Cage stood next to a car that wasn’t his, flashlight heavy in his hand as he listened to instructions. The group was bigger than he’d anticipated, and for that, he was happy. But the Texas night had not cooled off. The heat was oppressive, or maybe that was just his fear.
The Helio Systems Tech workers gathered in a circle. Their ages ranged from the youngest being around his and Joule’s age, up to about forty or fifty years old. The Walkers were clearly the oldest here.
Dr. Murasawa stood in the center handing out instructions. This was clearly organized through work, though not sanctioned by it. They still hadn’t been given official time off.
The lack of outsiders told Cage that the community hadn’t rallied to find their missing member either. Though Helio Tech workers often breezed into a place and altered it, they also quickly left. They didn’t quite become members of the place, despite living there for months on end.
“Every pair will go together in one car,” Dr. Murasawa was announcing. All around him, heads nodded.
A few faces he recognized—people he and Joule had said hello to as they arrived and a few who had offered hugs of return. But most he didn’t know. The Walkers stood next to him holding hands. It was clear they had designated they would be a pair.
Joule glanced sideways at him, shaking her head slightly and he caught the implication they should go separate directions. People were pairing up.
“I’m dividing up the map. We’ll drive the roads and look for Sarah's car.” Dr. Murasawa spread a huge paper map out on the hood of her car, already having marked some of it up with the green highlighter she was gesturing with.
She didn’t say they would look for Sarah.
“What about the border?” Brooklyn asked.
All three of Sarah's roommates were here, ready to put in the time. That made him happy because he hadn't been sure about the reception they'd received that morning. Then again, he and his sister had simply knocked on their door and announced they wanted to come in and search Sarah’s things.
Now the group crowded around the map, claiming various sections to search. Since he didn’t know his way around, none of it mattered to him.
“Don't cross the border,” Dr. Murasawa admonished them. “You may be able to see across in certain places. You’re welcome to look, but please stay in United States territory.” The tone of her voice told him she meant exactly what she was saying. It wasn't a hidden directive, but a genuine plea.
“Be sure you have a valid, unexpired driver’s license or legal ID on you.” One of the older men cut in as he scanned the group to see if they understood.
Cage hadn’t understood before, but he was starting to. He wondered what might be expected on the other side. He made a mental note to look into it tomorrow.
Dr. Murasawa began counting the people again, then she divided by two and announced the number of teams. After she had done that, she began drawing additional search sections—these were farther out on the map and larger.
Mr. Walker stepped forward, snapping a picture of one of the divisions on his phone, then he and his wife were off in their car. Preset pairs started to leave, but others simply hung back and waited for assignments.
When half of them were gone, Dr. Murasawa marked the already chosen sections and then looked up to say, “I need a partner. I can drive. Who wants to ride with me?”
The bump at the back of his elbow told Cage that Joule wanted him to volunteer. So, he stepped forward. “I will.”
It would be a great time to get to talk to her again, see if she knew anything about Sarah that they didn’t. Which was probably what Joule had been smart enough to think of first.
“Everyone else needs to pair up,” their leader announced.
Cage watched as his sister cleanly inserted herself as the fourth between the roommates and said, “I have a car if one of you wants to come with me, then we can be two teams.”
The three looked to each other back and forth before Gisela moved to Joule’s side.
With the decision made, he was climbing into the gold, four-door sedan next to his boss, surprised to see a car seat in the middle of the backseat. But now wasn't the time to ask.
As his door clicked shut, she began talking. “It's good to see you and your sister again. Really good. I've been wondering if you were going to come back and work for us.” She paused. “We currently have you on indefinite leave.”
He appreciated that but didn't have an answer.
She wasn’t waiting for one. “But I'm really concerned about the circumstances under which you both came back.”
“Me too.”
She’d kept the big map, handing it over to him to navigate. She’d allowed the other pairs to choose the area they wanted to search, leaving herself and Cage to search the last unwanted area.
It was a large, open space away from the border and farther away from the town. There were no roads listed, so he opened his phone and tried to direct her along the faint lines that indicated these were not highways or even well populated paths—and mostly not paved.
It would be a while before they even reached the edge of their area. Cage began asking questions and he was surprised to find Dr. Murasawa knew more than he expected.