“Don’t you have work to do here?” Lamont asked. In his single-minded focus, it vaguely occurred to him that the mercurial medic could be a rogue factor in an already unpredictable situation.
Lamont’s eyes scanned the faces of the people that were congregated around the grove before turning to the arched entrance of the canopied feature, trying to pierce its dappled shadows. “Where’s Miss Beckett?” He asked. “Is she with them?”
“No, Mr. Lamont,” Anna answered gravely. “Constance insisted on going with Jackson.”
The newspaperman cursed convulsively and nearly collided with Rosemary and Jihyun in his haste to return to the path.
“Oy, where are you going?” Rosemary demanded.
“After them!” Lamont answered without stopping.
Leaving the astrophysicist behind, Rosemary hurried to catch up with him as he loped with grim determination toward the central column. “I’m coming with you, then.”
“Don’t you have work to do here?” Lamont asked. In his single-minded focus, it vaguely occurred to him that the mercurial medic could be a rogue factor in an already unpredictable situation.
“That can wait,” Rosemary insisted. “Besides, Francis would be cross if he knew I let you break the buddy rule.”
“He’ll be worse than cross if anything should happen to you,” Lamont predicted.
“Go on!” Rosemary gave a forced-sounding laugh. “We’re in bloody space, mate. I’m nobody’s china teacup.”
“Suit yourself,” Lamont consented. He was too distracted to make a compelling case, and too viscerally aware of the sting he’d caused on past occasions when he had referenced Rosemary’s rash action in the caverns of Epiphany Rex. Arriving at the central column, he immediately began pulling at the wheeled crate that was still set halfway through the open threshold of the lift. In short order, the two had cleared the shuttle, leaving the medical equipment scattered haphazardly in the clearing around the column.
“Going down,” Lamont said wryly as he positioned himself in the lift.
Rosemary pressed her copper-suited body against the padded wall, and then hesitated. “Hold up,” she said. “Do you think we should drum up some kind of weapon, just in case?”
Did nobody think to bring some Martian laser pistols?
Which I assume they have