Beneath the Red Sand

16 || Chapter Sixteen

"Now that you've mastered the basics, we're going to work on teamwork," Mr. Gryffin says. "Communication is key. If you don't communicate, people can die out there. This planet is no joke, so don't take it as one. Even if you don't get along, you have to look out for the survival of your team no matter what. This is a small colony. Petty squabbles will come up. Personalities will clash. When you're out there, all of your personal conflicts need to get set aside. If you can't do that, you do not have a place on my team."

Here Mr. Gryffin glances pointedly at Ian, Noah, and me. Noah and I glare over at Ian, but I doubt the instructor takes our not-so-subtle hint that Ian's the problem here, not us.

"To that end," Mr. Gryffin continues, "You'll be working in teams of four today."

And surprise, surprise, he walks right over to me and Noah and pairs us with Ian and his partner. Today Ian's working with the same redhead kid from before, but the redheaded kid doesn't look happy about it. What did the guy who was working with Ian for the past couple of days give the kid in exchange for partnering with Ian again?

"Today we're going to be making this an even more grueling challenge than you've faced before in this class. Today we're going to be working in caves under the same conditions you'll face out in the field." The instructor flips a switch on the projector and, overlaying our field area is a massive cave with several chambers so realistic the image appears tangible, like everything else in the room once it coalesces into being.

All of us shuffle into the cave, with its walls all brown and red, and as I pass the entryway I press my gloved fingers against the opening wall. It's solid, as if the rocks were actually there. Is it real? A mere projector brought matter to life? Another step forward, and I bounce. The habitat's artificial gravity generator stopped functioning in the cave. A surge of excitement and fear — I'm not sure which, maybe both — runs down my spine.

"Now get to work," Mr. Gryffin orders.

Noah and I claim our space, along with Ian and his partner. I hope Ian will behave himself today. We need to show Mr. Gryffin that we can work as a team if any of us is going to have a place on the excavation team. I'll play nice if he does, and even if he doesn't, I refuse to behave in any less than a professional manner. It's the four of us alone in one chamber. That's the way Mr. Gryffin wants it, separating the groups into the different cave chambers.

We set to work without a word, collecting our soil samples and placing them on our cart for collection. When that's done, Ian takes the scanner to survey our area. None of us complains. We'll let him take the lead. It would be childish to bicker over who gets to use the shiny, fun tools. While Ian scans the area, I study the cave walls.

"Look! There are markings in this alcove here," I say, shining my helmet flashlight over the area.

"Wicked," Noah says, coming to stand behind me.

"We have four objects to find, so let's get moving," Ian's partner reports. "Two metal, two clay."

"Great," I say. "We can each take one and then study these markings."

"Sounds good," Noah says.

Ian scowls. "Who made you our leader?"

"I'm not trying to be," I huff. "I'm merely the idea girl."

"Whatever," Ian says, but he shows us where each object is buried, and we do split up as I suggested.

I brush the layers of dirt off and sift, finding a few flecks of metal that could be something interesting, and set that find aside. When I'm done, I catalog my findings. I don't even mind that Ian has his first and he's already cataloged his. Noah is right behind me with his piece of clay. Studying the clay, I notice it has identical symbols on it to the ones on the wall.