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10
Miranda generally paidlittle attention to land vehicles. The interior of a Humvee surprised her each time she entered one. There was plenty of room for their packs and samples in Commander Piazza’s vehicle, but not much room for people. With no weapons aboard, the cargo area was empty. But the big vehicle only had four seats.
Down the center was a rectangular hump high enough for the passengers to rest their elbows upon. It served two purposes. The first was that it allowed the drive train to be tucked up into the space underneath to increase ground clearance. The second was that it created a platform for a turret gunner to stand on, even when the vehicle, like this one, didn’t have a turret gun.
Miranda wasnotgoing to sit up front with Sadie, Commander Piazza’s Shih Tzu dog. Mike won the toss and sat up front. Holly sat in the single seat behind the driver. That left Miranda and Andi squeezed into the seat behind Mike. An airman in full armor and their weapon would normally fit comfortably. Despite being two slender women, it was still a tight squeeze.
And sitting in back hadn’t done her any good as Sadie used the flat top of the central hump to trot easily between the front and the back as Susan started the engine and began the drive up the runway toward the base.
Miranda should have let Andi sit to the inside, instead she sat against the door so it was left to Miranda to confront the animal.
When it approached, Holly wrapped its entire head in her hand and gave it a brief wrestle, then let go and tickled its nose.
Sadie yipped and then waggled not only her stubby tail but her entire body.
Andi reached across Miranda to scratch it behind the ears, which sported pink bows. Then yanked her hand back as if the dog was afire and whispered, “Sorry.”
“Why?”
Andi didn’t explain and left it to Miranda to figure out on her own.
She stared at the dog.
It stared back at her.
Susan glanced back but then returned her attention to her driving.
She pulled out a tape measure, making sure that it was well extended so that her hand remained well above the dog. The Shih Tzu watched closely as she measured it vertically at whatever the withers were called on a dog. Miranda assumed dogs were measured much like a horse, as head height was highly variable in four-legged species.
Twenty-four centimeters, nine-point-four inches. The short-cut fur of a brown-black brindle over white made that a reasonably accurate estimate.
That didn’t seem very scary, especially compared to the fifty-six centimeter Chow Chow that had weighed more than she herself did at seven years old. The roaring deep bark of her childhood nightmares had translated to the happy little bark in this animal.
Notscary.
Ridiculous might be a better word. It was as if Sadie belonged to an entirely different scientific genus, perhaps even a different family or order. Allocating the creature to the sameCanisas the Chow Chow was absurd, except for its genus-level ability to interbreed with otherCanes. That they even shared the orderCarnivoraseemed unlikely.
She pulled on a blue nitrile glove and rested a tentative fingertip on its back. It sat abruptly and continued to stare at her. When she tried touching the top of its head, it pushed back with pressure, as if it enjoyed the sensation.
“That’s not so bad, is it?” She wasn’t sure if she was asking herself or Andi.
“I always liked them,” Andi replied after a long pause.
Miranda withdrew her finger, carefully plucked at the back of the glove, and rolled it inside out as she removed it to envelop the contaminated surface. Not that she suspected the animal of anything, or Commander Piazza of any ulterior motive in possessing such a creature, but it was better to be careful.
“Andi, perhaps meeting your mother wouldn’t be so awful.”
Her silence stretched long enough for Miranda to turn to look at her. Her expression was unreadable, then she laughed that wonderful Andi laugh. As if she’d somehow dropped all of her cares at once. Miranda was about to ask how to do that herself, as they clung to her like…cares that clung to her.
“That’swhy you said you didn’t want to meet my mother?”
“Of course. You know I’ve never liked dogs.”
“I thought it was because you didn’t want to be introduced as the woman I’m dating.”
“Why would I think that? Youarethe woman I’m dating.”
Andi started to say something, but Miranda didn’t hear it. There was motion beyond their side window that drew her attention. The Humvee was halfway back to the hangars and they were being passed by a stream of vehicles heading in the opposite direction.
