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"That excludes less than you think." Raheem was still grinning. "But fine. Get your computer and I'll get you set up."
As we walked toward the tents, something occurred to me. "Hey. So I was sitting next to this lady on the plane—"
"Oh, so that's why you aren't interested," Vanessa interrupted with a giggle.
I rolled my eyes. "No," I said. "I'm being serious. I think she was Velartan. And she kept saying stuff about Kulmeira."
The teasing smile on Vanessa's face faded. "What kind of stuff?"
"Like—" I set my computer bag down on a table, trying to remember precisely what Ona had said. "Nothing specific, I guess," I admitted at last. "But it was like she was, I don't know. Hinting at something."
"Okay, you are being super vague right now," Raheem said. He reached for my bag and pulled out my laptop. "I'm going to need at least fifty percent more specificity. Do you already have Blanton's database loaded on this relic?"
"Four years old is not a relic," I said, "and yes I do, and I can't be more specific, because she wasn't specific. But—"
Vanessa, I realized, had gone quiet. Her freckled face was pale.
I felt ridiculous saying it. "It was like she was suggesting that something bad was going to happen here."
Raheem gave me a deprecating look. "Please tell me you haven't suddenly turned into some kind of superstitious loony toon."
"Excuse me," Vanessa snapped. Two spots of pink had appeared high in her cheeks.
Raheem blinked at her. "What?" he said.
"It's not loony toons to—you know what?" She held up a hand. "I'll talk to you guys later."
She spun and stalked off toward her car.
Raheem looked at me. I looked at him. "What was that about?" he said blankly.
"I don't know," I said, reaching for my bag, "but I'm going to find out."
"Good luck," he muttered, watching Vanessa's retreating figure.
I took off after Vanessa at a jog. "Vanessa! V! Wait up."
When I caught up to her, I saw that her eyes were bright with fury, and her face was almost as red as her flaming hair. "If you're just going to laugh at me, you can stop right there.”
"I'm not going to laugh," I said, trying to make my voice as placating as possible. "I just want you to tell me what's going on."
She slowed her pace and glanced at me sidelong, as though she was trying to decide whether or not to believe me. "Promise you won't make fun."
I held up a pinky. "Promise."
She narrowed her eyes and hooked her own pinky around mine. "Fine," she said. She dropped her hand and opened her car door. "I thought you were staying."
I slid into the passenger seat. "Raheem doesn't need my help. Drive," I said, "and talk."
She started the car. "So, you know Kulmeira was a big town for centuries.”
"Until it was abandoned in the fifteen hundreds,” I said. "Right."
"Did you ever wonder," Vanessa said, her voice taking on an enigmatic tone, "why that was?"
"I mean, there was all the cholera," I said, raising my eyebrows.
Vanessa shook her head. "No," she said. "It wasn't cholera, or plague, or anything else. It was something way more sinister."
