An Excerpt from Aftershock

They stood next to the doors of the park offices. “You ready to head out?” Rik asked, zipping a coat against the July breeze.

Anders looked up and saw Rik’s chocolate eyes. Even though they were brown, a closer look revealed a blue corona around the dark, almost mahogany brown irises. He’d seen a piece of agate like that once on a dig; a perfect marriage of brown and blue in the depths of a broken stone.

He shook his head, chiding himself. He never got lost in eyes. Besides, Rik was a colleague, and he’d sworn those off for life.

He crouched to tie his hiking boot tighter, hoping it would hide his reddening cheeks. After a moment, he chuckled and stood up, clutched the brown zippered case and nodded. “Sure, let’s get that truck packed. I’m planning on taking a two-room tent for me. I’ve got an air mattress, feather bed, and down comforter. The second room’ll be for the research equipment.”

“Okay, I was just planning on taking a small pup tent, since most of my research is on my laptop. Think I could bring a chair in, if it rains hard?” Rik’s grin flashed out for a moment, revealing straight white teeth.

“Of course. It’s big enough for your chair all the time.”

“I’ve just got a sleeping bag and air pad,” Rik said. “You don’t camp often, I take it?”

“It’s funny. I knew this job included camping, but I just couldn’t fathom a month without comfort. Don’t worry, I’ll put it all together.”

Rik started laughing. “It’s your stuff. If you can make it fit, then it’s not my problem, right?”

“I guess not. Do you still think the truck will work for this, or do we need the SUV?” Anders frowned as he thought about what else he might need. “I don’t know if the truck’s going to carry what I need to carry.”

Rik considered. “That’s true. Normally the small truck would be enough for this kind of expedition. But for your work, we might want to get closer. I think we should wait for Martin and Walter to get back and take the SUV. It has four-wheel drive, and we might need that.”

“I think that would help,” Anders said. “I still think that we’re going to find that the mine’s viable.”

Rik shook his head and smiled as he opened the door to the building. “I told you that mine is dead. If it were still viable, then the town wouldn’t have died off like it did.”

Anders went through the doors, resisting the urge to turn around and look into those dark brown eyes again. Self-consciously, he continued, “No, I know what you mean, but my research… Well, I just have a feeling that there is something more in the vein. Maybe not enough to keep a company continuing, but enough for a small community, surely.”

Looking over his shoulder to catch Rik’s reaction, Anders bumped into the counter. He turned in time to catch the stapler before it crashed onto Nora’s desk. “Ack! Sorry, Ms. Seaman. I know, I need to look where I’m going…”

Nora Seaman chimed in and finished with him, “… or one of these days you’ll kill someone.” She looked affronted as Anders juggled the stapler from one hand to the other.

“Yes, I know. I’m sorry.” Anders handed the stapler back to her, nodded, and turned back to his companion, standing there waiting patiently. In that moment of dead air, he noticed the structure of Rik’s—Ujaruk’s—face, the contours and the laugh lines around his beautiful eyes, and yes, there definitely was a blue corona around the irises of those eyes.

Then came the involuntary snicker as his mind heard Nora’s last name catch up with him—what am I, twelve?—and then he managed, “Okay, if it’s dead, it’s dead. But I’m still going to spend the beginning of the month investigating where that vein I found leads.”

Then they were off down the corridor to the big, open space that served as a packing area for gear and camping equipment for the trucks, van, and SUVs.

“Why’d you snicker just now?” Ujaruk asked as they opened the door and began packing files and other necessaries.

Anders thought back to it and wondered. Was it because of Ms. Seaman’s last name, or because he was beginning to feel something for Ujaruk? He covered his face by looking into a tall pack and rummaging in the bottom, his face practically buried in the top of the pack. “Oh, Nora’s last name. I can’t help it, it always makes me snicker. I know I couldn’t go through life with a last name like Seaman.”

Ujaruk bellowed out a laugh. “You really are just an eight-year-old with a beard, aren’t you?”

Anders lowered his head and pursed his lips. “Nah. I’m at least twelve. Hey, I’ve got the PhD and robes to prove I’m more than eight. But, seriously, stupid things like that do strike me funny. I suppose someday I’ll grow out of it.”

Ujaruk opened a cabinet and pulled out a plastic tub that clanked with kitchen equipment, his mouth quirking up in a grin, and he started laughing. “I must be getting old. I never thought of her name like that.” His laugh quickly bellowed into a roar, and he leaned over with the force of it.

Anders looked across the room at the man doubled over in laughter and noticed the muscles rippling down his back. What the hell are you thinking? He’s not gay! More than that, he’s your coworker, your colleague that you’ll be camping with for the next thirty days. And you swore those off, remember? This isn’t Brokeback Mountain, Anders. Just stop thinking about him.

He pulled a quick, plastic smile over his face as he piled his research gear on the tables. “So, now we wait for Martin to learn how to drive faster than twenty miles per hour, right?”

“Right. If he’d ever gone faster than that, it would have made the local news. Man, I was happy to have pulled your name this trip, even with your wild goose chase after that vein.” Ujaruk laughed and sat on the counter.

Don’t stare at him, just look at…at your book, that’s it. Anders opened his notebook and thumbed through it nonchalantly. “You know what I’m going to do when we’re out there. I’m curious. What are your research plans this time?”