On pages 136-139, Branko catches some family time before the mission, in the Port Zone of Blue City…
(Branko's daughter Kay) “Hello, father!”
“I can never surprise you, huh, Kay? How long have you felt my presence?’
“Let's say 'a while.' But I know it doesn't bother you. Even controlling my telepathic powers, with you and Mom, it's difficult.”
“I noticed. You sense our presence instinctively.”
“Yes, but… Dad… what's wrong? I'm sorry, but I also can tell that you're thinking hard about something that happened. About someone who offended you… someone who insulted us Mutates, right?”
“Don’t think about it, Kay. It'll pass. Now let's go to your mom.”
“Someday I hope to meet someone, and share a love like yours.”
“And I hope that for you, Kay.”
“Okay, enough for now, or I'll become too romantic, and that's no good before lunch. My stomach is rumbling. Shall we eat?”
(Branko's wife, May Frayn) “Janine already called me. I received and read the mission data. They're sending us out into the desert to find this mysterious spring.”
“Yes, but don't make this out to be too easy. I think we're going to be in a lot of trouble down there.”
“It's about the investigation you and Nathan conducted into Powell's death, right?”
“About Powell… about Bacon… New Alamo in danger of running out of water supplies… and who knows what else. The secret spring we're going to look for is truly a mystery. I wonder if the locals know about it and have kept it a secret.”
“Can you blame them for hiding it? Our so-called civilization is so resource-hungry.”
“Yeah, I remember a scientist who predicted a global war, one day, fought over drinking water.”
“Well, I don't know. We have many systems, today, to recycle water or to make drinkable what isn't…”
“Yes… but those systems have enormous cost in resources and energy consumption.”
“Unfortunately, it is precisely the countries with the least water that are unable to sustain that cost.”
“Those who have the least water also don't have the energy to get it, is that right, Dad? We're studying that in school.”
“That's right. And it's the same old story, like the one about us being mutated… used and then discarded with contempt, when not exterminated on purpose.”
“What are these speeches now? Has something happened that I don't know about?”
“No, honey, sorry. It was just a saying. Let's forget it and eat.”
“What time is the tactical meeting?”
“In the early afternoon. There's time for a walk on the pier and an ice cream.”
(Nathan, May Frayn, and Branko's flyer reaches the Mojave Desert.) “We’re here. Green light. From here on we continue with the land rover.”
“Hop on board… and fasten your seatbelts. The pilot will not stop to let us off. We will jump into the air!”
“Hold on tight!”
“We're heading to control, Echo One. We're staying in the operational zone until further notice, good luck.”
“The sun is setting. Fantastic, isn't it?”
“Yeah. That's one of the good things about our job. You get to see things like that.”
“Alfa… Echo One here. We’re in the zone. Five miles from target, according to the readout. Do you read, Sigmund?”
“Affirmative, Echo One. I'm reading you loud and clear.”
“I'll follow you with satellite eye to destination… deviate six degrees east.”
“Six degrees east. Deviation in progress. Reason?”
“I see a better route winding through a group of canyons. Stay in the valleys. You'll be much less visible.”
“Copy, Alfa. We'll update you when we reach destination.”
“All right, Echo One. Out.”
“Sigmund's track continues for another mile. We are in the middle of a canyon. This must have been a riverbed, centuries ago.”
“Yep. But the water has just disappeared. We know it flows abundantly underground.”
(Frost is spying from a distance) “Damn, we don’t need this. The Alfa Agents aren't here by chance. They're aiming for the same target we are!”
“So, like us, they know what to look for, and they beat us to it.”
“Maybe it's better. If we had arrived earlier, they could have surprised us from behind. Instead, like this, we will be the ones to surprise them.”
“Should we follow them, Mister Frost?”
“No. They will have a coverage satellite that could detect us. Let's keep our distance for now. Our probe will follow them for us.”
(Nathan's team) “End of the ride with the vehicle. The canyon ends with this wall.”
“We can continue on foot, but there are several paths that enter the canyon. Which one do we follow?”
“Impossible to know. Let's take the central path; it’s the easiest, then we'll see.”
“Here we use the light globes. They are easier.”
