It was so blindingly obvious, Mel felt like she should blush or something.
Jack actually straightened.“We could try out the RV.”
Mel may have rolled her eyes.The RV was not exactly a recreation vehicle, in the strictest sense of the word.The retro camper had been kitted out with all kinds of equipment that Jack considered essential for a road trip designed to investigate time travel.
A couple of times their teams had used it when staking out a location.RVs tended to both call attention to themselves, while at the same time deflecting the wrong kind of attention.
But Mel wasn’t sure this was a good mission for either of the teams.They were pairs of guys, deadly guys who didn’t fit into the RV kind of world.It really needed a married couple, particularly if they were going to venture into an active scanning zone.
Con, as the new guy, might have been their first choice, but he’d been seen in Roswell.They couldn’t risk another exposure this soon.
And while she loved the idea of going to Wyoming, it was too close to home and her past.Very risky.
“It should be us,” Ty said, his grip tightening on Alice’s hand.
Even Con looked alarmed at this suggestion.
“I thought…” he began.
Ty held up a hand.“It should be us.We can kit ourselves up to look like ordinary tourists.”
Alice nodded agreement, her expression placid.
“I am best suited for finding a signal and analyzing it,” she said, with no sign of conceit in her words.
It was true.She was their only “real” scientist.Jack was mostly self-taught and Mel was a reporter.Ty had been recruited for his pilot credentials and, well, his muscle.
“Is there any risk of their signal picking up our scanning attempts?”Mel asked, rather proud she’d thought up the question in her non-science brain.
“There’s always risk, Mel,” Alice said, though with a smile.“But with the data I’ve collected from Rita’s various devices, I believe I can do this.It’s not terribly different from the signals we use for our information capsules.”
“Do…” Mel felt a stab of something close to panic, “you think they are us in the future?I mean, what if we caused them?”
There was a moment of silence.
“I’ve considered that possibility,” Alice said, “but I don’t think so.I think it is more a case of both of us using available science.”
Mel might have sagged in relief.The irony of future them trying to wipe out past them was a little too much to take in right now.Or ever.
“I don’t love the idea,” Jack admitted, “but I also don’t see another option.”
Ty nodded.“I’ll get some transportation laid on.”
“I’ll let the teams know you’re going to pick up the camper and to get it stocked for a trip.”Jack grinned suddenly.“It’s going to take you several days to get there.Not exactly the fast way to travel.”
Ty’s grin turned a little evil.“We’ll find a way to pass the time.”
Alice looked confused for several seconds, then she blushed.
Rita was the elephant in the room.She’d never felt so gigantic.Under her lashes, her gaze tracked around the table, noting that Alice and Ty weren’t there.
In the center of the table, in what looked like a Faraday cage, were both her tracking devices and her recall device.
So Con had kept them.
She examined her feelings and found she didn’t mind.Well, she might mind a little.The rest of her thought it was pretty funny that she and Con had both had such huge secrets they were keeping from each other.
The same secret, she realized, trying not to chuckle.It didn’t seem to fit with the heavy silence in the room.
