Matt did all right on the hike, but two hours later, in the Red, lying in wait, neck muscles stiff and cramping from not looking at the landscape or the vista (other than the POW camp) or the scrub? He needed a distraction.
So as they lay on a mesa overlooking the POW camp, heads decorated with sagebrush that Matt was trying to ignore the existence of, he finally had a real conversation with Captain Levine. “D’you wanna go too, Captain Levine?” He kind of doubted it. Levine looked a little older and slightly amused by Jude. Slightly more amused than he seemed to be about everything else.
“Nah. I’m used to staying behind and keeping the skimmer warmed up.” The skimmer sat two hours behind them, well in the Blue Corridor, but whatever. End of conversation. Until Levine said, “Guess you sho
