Chapter 3

He nodded. “I’ll find you with that white tee shirt you’re wearin’. When you hear me, point to your ears. When you see me, point to your eyes.”

I trudged through the weeds and found a good spot in front of the ruins of the barn. Matt was somewhere on the other side of the house, the sun glaring over its sagging roof. I called him on his cell. “I’m in place.”

“Goin’ up.”

I thought I heard the drone lift off, but there was just enough background noise for me to wait to respond. I shielded my eyes from the sun with my hand and saw nothing. After about a minute I was sure the sound I heard wasn’t insects or traffic. I pointed to my ear for a moment before I saw the drone. It circled overhead within easy sight and then flew away. I dialed Matt again.

“Dude,” he answered, “there’s an old Budweiser can maybe twenty feet behind you to your left. It’s all faded out.”

I trampled the weeds around it. “How the hell could you tell what it was? Did you see it when you were circling low?”

He laughed. “No, bro! I saw a white spot in the weeds, so I zoomed in for a better look. I read the brand name just before you heard me.”

“I can barely read it, and I’m right on top of it. It’s really sun-bleached.”

“It is,” he agreed, “but I saw it fine with the drone cam. You signaled me at about a hundred feet above the ground, and with the sun I got down below seventy before you saw me. I was about forty feet up when I circled around you. Damn! I can’t believe it’s that fuckin’ quiet! The controller has about a one mile range, so we can spy in complete safety, zoom in, get some good video, and get away with no one knowin’. Think of it! If we see a girl with somethin’ tattooed on her mound, we’ll be able to read it.”

“Incredible.”

“No shit, Jason! Let’s get out of here.”

We drove back to campus. While the batteries recharged, we strolled past Pearson Hall again, making plans for the night.

“We have to be careful, Matt. If anyone sees us with that thing, especially flying around windows, we’re pretty much screwed.”

“That’s why you’re gonna walk around talkin’ to me on your cell while I drive someplace I can hide to take off, fly, and land. Let’s keep it simple at first. See the lot behind the student union? No one goes back there at night, so I should be good. It’s a clear line of sight from there to the end wall of this dorm. It’s completely blank – no windows at all for people to see me from. That should help for my first night flight. Look. The curtains are still open in that fourth floor window we saw last night. Hell, a lot of them are. We can do this, bro. You can sorta spot for me and maybe see if anyone notices.”