been very brief.
Leaning closer to the wheel, Noa said, “I know.” She slid the craft around another bend in the canyon at full speed far closer to the walls than he ever would have.
“Tell me when you lose visual sight of them,” Noa commanded.
James looked over his shoulder. “Now,” he said, his body hitting the side door as Noa slid around another bend—his data banks registered that they were headed northwest. Maybe they’d be able to reach the rebels before the craft overhead blew them to smithereens.
Noa snarled. James turned around just in time to see the ship barreling straight toward a canyon wall.
----
W ater was sloshing over Noa’s feet. She heard the sound of drones and sweeper hovers fading into the distance. Northward, according to her locator app … she closed her eyes … and a little light flashed green in her mind. Smacking the steering wheel, she laughed in relief and amazement. James didn’t make a peep. Worried, she turned toward him. In the dim light, she couldn’t see more than his silhouette. He was sitting very still, and very upright. Trying to get a rise out of him, she said, “Sometimes I amaze even myself.” It was a reference to the ancient “move-ees” they’d watched the night before. If he was Fleet, she would have cracked a quip from Lightyears , but since he hadn’t watched it, he wouldn’t get the joke.
She got nothing from him, not even a, “That doesn’t sound too hard.” Which was, frankly, disappointing. Did she have to be the only one trying to laugh at barely-avoided death? She tried again. “I am the literal embodiment of ...” What was the character’s name? “Han Solo. James, I think you should be impressed.”
James’s voice was curt when he responded. “They will turn back soon, resume looking, and find us.”
Noa flashed him a grin that she doubted he’d be able to see in the darkness. “Not too soon. They’ll figure we hadn’t disengaged the turbo dampener, and have made it to the mountains. Got a flashlight in here? I don’t have augmented eyeballs.”
“I … ” James said. “ ... do have augmented vision.”
He said it like it was a new discovery to him, and Noa wondered how badly he’d been hurt when he’d been shot down.
“I also have a flashlight,” James said, with more surety. “Just a moment.”
A few seconds later, he pressed the flashlight into her hand. Turning it on, Noa lifted the door on her side and shone the light in directions the headlamps of the craft couldn’t go. Behind them was a slim band of daylight, only a hand’s width high above dark river water. Fortunately, the opening of the cave was much larger—just mostly below the river’s surface.
“How did you know that the cave mouth would be large enough for the craft?” James asked.
“It was just a hunch,” said Noa.
“That’s not reassuring,” said James.
“We’re alive, aren’t we?” Noa said in what was supposed to be a calm rational voice, but came out angry and half-shouted.
James was quiet for a moment, but then he said, “Why haven’t they found us?” He sounded irritated rather than relieved.
“You’d rather they did?”
“Of course not,” he snapped. “But I want to understand. ”
There was an edge of something frantic in his tone. She remembered his words last night, “I’m just trying to understand ...” He wanted the world to make sense. So much of it didn’t. Noa swung the light around to the front of the vehicle. They were parked in water, but up ahead was dryish rock. Suddenly feeling tired, she said, “Their sensors picked up the cave, but they’ve input the model of our vehicle into their computers. Our craft’s manufacturer’s description specifically says it is not meant to be an aquatic vehicle, and so this hiding place will be completely discounted without ever being reviewed by a human brain.”
“How did you know this model was capable of submersion?” James asked.
Noa blinked and
Leaning closer to the wheel, Noa said, “I know.” She slid the craft around another bend in the canyon at full speed far closer to the walls than he ever would have.
“Tell me when you lose visual sight of them,” Noa commanded.
James looked over his shoulder. “Now,” he said, his body hitting the side door as Noa slid around another bend—his data banks registered that they were headed northwest. Maybe they’d be able to reach the rebels before the craft overhead blew them to smithereens.
Noa snarled. James turned around just in time to see the ship barreling straight toward a canyon wall.
----
W ater was sloshing over Noa’s feet. She heard the sound of drones and sweeper hovers fading into the distance. Northward, according to her locator app … she closed her eyes … and a little light flashed green in her mind. Smacking the steering wheel, she laughed in relief and amazement. James didn’t make a peep. Worried, she turned toward him. In the dim light, she couldn’t see more than his silhouette. He was sitting very still, and very upright. Trying to get a rise out of him, she said, “Sometimes I amaze even myself.” It was a reference to the ancient “move-ees” they’d watched the night before. If he was Fleet, she would have cracked a quip from Lightyears , but since he hadn’t watched it, he wouldn’t get the joke.
She got nothing from him, not even a, “That doesn’t sound too hard.” Which was, frankly, disappointing. Did she have to be the only one trying to laugh at barely-avoided death? She tried again. “I am the literal embodiment of ...” What was the character’s name? “Han Solo. James, I think you should be impressed.”
James’s voice was curt when he responded. “They will turn back soon, resume looking, and find us.”
Noa flashed him a grin that she doubted he’d be able to see in the darkness. “Not too soon. They’ll figure we hadn’t disengaged the turbo dampener, and have made it to the mountains. Got a flashlight in here? I don’t have augmented eyeballs.”
“I … ” James said. “ ... do have augmented vision.”
He said it like it was a new discovery to him, and Noa wondered how badly he’d been hurt when he’d been shot down.
“I also have a flashlight,” James said, with more surety. “Just a moment.”
A few seconds later, he pressed the flashlight into her hand. Turning it on, Noa lifted the door on her side and shone the light in directions the headlamps of the craft couldn’t go. Behind them was a slim band of daylight, only a hand’s width high above dark river water. Fortunately, the opening of the cave was much larger—just mostly below the river’s surface.
“How did you know that the cave mouth would be large enough for the craft?” James asked.
“It was just a hunch,” said Noa.
“That’s not reassuring,” said James.
“We’re alive, aren’t we?” Noa said in what was supposed to be a calm rational voice, but came out angry and half-shouted.
James was quiet for a moment, but then he said, “Why haven’t they found us?” He sounded irritated rather than relieved.
“You’d rather they did?”
“Of course not,” he snapped. “But I want to understand. ”
There was an edge of something frantic in his tone. She remembered his words last night, “I’m just trying to understand ...” He wanted the world to make sense. So much of it didn’t. Noa swung the light around to the front of the vehicle. They were parked in water, but up ahead was dryish rock. Suddenly feeling tired, she said, “Their sensors picked up the cave, but they’ve input the model of our vehicle into their computers. Our craft’s manufacturer’s description specifically says it is not meant to be an aquatic vehicle, and so this hiding place will be completely discounted without ever being reviewed by a human brain.”
“How did you know this model was capable of submersion?” James asked.
Noa blinked and
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