evacuate or I’ll have you escorted out.”
I freeze in place. Would I have to draw my weapon on my mother? More importantly, could I? I am a security officer and it’s my job to ensure everyone stays safe. But she’s my mom! Except, this time, she’s not considering what’s best for everyone. So…yes, I could. Mom glances at me and then Niall, who has joined us. She must see something in our expressions because she relents.
“Come on, Spencer. We need to brief the teams for the morning.” She grabs the ladder and climbs up.
Dad gives us a little salute and then follows her.
When they disappear above, Beau lets out a long breath. “You two go up, I’ll be last.”
Niall gestures for me to go first. I put my foot on the bottom rung of the ladder. The lights will stay on even though the pit will be empty. Seems a waste of batteries. But preventing shadow-blobs from invading while we’re sleeping is worth a few batteries. What about invading boots? I stop as an idea occurs to me.
“What now?” Beau asks.
“I think we should erase those boot prints,” I say.
“Why?”
“If the person returns tonight then we’ll know.”
“You don’t think he will leave another set?” Niall asks.
“He could, but this way it’ll be clearer.”
“All right, I’ll go.” Beau hurries off.
Niall and I wait for him.
“Did you notice the symbols on the Warriors around the gap?” Niall asks, tilting his head toward the center of the pit.
“No. I was busy being freaked out by the magical boot prints.”
He smiles. “At least they weren’t alien footprints.”
Good point. Except… “We can’t assume that. Aliens might wear boots.” I gesture to the Warriors. “The aliens chose them to act as protectors. Why? Perhaps because they are similar in appearance.”
“Or the Warriors could be the aliens’ equivalent to guardian lions.”
“Oooh. Nice!” We share a grin. And then I remember. “What about the symbols?”
“I recognized a bunch of the ones that correspond to the different Warrior planets that Lan discovered. If I give you some paper and chalk, could you make some etchings of them while you’re waiting for the boot-wearing magician to reappear?”
“Yes, I can.”
Beau joins us. He’s wiping his hands off on his pants. “I’ve a feeling I’m going to hate sand by the end of this assignment.”
“No doubt about that. Those little grains manage to get into everything and then they find their friends and soon you’ll have handfuls in your boots, pockets, underwear.”
“Speaking from experience?” Niall asks.
“Unfortunately.”
“Fifteen minutes,” Elese calls down.
We climb up the ladder and my dad seals the hatch. The air is dry compared to inside the pit and it’s cooling. Bright orange, yellow, and gold paint the western horizon. Next to the dig site the techs are prepping for tomorrow, assembling equipment and planning work shifts. The heavenly aroma of cooking food drifts from the mess tent like invisible tentacles reaching out to grab the unwary. Caught, saliva fills my mouth as my stomach growls loud enough for the others to hear. I haven’t eaten all day.
“Didn’t you pack some energy bars?” Niall asks me.
“I…didn’t know I should.”
“Rookies,” Elese says, with a smile.
“Good thing I have plenty.” Beau hands me a bunch.
“Thanks.” I tuck them into the various pockets in my tactical pants. Handy.
He grunts. “Okay, time for a team meeting. We have sixteen hours of darkness to cover between the four of us. We’ll each cover eight hours. Lawrence and I will team up and Radcliff and Keir will be the second team.”
I glance at the mess tent with longing then at the portable washroom.
“Relax, Lawrence. It’s not a consecutive eight hours. After spending all day in the pits, you’ll get two hours to eat and clean up,” Beau says. “Then you’ll have six hours on duty.”
Whew.
Beau glances at me and then Radcliff. “Tell you what. You and Niall get dinner now. Kier and I will keep an eye on the camp. Then Radcliff can fill in for me the next two hours while Keir and I take a break. Sound good?”
“Yes, sir,” we say in unison, and hurry off before he changes his mind.
“At least we can eat together,” Niall says.
I wouldn’t mind showering together either, but my parents would mind very much. “Yeah, nice of him to switch it up for those two hours. It’ll be our only time together. Do you think your dad told Beau to keep us apart?”
“No. You’re teamed up with Beau because he has the most experience and you have the least.