* * *
Back in the present :
Opal continued to question what I planned to do when we arrived, and I kept responding that I didn't know. "I'll come up with something," I assured him.
"Why does that not comfort me?" he retorted.
"Getting close is half the battle—what's that over there?"
"More fighting, Boss. But not our part."
"Look again, Opal."
"Oh."
