The Sum of Her Parts by Foster Alan Dean

Author:Foster, Alan Dean [Foster, Alan Dean]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Adult
ISBN: 9780345535634
Amazon: B009KVT9T8
Goodreads: 18988094
Publisher: Del Rey
Published: 2012-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

HIKING THROUGH HEAVILY ERODED hills instead of across a flat plain offered more opportunities to keep under cover and away from the prying eyes of any company searcher drones. It also offered shade from a sun burning through a cloudless sky. But it also made for slower going. Ironically, in a world awash in helpful electronics they now found themselves navigating by the light in the sky.

It helped that both of them had poured over Ouspel’s map and instructions so many times that much of it remained in memory, though they no longer had a communicator with which to confirm their decisions. They did not speak of what would happen if they missed Nerens entirely and continued trudging northward. Beyond the SICK company outpost there were no towns or scientific stations, and the east–west road (the only east–west road) that connected the towns of Lüderitz and Keetmanshoop was farther from Nerens than the SICK facility was from Orangemund. Miss their target destination and they would surely die in the desert.

Even in the most complex world, she reflected as she marched alongside Whispr, life could ultimately be reduced to simplicities.

Actually, there was a simple way to avoid getting lost. All they had to do was head west until they hit the sea and then turn north. But with company diamond mining sites scattered all along the coast and Nerens being supplied from the sea, the chances of approaching the facility undetected via a coastal route was essentially zero. They had no choice but to try to sneak in from the wide-open east. From the desert where no one ventured except fools and the deluded.

Which am I? she wondered. Recently she had told others that she was a scientist. Plenty of fools and the deluded belonged to that profession. Surreptitiously she eyed her slender companion as he trod silently beside her. At least Whispr harbored no such illusions. He was here for the promise of subsist and nothing more. His ruminations were not troubled by elevated hopes. In a way, she envied him. There was something to be said for the peace conveyed to the soul by a complete lack of curiosity.

Worry was being pushed into the background by weariness as they topped a low rise and a sheltered riverbed came into view. They had encountered and crossed many such, but this one was strikingly different. For one thing, it was preponderantly green instead of brown and yellow. Not for the full length of its meandering course, nor heavily so. But there was tall brush, and clusters of reeds, and even a few scattered ivory palms lording it over lesser desert vegetation. A trio of distinctive ungulate shapes with towering horns paused to stare in the direction of the new arrivals before breaking into a gallop for the nearest ridge. As the two tired travelers watched, the three gemsbok disappeared over the rocky crest, still moving at a lazy trot as they vanished.

Conferring, Ingrid and Whispr agreed that this little desert paradise was one of the last main water holes that had been marked on Ouspel’s map.

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