He stopped his jog at the patio door and then walked briskly to his father’s study to find the man who shared not only his genes, but also his interest in puzzles. Together, since finding the clues, they tried to figure out together what it all meant and where it would lead.
Steve opened the office door, and found his father sitting behind the same desk that Steve was at two days ago, trying to crack the cicada code. The largest of the five screens had a map with a virtual pin on it. His father was grabbing what appeared to be a color printout of the same map.
He turned to the door where his son was standing. “Hi, just the man I wanted to see. We solved it, Son.”
Steve was eager to hear, but also disappointed at the same time, knowing his father just figured it out too.
“It’s GPS coordinates somewhere near Boulder, Colorado.” John said, handing the printout to his son. “It was the cicada that pointed to the prime numbers –”
“I know the life cycle of 13 and 17 years. That’s why I came in here, cause I just got it,” Steve said, while looking up from the map.
“Yes,” John picked up, “I was looking at the prime numbers and the other cyphers you figured out. They pointed to specific GPS coordinates, which when entered, gave us this location.”
“But, what’s there?” Steve asked the obvious.
“I have no idea. You want to go find out?”
“Duh. When do we leave?”
“I have a little business first,” John paused, “but then we’ll take the Cessna early tomorrow evening to Denver and then a rental car to these coordinates.” He made an exclamation point with his finger, jabbing onto to the pin of the map he had printed. “What do you think, sound like a great adventure doesn’t it?”
“Dad, that’s awesome. Great work,” he said without as much enthusiasm as John had hoped.
“Everything okay? Thought you would be more excited.” Then it occurred to him, “You’re really looking forward to seeing Darla, aren’t you?”
“Busted,” Steve said, feigning embracement. “There is a reason why most of your friends call you the smartest man they know. When can we head over there?”
“Your mother had to go back to work because of some problem at the plant. Everyone else will be at the dock ready to go at one.”
“Great,” Steve beamed. He was filled not only with the joy from their mutual accomplishment and the upcoming sense of adventure, but from his eagerness at seeing Darla tonight.
15.
Fireworks
He saw her the moment they pulled alongside the King’s dock.
She was radiant, and far more beautiful than he ever remembered. She wore a red, white, and blue bikini, with a wrap around her waist. Her hair was long and black, and it sparkled in the afternoon sunlight. Her smile, punctuated by her pretty red lips, turned into a laugh that she bellowed at two girlfriends facing her. Her voice reached their boat, and flew to him like the beautiful song of a rare bird. Wow, he thought, she’s gorgeous.
They tied up alongside another boat already docked, but Steve unable to wait any longer, dove into the cool lake water.
Waiting for his head to break the surface, John yelled, “Hang on, Steve, can you grab the cooler?”
“Sorry, I’m coming,” he yelled back from the dock a few moments later.
Pulling himself out of the water, he realized his suit clung to him somewhat more snugly than he would have wanted. Tugging on his suit edges, he looked up and saw Darla and her two friends, now quiet, staring right at him. Feeling flushed, he smiled, quickly turned and walked over to the boat docked to his family’s boat. His heart raced and his face red, he reached for a large cooler his father handed him.
Darla was beside herself with excitement, ignoring the giddy schoolgirl remarks from her friends, watching him grab a cooler from his father and walk down the dock towards her. She thought he was cute when she saw him in the boat this morning, but OMG, he turned out to be a major hunk.
She smoothed her wrap, and simultaneously combed back the right side of her hair, pulling it over her right shoulder. “Do I have anything in my teeth?” She breathed quietly to her friends, who were now ignoring her and watching Steve approach. They all waited, breathlessly.
“Hi, Darla. I don’t know if you remember me from years ago. I’m Steve,” he said with a slightly nervous voice, making eye contact with her.
“Hi, Steve,” she said playfully. “How could I forget? You saved my dignity when we were kids and my top came off when we were diving off this very dock. Your friend Robbie Benson wouldn’t give it back to me, even after I begged him. You threatened him. It was something about his braces…” she trailed off trying to remember.
“Wasn’t my friend. I told him I would pull his braces out of his mouth with pliers if he didn’t return your suit. “No wardrobe malfunctions today, I see.” He hated himself for saying this, not wanting to sound like he was only interested in her body. He tried hard not to let his gaze drop from her eyes.
“No, and it looked like I wasn’t the one having trouble with my suit today,” she said playfully.
“Are you here through the fourth?” he asked, wanting desperately to change the subject.
“No—” she started to reply, a voice behind her interrupting, “Darrrrrr. Grandpa wants you to go to the store to get something.”
“That’s Danny, my brother. Ahh, we leave really late tomorrow night. We’re flying to Rocky Point to meet my mom, dad, and my older sister in Mexico.” She paused, distracted. “Sorry, but I have to go run an errand for my grandfather…” she smiled mischievously, “You wanna come?”
Of course, he agreed, after apologies to his dad, who was helping Dar’s grandfather, Fred, with the BBQ duties. She drove and talked almost the whole way to the Clear Lake Market and back. She talked about her final year of studies, what she planned to do in the IT field — one more interest they shared, about where she wanted to live, and her family. They compared their travel plans for tomorrow evening and how their planes might even pass each other in the air, even though Steve and his dad were flying much earlier than she and Danny. He enjoyed her every word, and felt the time breeze by just listening. She loved how he listened to her so intently and how he answered her questions with strong confidence. Before they knew it, the twenty minutes it took for the round trip was over.
Later, after each made rounds with their mutual friends, swam, and ate with their respective families, long after the sun had set, Steve and Darla ended up in two Adirondack chairs, next to each other. Their conversation picked up where they had left off and continued non-stop, pausing only to listen and sip on a cold beer. They were completely captivated by each other’s words.
“What time do the firew… whoa, look at that. That looks like an aurora,” Steve pointed at the northern sky, about where the fireworks should be discharging at any moment.
Two wispy shimmering green clouds slowly snaked along the horizon moving towards them and to the west.
“Yeah, you’re right. I saw an aurora during an Alaskan cruise with my family many years ago. I thought you could only see those in Alaska or the North Pole,” she said, face pointed more towards him now.
At any other time, the auroras would have been ominous to both of them, but a larger force was at work.