Chapter 2

“Maybe not, dude. If you have your curtains open all day on the fourth floor, would you worry about ‘em at night? Look around. The nearest place tall enough to let you see in that window is the men’s dorm on the other side of the quad, and there’s a row of trees in front of it. The girls probably can’t see it that well, which means guys over there can’t see them. We’re close enough, but we’re not at the right angle down here. The drone won’t have that problem. We could probably see that girl if she’s changin’ clothes like we were in the room with her.”

“You thought this through before you ever got the drone, didn’t you?” I asked.

He laughed. “Bro, I’m a pervert like you, but I never considered a drone until it was, ya know, offered to me. If it’s quiet enough, we could be a safe distance away outside a window and zoomed in. Plus, I know a girl who lives in that dorm. She said on nice days there are dozens of ‘em on the roof enjoyin’ the sun. Some don’t like tan lines. It’s the tallest structure on campus, so it’s not like anyone can see ‘em. Heh heh heh. Until now.”

“That won’t work, Matt. They’ll spot the drone in daylight.”

“Sooner or later, maybe, but can I get close enough for good pics before they do? I wanna try flyin’ above someone, you for instance, and puttin’ the drone between you and the sun. If I’m up high enough there won’t be a shadow, and you can’t look straight at the sun anyway.”

“The weather is supposed to be good tomorrow,” I said. “You know that abandoned farm about four miles north of town?”

“You read my mind, Jason! That’s the perfect place. Come on. Let’s explore some more.” We walked around for over an hour, surprised by how many people let their curtains open at night. “The beauty of a drone,” Matt said, “is I won’t need a clear vantage point to operate it, since I’ll see what it sees. I can stay a discrete distance from a target. If someone spots the drone, I’ll fly it somewhere safe to pick it up. You’ll be on the ground, so no one will suspect you of peekin’ in upstairs windows. It’s perfect.”

Saturday morning we were up early, at least in college student terms. All batteries were fully charged, and the kit came with a car charger to top off between flights. Matt put the drone camera in one corner of the room and turned it on. I went outside with his iPad docked in the controller to watch him fill a backpack with drinks and snacks for the day. Then we downloaded the video to my laptop.

“Stop,” he said. “Go back, and pause on the fridge door. There! Look! You can actually read the brand names on shit.”

“I can also see your plumber’s crack. Let me start the vid again.”