They now took the opportunity to rest and recuperate before pressing on. Although it would be easy for them to be spotted from the lower levels, they also had a clear view of any potential enemy themselves. It would be impossible for anyone—except perhaps Jak—to move through the forest below without causing disturbance. The territory beyond the sheer drop was more sparsely vegetated, with the remains of a two-lane blacktop road about three miles to the east, with a ruined gas station and diner sitting on it like a toy. Anyone moving on the terrain would be as visible to them as they would be on top of the hill.
“So which way you reckon we move, lover?” Krysty asked Ryan as the one-eyed man stood on the edge of the drop, scanning the horizon.
“Guess we go down the rock face. It won’t be easy, but it’ll be less risky than going down into that forest,” he said. “What do you say, J.B.?”
The Armorer shrugged. “I don’t reckon either of them, but seeing as we can’t go back, either, I guess there isn’t much choice.”
“Better danger seen than not seen,” Jak added.
“I take your point, gentlemen,” Mildred said slowly, “but do you think all of us are up to it right now?”
“Madam, I shall endeavor as always to do my best. I can ask no more nor no less of myself.” Doc bridled.
“Relax, you old coot, I wasn’t particularly thinking of you,” Mildred answered. “I’m not too sure about myself at the moment, and even more so about Dean.”
“I’ll be fine,” Dean spit. “You can save your worry.”
“Don’t be a fool, boy,” Ryan snapped harshly. “Mildred’s right to a degree. You’ve been unconscious and haven’t had a chance to recover. If you’re concussed, then it could be a tricky descent.”
“I’ll be fine, Dad. What are we going to do, wait here forever ’cause I’ve had a sore head or Jak needs a bandage on a grazed knee or—?”
“That’s enough,” Krysty said softly. “If you stumble, we all do, remember?”
Dean stood and stared for a moment, biting his tongue. Then his temper subsided, and he had to agree. “Yeah, you’re right. But I’ll be okay. I just won’t be stupe about it.”
“Just as a matter of interest, where would you say we were… I mean in general geographic terms?” Doc broke the awkwardness by changing the subject. He knew the cloud cover would prevent J.B. from taking a reading with his minisextant.
“My guess is to the north, probably more eastern than central, judging by that forest,” Ryan replied, indicating the slope to their rear.
“I would have thought so, too,” Doc mused. “I wonder if that means the Illuminated Ones had their bases within more than just mat-trans distance to the so-called Erewhon?”
Ryan pondered on that for a few moments. “You mean like within a fairly easy wag distance, in case they needed to do it over the surface? If the mat-trans failed and they were surface safe?”
Doc nodded. “It’s a thought, is it not? After all, it would fit with what little we know from the journal and also from the surrounding area.”
Ryan nodded. “Then we try and head north along that old road when we reach it. Head for the building first, see if there’s anything there to salvage.”
“Sounds good to me,” J.B. muttered. “Just got to get down there first…” As he spoke, he looked up to the sky. The dark, purple-tinged chem clouds overhead began to discharge a fine spray of rain that began to soak through.
“Great, that’s all we need,” Dean said, hunching against the rain.
“Feels fresh after all that dust,” Mildred said absently.
They all spent a few moments absorbing the rain, resting up with their thoughts before they began the descent.
It was Doc who first noticed it. After scratching absently at an itch on his cheek, he rubbed the tips of his ringers together with a bemused expression.
“What is it?” Ryan asked, his sharp eye catching Doc’s gesture.
“I think it may be time for us to move,” Doc said with a distracted air. “My dear Dr. Wyeth, would you do me the honor of rubbing your fingers together?”