Page 53 of Static/Cling

Bjorn had the sudden urge to wrap an arm around him and yank him to his side, protective, but also proud, because this guy, humble and sweet and just wanting to please, could do shit Bjorn would never understand, and that was cool.

Leif knocked their shoulders together and smiled.

“Here,” Kassian said, stopping and motioning to a mostly empty parking lot. “Which path, Sal?”

“Pink.”

They studied a huge map painted on a board under a peaked roof. A network of lines criss-crossed over the map of woods, each loop a different colour to represent a different path.

“That’s the farthest one from here,” Roger observed.

“You want the east side of the loop. It passes along the west wall of the compound.”

“This is a nature preserve,” Leif pointed out. “There is a military compound inside a nature preserve?”

“Beside it,” Sal said. “Used to be a quarry or a mine, or something. Convenient because no one ever went there, especially after it closed down, so a perfect place to build a secret military compound.”

“You said this butts up to the west wall,” Kassian said. “I thought we were planning to walk in the front gate.”

“Only people who don’t belong there use the front gate,” Sal said. “There’s a staff entrance on the west side, where anyone who is supposed to be there goes in. If you use the main gate, they’ll know you’re not who you say you are.”

“Seems risky.”

“It is a bit, but not as bad as announcing you don’t know where you’re supposed to be, and therefore, not who you say you are.”

“Right.”

“Besides, if we do have to go the dog route, it’ll be a lot more believable that some yahoo was walking their dog off leash in the bush, don’t you think? Along a nature trail?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Okay. So. Off you go a-hiking.”

Kassian turned to Bjorn and Leif. “You guys up for a half-hour walk?”

Leif squinted and Bjorn sighed. “How do you think we get around?” Bjorn asked, raising a hand and wiggling his fingers, though this time, there were no sparks.

“Right. Sorry. Fine. Let’s go.”

He snickered, but glanced to Leif with a frown as soon as Kassian’s back was turned. He was unused to not having at least a little bit of static skimming over his skin. The liner in his clothes must be doing its job.

He wasn’t sure he was a fan.

The walk wasn’t exactly half an hour. They did it in less time, because the dog set the pace. It was pretty, all the trees having been preserved for decades, so they were tall and lush, the shade under them cool, green, and, aside from birds, quiet.

As they neared the east end of the loop, occasional car wheels crunched over gravel a few hundred yards through the bush.

“That must be the drive up to the west gate,” Kassian reasoned.

Roger stopped and cocked his head, staring at the dog for a moment, then asking, “Are you sure?”

The dog made distinctly husky sounds at him.

Roger looked up. “He says this is the place.”

“What place?”

“Best place to sneak up where we can see the gate. We can get close here, but the underbrush is thick enough we won’t be seen.”

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