawny coats, gearing up for an evening of searching out rabbits and mice. Cicadas buzzed and whirred; sounding like a hundred gears grinding together, a constant creak and snarl of sound.
All sorts of creatures, on their nightly patrols and searches, loping through the growing dark.
Nose to the wind, one of them was trotting easily along. As the long-legged creature drew close to a low fence in a parking lot, she didn't even pause. Barely lifting her feet, she hopped easily over the worn split rail. Gravel crunched under her toes as she landed lightly on the other side.
Long stretches of open flat land both made her nervous and confident; she might be easily spotted, but she could spot and sniff just as easily and show them her heels. One foot lifted and pawed lightly at the earth. Gravel kicked back, pinging off the stones behind.
Dart lifted her head and sniffed; picking through a thousand scents. Her sensors processed them; drawing them in. Some of them were familiar, the scent of plants and animals. Humans really didn't come around here anymore, no budget for land managment patrols, and what once had been open to the hikers had been long forgotten about. Safe for now. Her nose touched on a scent, one that was as out of place here as her own. Mechanical. Tinges that had no place on Earth.
The courier couldn't describe it in words. She simply knew what it was.
He'd been here. She couldn't pinpoint an exact idea when; in the desert, the scents took longer to deteriorate. Recently at least. He must have picked up the book and she'd said she'd be back in a few days to drop off the other. Well she could just hope he came out here tonight, maybe... just maybe...
This was a seriously crazy idea. For a whole lot of reasons.
Most of them were terribly obvious ones, but...
It might be the only chance she'd have to do this for a while. Well, one of the safest chances. Pyrotech was gone working with along with his Vehicons. Buffalo was taking up the reins of the close patrols and she was grateful for that. It meant she could be gone for a little longer than usual. Honestly, she figured the huge mech was probably as grateful for the stretches of silence where he didn't have to report to anyone as she was, and Dart was sensitive to those things.
Soft mechanical sounds gave way to a long-hooded sports car parked in the gravel. The rustle of a plastic bag, thunk of a heavy door. Then a much smaller figure began to lope aross the parking lot; holding tight to an object in one hand. It quickly disappeared up into the narrow canyon.
-- --
Set into that dry, safe geocacher's chink in the wall, the paperback waited as patiently as it had on that bookshelf in Portland. Only this time, not only slightly yellowed pages were inside the cover.
A postcard written in purple gel pen, the handwriting careful and neat. A cheerful greeting, then a question...