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“Dani, do you want to grab a drink after work?”
Dani looked surprised for a second before her face split into an open smile. Nayome felt bad that she had never really made the effort to cultivate any type of friendship outside of work before, so much that a simple drink came as such a shock.
“Yeah, that would be awesome,” Dani beamed, “I want to hear all about your trip, and not just the science stuff.”
Nayome felt a small inkling of panic as she wondered what she would even be able to share. But luckily she didn’t have time to dwell on it as Dani grabbed her arm and ushered her the rest of the way into the office. Nayome exchanged a few pleasantries here and there as she passed by co-workers.
Alright, she thought, taking in the familiar sights and sounds of the bustling office, time to get back to normal. Glancing down, she grimaced as she caught sight of the dirt still clinging in her nails. Hiding her hand behind her cappuccino, she made a note to scrub her nails at the first opportunity.
* * *
Nayome poured thoughtfully over the data she had gotten back from her samples. Nothing was really jumping out at her, the soil had come back consistent with what would be expected from a temperate rainforest near an ocean feeding river. The water, aside from being pristine—she was surprised it hadn’t been monopolized by a bottling company yet— didn’t show any signs of having strange contaminants.
She wished she had managed to hold on to that bark sample, it would have been incredible to get an idea of the age that yew had been. But, maybe it was for the best. Something about that place, that clearing, had resonated with her, and she thought it didn’t belong in the city, or in a research lab.
Nayome did a double take as she read through some of the data on the fungus sample. The mushrooms she had collected had been well established, but the results were showing them as a week old, at best. That couldn’t be right, unless she had picked her sample from a small offshoot of the main growth. She knew she had been careful to take a piece from the main cluster in the center, where it would be the oldest. The lab probably mis-labeled them, it was known to happen on occasion. Anyway, a few day’s old mushroom would barely be out of it’s spore stage, it wouldn’t have the substance she had been able to extract…must just be an error. Nayome made a mental note to go down to the lab and double check herself later. If it wasn’t an error…Nayome felt a twinge of excitement at the thought she may have found something interesting.
She had been looking for some indication that the soil or water was being contaminated, impacted by the towns and industry encroaching on it from all sides. Even some indication that environmental changes were impacting the landscape, changing it. Her research was based on the climate impact of industry, and it usually wasn’t too hard to find something. But comparing surveys from fifty years back, and the new maps and satellite images she had today, were showing her almost no shift in landscape, no erosion or indication of water levels dropping or thinning.
It was almost an oddity how consistent the landscape had stayed over the years.
Nayome recalled something Bal had said to her, about his family line. He had mentionedearth healersas being particularly rare and cherished. Could it be…could they be maintaining, protecting their home in some way? It would explain why there was no indication of pollution or nearby human settlement in the soil or water.
It could also just be very diligent, thorough conservation, but with Glasgow only a few hours from the forest—they weren’tthatremote, even the air should have suffered from some pollution being so close to a city hub, which would affect the soil and water.
Nayome realized she couldn’t pursue any of this. She couldn’t risk exposing Bal and his people, and this line of thought could only lead straight back to them. But if they had figured out a way to actually conserve the landscape…the implications, it would be incredible, there were so many sensitive ecosystems that were on the verge of disappearing, if they could be saved…
Breathing out a big sigh, Nayome let herself daydream about the possibilities for a few minutes, then shut down the train of thought. She didn’t understand enough to pursue any of this anyway, and she wasn’t about to risk herself and the others getting picked up and studied like a science experiment. If she found something here, she would have to hide it, or risk exposure.
What was she going to tell James? He had given her free reign with this, letting her take a risk. And it hadn’t been cheap, sending her off to Scotland. Well, it would blow over, hopefully. She would just explain it had been a bust and dive into one of the projects he was always trying to push on her. They were complete click-bait. Well, click-bait for academics, so there was some validity to the projects, but they were trendy and made a lot of money for the institute when they were published. Nayome always felt like she was selling out when she catered, but it would placate James and make up for the expense of her trip.
“Knock knock.” Nayome glanced up from her desk at the interruption.
“Ah, James I was just thinking about you.”
“All good things, I hope.” James made his way into her office and took a seat in one of the leather chairs in front of her desk. They were there for guests, but she didn’t tend to have many meetings, so they were still stiff and creaked under his weight, the leather not yet broken in.
“I just finished my prelim review of the lab results,” Nayome said.
“Anything good?”
“Unfortunately, it’s looking like a bust. Sorry James, I know I pushed for it and it must have cost a fortune to send me out there.”
James waved away her apology. “You knew it was a long shot, and I knew it too.”
“Then why…”
“You were getting restless, and you hadn’t taken any of your vacation time in more than a year. You needed a re-set, I figured this trip would be good for you whether it turned into anything or not.”
“But the money—”
“Drop in the bucket. And I’ve got the perfect project for you to make it up to me.” James flashed her one of his charming smiles. Groaning, Nayome knew what was coming and didn’t even try to hide her cringe.
“Don’t give me that look, it won’t be too bad.”
“Right” Nayome said, good-natured sarcasm dripping from her tone. “It isn’t another look into the environmental impacts of a new diet trend is it?”
“No, no, we’ve exhausted those for now. They were a huge success though, we may circle back after the holidays when everyone jumps back on the diet bandwagon. The combination of climate science, and eating habits is huge right now, making a lot of waves in the academic journals.” James raised his arms overhead and motioned as if he was revealing the heading on a billboard “Impact eating.”
