Chapter Nine
Patiently Garrett through the unwinking stereoscopic viewer of his distant robotic crawler studied the survivors from afar, secretly, silently, intimately. Wary of revealing himself to these people who might look upon his obvious wealth and security with envy, disdain, even rage, he did not risk bringing his squat, armored vehicle any closer than his semi-hidden observation point just below the top of the ridge that overlooked the stream where they bathed. He was curious about the organization of the group, the nature and layout of their encampment, their method of collecting food, the amount of technology and equipment they retained, and a host of other things, but he knew that driving the vehicle any closer would lead to discovery. He had to content himself with only his re
