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“Huh?” Dante frowned.
She waved him off. “Terran game. Tell you later.”
It was their only idea. They had to get over there and check it out in person. He took off crawling again. Tinsley groaned, and Dante motioned for her to follow him.
An hour later, they had safely made it around the building undetected, and Tinsley was dreaming of a full spa day complete with a long hot soak in some scented water. They took another break. Dante ate another emra while Tinsley choked down a few more nibbles of her first one.
“I want you ahead of me on the rocks,” Dante told her.
Tinsley nodded. He was plenty strong, but it was easier for him to try and stop her descent on the way down should she stumble.
“Do you smell anything?”
Dante took a large sniff and made a face. “Just Jorvlens,” he said. “No lasers.”
“You can smell them?” She jerked back in surprise. “How close are they?”
“I was joking.” He grinned. “I can barely smell them from this far away. But up close, well, trust me, some of them are pretty ripe.”
“Ha-ha.” Tinsley stepped out onto the rocky cliff.
She cut a path across and up at the same time. They reached the bottom of the wall with no major incidents. Some smaller rocks broke loose a few times, and they had to freeze, but they saw no sign that anyone inside their target destination noticed.
Tinsley reached the wall first. She ran her hands up and down it with no small amount of dismay. It was perfectly smooth. Dante was already at work undoing the short rope.
“How can we climb it?” she wondered aloud.
He grinned and put his palm against the wall. Then he plunged his fingers into the rock.
“Look,” he said. He shined his comm light into the hole he had made.
Tinsley’s jaw dropped. He laughed and picked her up, handing her his comm. She could see the rock had been attached to steel fencing that would be easy to grab on to.
“Typical Jorvlen cheapness,” he said. “One sniff of the wall and I knew. This is just a veneer made to look menacing. Climb on.”
She climbed up onto his back. He started passing the rope behind her, lashing her to him.
“I can hold on,” she told him.
“I’m not risking it, no way. A fall from even a short height, onto that…” He indicated the rocks they had just traversed. “There’s no telling how bad the injuries would be.”
Tinsley admitted he was right. She laid her face against his back and decided she would not look down no matter what.
Dante climbed carefully but steadily. The biggest issue they had was the dust he generated. Still, Tinsley was very glad when he stepped onto the roof, where they made their way carefully. Tinsley pointed out the air vents, and he nodded.
They sat down. Dante went for another emra bar, but Tinsley indicated he should eat hers. While he chewed, he dug into another pocket and came up with a black gooey energy bar. Tinsley watched while he broke off two small pieces. She thought he was going to offer her one to eat, so she was surprised when he stuck them on the ends of his horns.
He wrapped his arm around her and leaned in close.
“Tip from one of my brothers,” he said in her ear. “Trigg. He almost got stuck in a duct a few times, and it helps to put something slick on your horns.”
Tinsley had to stifle a laugh. “Is crawling around in ducts a family activity for the Lorr?”
“Just the Lorrz family,” Dante said with an amused sigh. “Once we’re… someplace that isn’t here… I’ll tell you stories. Or maybe my brothers can.”
“Noted,” Tinsley said with a smile. “So where are we going?”
“Recon. Once we have intel, we can get a better idea of where to start.”
