Page 94 of The Artist
“Because most people judge when they find out,” Banni said before looking over at Freya. “How did you know?”
“None of you gave a command for the music to turn down so I knew at least one of you had an implant.”
Val and Alex reached us. They weren’t as tall as Banni but like him they were wearing green athletic gear that was tight enough to show how fit and well-muscled they were.
“This is my girlfriend, Belle, and her friends that I’ve told you about,” Banni said in English.
They raised their hands to greet us but made no attempt to shake hands or talk with us.
Mason stiffened next to me, but Indiana was quick to put a hand on his shoulder and address Banni. “Why do you call Belle your girlfriend?”
“It’s a direct translation,” I said to difuse the misunderstanding. “What he meant was that I’m a female friend, not that I’m his lover.”
“Yet!” Banni gave a hopeful grin and winked at me before spreading his hands out. “How do we do this? Do you have questions? Or should I just show you around and tell you some things about our work?
“I have about a million questions,” Aubri exclaimed. “What sort of training do you have? Are there any women Explorers, and how long is the expedition you’re going on?”
Banni smiled and crossed his arms, which made his muscles bulge more. “We believe in learning by doing. That’s why we train people by bringing them along and exposing them to a little at a time. Val, Alex, and I have been teammates for… let’s see… hmm, is it three and five years?”
They nodded.
“Yes, that sounds about right. I’ve done this work since I was seventeen, so nine years, which makes me a veteran among Explorers.”
“Do you like it?” Indiana asked and crossed his own arms.
“There are good and bad days.” Banni gave a half-hearted laugh. “This job is where you end up if you can’t sit still in school or society doesn’t know what to do with you. We do important work, but we’re not considered good company by most.”
“You are by me.”
“Thanks, Belle.”
Banni and I exchanged a smile. We had been friends since I was nine and we’d done a school project together. He’d been a bright boy but uninterested in schoolwork. The teachers called him a nightmare to work with.
“To answer your questions, Aubri, yes we have female Explorers but not as many as men. One of the reasons is that female Explorers are exempt from their duty to carry children. Women who do not wish to go through the two required pregnancies are given the option to work here instead. It’s rare for anyone to choose that option. There are eight exploration teams in total. Each team has a maximum of five members and my guess is that ten percent of those members are female. We took on a woman as a trainee, but she’s one of the team members that we lost.”
“What happened?” Freya asked.
“She threatened to kill herself if she had to go on a second expedition.”
Aubri stuffed her hands into her pockets on her jacket. “Why? Did you mistreat her?”
“Not on purpose, but there are situations when our lives are at stake and we can’t use a polite tone. She took it personally and wasn’t comfortable being the weakest link of the group.”
Val scoffed but didn’t speak.
“I told her we all have to start somewhere and that it’s part of learning. Unfortunately, she wasn’t as strong as she thought she was. These expeditions are as much of a mental challenge as a physical one,” Banni explained.
“What about the other person you lost?” Mason asked.
His question made Banni and his team members look away. “That was Carlos. He’d been with us for years, but unfortunately he had a fatal encounter with a wild animal a few expeditions back.”
Indiana uncrossed his arms. “Fuck! That sucks. What animal?”
“A snake.” Banni pulled up his sleeve on his left arm and showed a number of scars. “As you can see, I’ve had a few close encounters myself. It comes with doing the job for so many years.”
“Don’t you have antivenom with you?” Mason asked.
“Yes, but Carlos didn’t know what bit him. Sometimes it happens so fast that we don’t know which species of snake did the damage. Anyway, I don’t want you to think that all we do is face death.” Banni gave one of his dazzling smiles. “As I said, there are good days, and for an adrenaline junkie like myself, it can be fun. And there’s a deep satisfaction in making a difference. Every time we get a sample that shows us an area is clean for humans to live there, we celebrate. Those satisfying days are the ones we live for.”
