Page 16 of Latham
Wide awake now she stared at the cave entrance, with what appeared to be a shallow lake between the elevated spot where they’d slept and the outdoors. Latham had already packed up their gear and doused the fire, which seemed like overkill considering the water lapping at the stone ring. Once a ranger, always a ranger. She hid a smile. Hastily she yanked her boots on and fastened them.
“Luckily the rain has tapered off,” he said, getting his backpack and hers situated on his broad shoulders. “I’m going to carry you.”
“What—no, I can walk,” she protested but he lifted her as if she weighed nothing and strode through the gathering water.
“No sense in both of us getting our feet wet,” he said.
Once they were outside in the pallid sunlight, he set her on her feet and handed her the floral backpack she’d been so proud of when she bought it on Earth. The fabric was stained and muddy now but it remained intact. Helaine took the survival ration he gave her and munched as they retraced their steps from last night and rejoined the original trail leading to the zipline tower.
“These will keep us going,” she said after chewing and swallowing. “But I’m dreaming of a meal in one of those five star restaurants once we get back to the main resort, assuming it’s all okay there.”
“We’ll have the best meal in the house and sample all the desserts,” he promised.
Helaine kept hoping to hear a flyer overhead but the skies remained empty.
Eventually they reached the edge of the gorge and the tower. She set her backpack on the grass and checked her handheld. “No signal.”
“Me either. I’m going up into the tower to check on things. You wait here and rest.” Latham walked around the tower, paying close attention to the foundation and then climbed the wooden stairs to the platform.
She hadn’t even considered there might be damage to the tower. She wasn’t looking forward to ziplining again but having to climb down the cliff and traverse the unknown wilderness of the gorge, then climb the other side wasn’t at all appealing so she hoped Latham would decide the zipline was safe.
He rejoined her, jaw set, forehead in a frown. “I got a flicker of a signal while I was up there, tried transmitting an SOS but I doubt it got through. Listen, the structure and the mechanism seem sound enough but there’s a crack in the foundation worrying me.”
“But the tsunami didn’t get this far inland,” she said.
“No but there were aftershocks last night. I guess you slept through them. I’m concerned with the stability of the ground here at the edge.” He dug in his rucksack and extracted the two antigrav plates from their initial jump into the area. “Glad I kept these.”
“Can we float across?” she asked, not sure she could manage the feat. Maybe if he held her the whole way.
“No, these are controlled descent modules only, not free flyers,” he said with a shake of the head.
“Then why are you getting them out?”
“I want each of us wearing one while we make the crossing, just in case. If anything happens—which it won’t, I’m being over cautious here—we’ll end up in the gorge but under our own terms, descending carefully on the antigrav.”
Helaine wasn’t completely sure she understood but she got to her feet obediently and allowed Latham to fasten her antigrav module to her boots with crisscrossed straps, also from his pack. He gave her the controller. “Whatever you do, don’t let go of this until you’re safe on the other side. You remember how to turn it on?”
She flicked the switch to show him and the unit hummed, with a blue light running around the rim. “You know you’re scaring me,” she said.
“I don’t want to take any chances with you.”
She watched while he created a similar jury rigged harness for himself.
“I’m going to go first,” he said. “I weigh the most and if there’s anything going to go wrong with the zipline, I’ll trigger it. Wait till I’m on the other side and I wave ok, then climb the tower and get yourself across. You remember how to do the zipline harness?”
Panic at being left alone and at having to put on the harness herself washed through her but she stiffened her spine and kept her worries for herself inside. “What if the line breaks and you do fall? What should I do?”
“Stay here. Don’t think about trying to rescue me, don’t leave this spot. If I fall, I’ll climb out in pretty short order and we’ll figure out an alternative so you stay put. Promise me.”
“I promise.” What if you’re injured, she thought but decided not to say anything. This was all overkill anyway, right? Latham being protective of her.
He kissed her, taking a long time and being thorough, leaving her limp and aching as he stepped away and climbed the tower again. Helaine waved as he sailed into the air over the gorge a few minutes later and flew across the gorge smoothly, disappearing into the other tower across the vast distance. She focused hard on the tiny spot until she saw him step outside the platform and wave his yellow helmet vigorously over his head.
“My turn,” she said through gritted teeth.
It was hard to force herself to climb into the tower alone and it took her a few minutes of stern self talk before she picked up the zipline harness which Latham had sent across. She remembered the sequence of straps and buckles and then it was time to step into the void and fly. She scooped up the yellow helmet and buckled it firmly on her head. Latham would expect her to use all the safety gear. Helaine studied the antigrav controller in her hand and swallowed hard. “It’ll be fine,” she said out loud. “Not a special snowflake, remember?”
Counting to three, she launched herself into thin air but managed not to scream this time, not wanting to worry Latham.
