A dark blue cargo van glided up U.S. Route 395. It turned right on to highway 136 with Greg Thomson at the wheel.
Convincing the Hispanic man to sell the old van for gold had been surprisingly difficult.
Vega left the trade perplexed. "I don't understand his hesitation. Did he not think that was a generous exchange? He got the better end of the deal..."
Greg laughed, then said, "How could you not see what he was thinking? It was written on his face! Two white guys in suits showing up at his house with gold? Come on! Haven't you ever heard the saying, 'too good to be true?' All this time spent running around this timeline and that guy confused you... You really aren't from Earth, are you?"
"I'd say I've been here long enough to be an honorary member, but I still don't get all the cultural inter-workings," Vega replied as they pulled to the side of the road near the orange grove.
They picked up Envy from his hiding place, and made their way across the state. Greg drove under the speed limit, which felt about as right as riding a bicycle on the freeway.
Greg had no desire to be pulled over with a driver's license valid for the next fifteen years.
He turned onto the unmarked dirt road and dropped to a crawl.
They drove a long distance down the road, keeping their eyes glued on the woods to their left, looking through the wall of tall ponderosa pines for anything that may have counted as their target. Without seeing much through the rocks, trees and rising of rusty ground, Greg pulled off the road near an intersection of another dirt road.
"I say we hoof it from here." Greg said, throwing the van into park.
The back doors opened and Envy rolled out, rising up to his full height after being hunched over in the back. The futuristic piece of equipment was very out of his element in the back woods of Southern California. "We are searching the area to the west," Greg told him. "Roughly parallel to the runway on the other side of the woods. I would imagine this to be a small wooden structure, large enough for one person to sit in."
"Understood," Envy said, and rolled into the tree line, ahead of the other two.
"What are you going to do with him?" Greg asked Vega as they followed behind the robot. "He's done everything we needed him for, hasn't he?"
"Everything and more," Vega said. "In fact, I'm not quite sure what to do with the bot. I have grown quite fond of him. He has been very useful, but he will just be conspicuous where we are going next. And not to mention, totally useless against any of the electronic measures in the present..."
"I would hate to jump him back to the silo to be destroyed with the others just because we don't need him right now," Greg said, scanning the woods. Neither one looked at each other as they walked and talked through the woods. After a pause Greg spoke again.
"Why don't we just keep him with us until he becomes a burden. If we need to leave him somewhere, we can and then we'll use the coin to go back for him. It can't hurt to have an extra pair of robotic hands to do heavy lifting for us."
"That sounds fine to me. But, you must understand something. Most of the places I travel, I try my best to blend in. I do not to storm in, bold and brash. There are exceptions to this rule, but for the most part, my aim is to accomplish a mission and leave no mark. Most of this is subtle work. So, how Envy will continue to fit into this quest remains to be seen."
"I see," Greg said, "I'd just hate to get rid of the guy. You told Binno not to put in a personality, and maybe it is just my own desire to give him one because he talks and moves, but I think of him as a real member of our team."
Vega smiled as he scanned the woods.
Greg caught the expression and became aware he was putting too much of his thoughts and feelings out there. He realized how much he had gotten comfortable with the short, old man who had rescued him from a lizard in the orange grove. It felt strange, once he considered it, talking like a real person to this man, who, under most circumstances, would be considered his elder. But there was something about Vega that spoke to Greg's unconscious, that the older man was just a victim of passing time, and was once like him. Soon he would also be old, another soul swept downstream by the constant flow of time. Would he still have his same sort of outlook and personality, or would it become blunted?
"I know what you mean, young man," Vega replied after a pause. "I was once a vital half of a great pairing. It has been quite a while since I felt surrounded by others that I could depend on." Vega cut his mushy speech short.
"We will keep Envy with us as long as we can." Vega said, validating everything Greg felt about the grey haired man.
A soft tone, one that could have been mistaken for a birdcall, drifted through the woods. Vega and Greg tracked the sound to the right, following a deer path, they searched out their robot.
The call came again, closer, taking them over a rise. They found the metal man standing beside a tiny wooden shack.
"Typical!" Greg shouted, running up to the outhouse. "There is even a crescent moon carved into the door!"
"This appears to be the spot you indicated," Envy said. "It is nearly halfway between the road and landing strip, as well as matching the building type."
"It's old alright," Vega said touching the dry, grey wood. "What do you think, Greg? Buried beneath?"
"The first two were buried in old ammo crates," Greg said staring into the dark interior of the outhouse. "I guess we should move this thing. Do you think there will be... like, old crap under there?"
"One way to find out... Envy, move this structure. Abandon all care in its preservation," Vega commanded.
Envy nodded his boxy head and turned toward the outdoor bathroom. He sunk his metal hands under the edge of the wooden base, and exploded upward, tossing the whole wooden mess into the air. It came apart as the structural integrity gave out from the sudden force. What was left of the outhouse came crashing down, fifteen feet away, wood splitting and nails snapping. It fell into a heap of scrap wood, unrecognizable to its former function.
A rock pile sat in the spot where the outhouse stood, similar to the previous two stashes. In detail, there were three rocks; the size of beach balls all leaning against each other.
"No old crap stains," Greg noticed. "I doubt that it was ever really used for a toilet."
"Just camouflage," Vega nodded.
"It will be under those rocks. Envy, could you move those, too?" Greg asked. "You don't need to chuck them or anything..."
"Looks like it was a good idea to keep him around," Vega smiled, glad to not be moving 200-pound stones.
The rocks were moved away allowing Greg to step into the depression created by the excavation. He dusted away the granite sand like an umpire cleaning off home plate. In no time, the top of the green military crate was exposed.
Vega joined him, and the pair, like archeologists, carefully dusted around the edges until the top was fully exposed.
Greg took a hold on the crate's handle. With a mighty effort, tugging with both hands.
Envy, seeing his masters' struggle, reached out a finger, the crate popped from the earth.
The three treasure hunters stood around the unearthed box. Envy pried around the edges, removing the top.
Greg felt giddy as the treasure was exposed for all the forest to see. He wanted to whoop with joy at the sight of the cash, golden cups, coins, gems and jewelry, but his eyes drifted over to the inside of the lid.
"They fear themselves..." He read under his breath.
"What is that?" Vega said, also noticing the hand painted message.
"The others had messages inside the lids, too," Greg said. "We are prisoners, and find what they fear. Now we know what the fear is about. Apparently, they fear themselves. I still don't know what it all means! Why did the Snow King leave these messages behind?"
Vega shook his head.
"Come on! Tell me. I know you know more about this than you're letting on!"
"I told you what I know, but I promise, we will be delicate about this. I wi
ll see what we can get out of Fenton on the subject," Vega said.
Greg huffed. "Well, here is the coin," he said, picking it out of the box. After becoming fully aware of the importance of the common looking coin, it was easy to pick it out of the sea of other shiny treasures.
"Maybe we should just ask the Snow King himself!" Greg muttered as the idea formed in his mind.. "Jump back a little bit at a time until we find him putting the treasure here! That would solve it all!"
"I'm not playing time detective," Vega said, taking the coin from Greg. "This device is mine. That was the deal. I get the third coin and you remain free from the Keepers in the present. So here is your last chance: the next flip of this coin can send you home, or I will let you come with me to see Fenton, before I travel to the present. But I warn you, going home and living a life unremembered, is a safe bet. You, assaulting the present with me, trying to save your brother and your clone, is not."
Greg did not pause, "I already told you, I'm going to rescue Peter. There is no way I could pass up this chance. What about the treasure?"
"Well," Vega said, tossing the coin in the air without flipping it, "We can't reconstruct the building. Bring it along, I suppose. We will have to drop it off somewhere. I have no more need for Earth money."
Envy bent down and picked up the crate, minus the lid. He wheeled himself to a flat area, knowing his companions were ready to jump.
Vega put out his arm, inviting Greg to take his place beside the robot. With Envy secured on the tips of their steel-toed boots, Vega gave Greg a questioning look.
"Let's go already! I wanna meet this man from the future!"
The coin leapt from Vega's thumb and the dry, summer forest was once again empty.
CHAPTER 24