Verita (17 page)

“No problem.” I walk through the door, and we all head back to the field lab.

“It’ll be nice to see everyone out of uniform for a change. Do you even remember what a dress looks like?” he teases.

“Yeah, of course, though I might not recognize you in one.” I laugh and tussle his hair. He groans and quickly straightens it. I laugh again. I know it annoys him, but that makes it more fun. From the field lab, I head back to the base to arrange our appointment with Dr. Brant.

Unfortunately, Dr. Brant is unavailable until Monday afternoon.

The weekend and Monday morning goes by very slowly. We all try to busy ourselves with other work, but the waiting makes it hard to concentrate. We’re all excited and nervous to see what she thinks, and to see if she’ll allow us to plant it on the base. I feel like a little kid on Christmas morning, just watching the clock until it’s late enough to wake my parents and run downstairs to see what’s been left under the tree. I’m only half paying attention to the video I’m screening, when I catch a black shape blur across the screen. I quickly sit up in my chair and rewind the footage.

Ryan had seen it from over my shoulder. “What the hell was that?”

Everyone gathers around me as I replay the footage at normal speed. We see an
enux
run past first – a large, flightless bird that resembles an oversized turkey with long muscular, legs and the speed of a roadrunner. Then we see the black blur. Whatever it is, it’s enormous, fast, and after the
enux
. Anxiously, I rewind it again and play it in slow motion to see if I can get a better view, but it doesn’t help.

“Shit!” I look to confirm the time and location and of the camera. “Anything large enough to take down an
enux
is large enough to hunt us.” Alarmed, I start barking orders. “Jake, pull up the video from camera six, 2238 hours, June thirty-fifth. There might be a better shot of the animal on that camera. I’m going to see if I can slow this down more and clean up the image better. Ryan, grab camera five – Molly, grab camera eight’s video. They’re both long shots, but they could have caught something.”

We spend the rest of the morning carefully screening through the videos. Molly finds a black tail swishing across her screen, but nothing else. Jake just finds black: the animal had rubbed against his camera and knocked it out of position, so it’s now pointed to the ground. Ryan finds absolutely nothing on his camera.

I finally manage to slow down and clean up my video. Everyone gathers back around me as I play it back. It’s still blurry, but we can make out an elongated snout like that of a dog or wolf, and there are plenty of sharp, jagged teeth lining the creature’s mouth. Its body resembles a panther, but it appears to be moving even faster than a panther can, and from what we can tell it’s quite a bit larger.

“Shit,” is all I manage to say.

“Miss Bradbury, I expect better language from my team leads.” We all jump and turn around. Dr. Brant had entered the lab without any of us noticing.

“I’m sorry, Dr. Brant. I’m usually not one for profanity.” Out of the corner of my eye I see everyone nodding in agreement, and I’m thankful for their support. “But if you take a look at our video, you may understand why I slipped.” I gesture toward the monitor. She nods and sits down in the seat I offer her.

“Hmm,” she says after it’s over, and turns back to face us. “This is a problem, but not really a surprise. We all knew eventually we’d find a predator capable of causing us harm. It’s much better to find it this way than face to face. Any suggestions on what we do now?” I’m awed by her ability to turn a crisis into a teaching opportunity.

Everyone looks to me, and I feel compelled to answer. “First, I’d suggest putting up more cameras in the area. We need to find out if it’s territorial or if it’s just passing through. It was caught on the infrared, hunting at night, so there’s a good chance it’s nocturnal. I suggest sending extra guard out with us just in case it’s not. Once we’ve been able to determine if it’s territorial, and still in the area, we should attempt to trap it.” In my peripheral vision, I can see the rest of the group agreeing with me. Dr. Brant nods, urging me to continue. “Maybe set up a remote controlled dart gun to drug it. Then we can study it more thoroughly, tag it, and release it, so it can lead us back to its pride, if it has one. Once we have more information about it, we can determine if we need to do anything more about the animal or not.” I look around to see if anyone has anything else to add.

“Very good,” Dr. Brant says, patting my shoulder. “I will arrange the extra guard to go out with you tomorrow, and I’ll inform the supply store to provide you with all the cameras you need.” She walks over to the other side of the room to use her radio. She speaks softly, so I can’t hear what she’s saying.

“Should we have the nearby search grids pull out of the field for now?” I ask when she returns.

“No; I’ve just arranged for extra guard protection to join them. Now, I assume you called me out here for another reason.” She looks at me, but I look to Ryan. He may want to share with the team, but I’m still determined to give him the credit he’s due.

“Yes. Do you mind following us to the bio-dome? It will be easier to explain if we can show you.” Ryan gestures to the door, and Dr. Brant and the rest of us follow him out.

Dr. Brant is delighted with Ryan’s work. She instructs us to plant the seed around her office after the cameras are taken care of. If it grows well there, she’ll have Ryan instruct some of the construction workers on collecting and reseeding it. Ryan agrees but makes one odd request. He asks if he can choose the second spot to plant the seed, but he won’t say exactly where he wants to place it. Dr. Brant agrees on the condition that it is in an area that is supposed to have grass.

By the time I meet
Andi
at the laundry center after work, I’m as bubbly as she is. I’m in the mood to celebrate. I actually allow her to pick the dress for me, style my hair and even put make-up on me.
Andi
is thrilled with the opportunity. She had expected to have to drag me through the process instead of my easy compliance. Though frankly, I’m a little scared of what the end result will be. When she’s done, she drags me over to look in a mirror.

“It’s a bit much,
Andi
,” I remark, pointing to my usually hidden cleavage.

“Nonsense. You and I will be the center of attention tonight, and you’re going to love every minute of it. Just look at us.”

I look.
Andi
has on a slinky, shimmery silver dress, a matching silver band slicking back her slowly growing hair. She looks like a runway model. My hair is loose, cascading down with its natural curls. A small barrette sweeps some of it to the side, so it won’t fall into my face. I can’t remember the last time I had it down. With my work, a ponytail or braids just makes more sense. She’d done a nice job on the make-up; nothing too heavy. The dress she picked out was emerald green, complementing the deep auburn of my hair. It ends right above my knees, and when I twirl it flares out. I feel like a little girl twirling around and let out a joyful laugh. But then I look back at the neckline and sigh. There is one strap which loops around my neck; the problem is that it plunges down a bit too far for my comfort level. I am simply not used to showing cleavage.

“But,
Andi
.” I gesture to my chest.

“Oh, come on, grow up. You have beautiful breasts, so don’t be afraid to show them off a bit.” She grabs my hand and drags me out of the room. She’s not going to give me the chance to back out.

I relax a little when we get to the dance floor. Our dresses are not out of place. Everyone else is dressed up too, and there is plenty of cleavage besides mine and
Andi’s
. I notice some of the guys even have on tuxes. I wonder if everyone’s trying to make up for all the proms and formals that we missed during our trip here. We spot Jeremy waving at us. He’s at a large table right next to the dance floor. We make our way down the stairs and over to him.

“Wow, you both look great,” Jeremy compliments us.

“I have to agree.” I turn and see Ryan standing behind me and feel my face flush. He’s wearing a tux and I have to admit it looks good on him. “I almost didn’t recognize you,” he teases.

“I don’t look that different.” I roll my eyes at him and pretend to pout.

“I’ve never seen you with your hair down before. It makes quite a difference.” He stares at me just long enough for me to feel uncomfortable.

“Really?” I automatically reach up and touch it like I didn’t know it was there.

“Yeah, it’s nice. You should wear it like that more often, when you’re not going to be out in the field.” He starts to blush and quickly turns his attention to
Andi
. “You look great too,
Andi
.” He clears his throat.

“Thank you, Ryan. Care to dance?”
Andi
holds out her hand, and I watch them make their way to the dance floor.

“I’d ask you to dance too, but I should make sure everyone finds the table first,” Jeremy apologizes.

“That’s okay. I’d much rather take the opportunity to talk instead. You won’t believe the day I’ve had.” I sit down next to Jeremy and explain all of the day’s events. He listens intently, only stopping to wave more of our group over as they arrive. By the time I finish my story, we have a full table.

“Wow, some day. Definitely deserving of a dance.” Jeremy grabs my hand and pulls me onto the dance floor before I can protest.

We spend most of the night dancing in a large group. Jeremy’s a blast to dance with, thanks to his mom. She’s the one responsible for his years of dancing lessons, and now he can dance to anything.

I’m also surprised to find that Ryan is a pretty decent dancer too. He can keep the beat and has a carefree attitude on the dance floor. He doesn’t seem concerned about anyone thinking he looks too goofy.
Andi
, as expected, is as uninhibited as usual. The atmosphere is infectious; I soon forget to be self-conscious, and just enjoy dancing for the first time in a very long time.

The music slows down. I turn to head back toward the table, but instead Ryan grabs me by the waist.

“Just where do you think you’re going?” He laughs as he pulls me towards him. I recognize the song and its singer. It’s a much faster beat than this song usually has and I’m curious to see how he’ll manage, so I relent and place a hand on his shoulder just as the lyrics start to the remake of
Son of a Preacher Man
. He pulls me close, grabbing my free hand and sliding his other in the small of my back. Ryan surprises me again. While he is silly and goofy to the fast songs, he is graceful with this slower number and easily leads me to the beat. At first I find myself struggling to keep up with his lead. I’m not used to being led by someone who actually knows what he’s doing. But soon I’m lost in the music, and before I know it the song is over. I look up, still wrapped in Ryan’s arms, and realize just how fast my breathing and pulse have become.

“I’m going to get a drink of water; do you want one?” I ask, trying to compose myself.

“I’ll get the water and meet you at the table,” he suggests.

I nod and make my way back to the table.
Andi
is sitting there waiting for me, a playful glint in her eyes.

“The dance floor seems to be a dangerous place for you,” she teases.

“What do you mean?” I feign innocence even though I know what she is implying.

“The way you and Ryan were dancing I’d guess he was your boyfriend, not Brody.” She raises her eyebrows and waits for my response.

“We were just dancing. Honestly, the only reason I did was because I figured he wouldn’t be able to keep up with the song. But he surprised me.”

“Are you sure that’s all?” Her innuendo is clear.

“
Andi
, will you stop trying to play matchmaker for me? I have a boyfriend, and Ryan has a girlfriend. We were just friends dancing.” I giggle dismissively, then I say, “Though I have to admit, it would be nice if Brody could dance like that.” A sigh escapes.

“Ha! I knew you had a moment.”
Andi
almost jumps out of her seat in her excitement over catching me.

“If I did it was about the dancing, not the boy. Apart from Jeremy, how many guys do you know that can actually lead?” My voice now sounds cross.

“Counting Ryan and Jeremy? Two.”
Andi
holds and wiggles her fingers to emphasize the number. “Well I’ll see you in a bit.” She disappears as soon as Ryan returns with the water. I roll my eyes after her. She can be so mischievous.

“So is your inability to be led a control thing or what?” Ryan jokes as he hands me my glass.

“No, it’s a learned bad habit,” I admit.

“How do you learn not to allow the guy to lead?” He raises his brow at me.

“In middle school did you have dance during gym class?”

“Yeah, I think its mandatory torture for all middle school students.” He takes a sip of his water and waits for me to continue.

“I think you’re right. I had a semester of dance, and it was torture. We learned everything from the waltz to square dancing. Only one thing was consistent throughout the semester. No matter the dance, none of the boys knew the steps or how to lead. That left me to lead them through the steps, and I’ve been leading ever since.”