Page 105 of One Adult, Please

"Someone goes to the roof."

"We climb the sky pole," I say.

They all look at me.

"The tall thing. On the roof. The..." I make a vertical motion that doesn't help. "The metal... reaching... thing that sends the signals up to the..."

"Antenna," Joel says.

"Thank you."

"You want to climb the antenna," Beck says.

"I don't want to climb it. I want to get to it. There's a difference. Climbing implies recreational intent. This is tactical."

"Tactical sky pole climbing," Beck says.

"Beck, I will revoke your dessert armory privileges."

"Couldn't we try your phone again?" Beck asks.

"I've tried my phone. My phone is a rectangle of emotional terrorism."

"Charging the phone isn't the problem. The cell network is," Joel says.

"It keeps showing one bar."

"One bar means it can sometimes detect a tower. It doesn't mean the tower can complete a call."

"So the bar is lying."

"The bar is optimistic."

"I hate optimistic bars."

Joel points to the operations center on the map. "The emergency system doesn't rely on the public cell network. If anything can reach outside, it's that. The comms room is on the ground floor, the antenna array is on the roof. The problem isn't getting to the building. The problem is that the rooftop is exposed, elevated, and the antenna realignment involves physical adjustment of the dish, which is loud. Metal on metal. It'll draw attention."

"Wrong people attention," I say.

"Wrong people attention. We secured the big middle but they drift. They come in from outside the perimeter. Solar Plaza is open, hard to defend, and the operations center is right in the middle of it."

"Good thing I have a plan place." I gesture at the brochure. "And a plan crayon."

"The plan crayon is a nub," Joel observes.

"Don't nub-shame the periwinkle, Joel. The periwinkle has carried this team."

Grant clears his throat. "I could take Captain up," he says. "From a high perch, he'll fixate on movement before we can see it. I can read the direction of his attention and identify where something is moving. I won’t get an exact count, but he can give us an early warning."

"You can really do that?" I ask.

"I've been working with raptors for nine years. Their spatial communication is remarkably nuanced."

"Grant reads bird." I look at the others. "Grant reads bird and we've been raw-dogging strategy without bird subtitles?"

"I've been using it. You just weren't watching."

"I was watching! I watch Captain all the time! He screams at things and sits on your arm and once he ate a lizard in front of me while maintaining direct eye contact and it was the most aggressive lunch I've ever witnessed."