Bess sat up, startled. It was the middle of the night and camp was quiet but for its usual soft sounds. She’d never had a Terrian dream, and the Grendlers always made noise. So what had woken her up?
Rolling over, she found the answer: she was alone. “Morgan?”
He was seated on a crate across the tent from her. The lumalight behind him was turned down to minimum, rendering him as nothing more than a silhouette as he sat hunched over his gear, adjusting the settings and muttering softly to himself.
“Gold,” she heard him whisper. “It’s pure gold.”
Sighing, she wrapped the covers tighter around herself and flopped back down on her side of the cot. Morgan and VR programs were never a good combination, but now wasn’t the time to confront him. She’d do it in the morning. For now, she’d just keep reminding herself that he was the best thing that had ever happened to her.
He was cheerful at breakfast the next morning, showing no sign of having spent half the night creating a VR program. Bess smiled, ignoring the warning bells in her mind: Morgan wasn’t a morning person. And he was never good company at breakfast.
But he was nearly jiggling when she brought their bowls over. She looked him up and down. “You’re in an awful good mood this morning.”
“I sure am,” he answered. “Guess what: I’ve found it, Bess! I’ve found the thing that will make us famous on this planet and maybe even back to the Stations. People will remember our name for generations!”
“Morgan!” she whispered urgently. “Don’t you remember what happened last time?”
“No, no. This is different. Nobody’s going to get hurt this time.”
“That’s what you thought last time.” Nobody on Eden Advance had been permanently hurt during the incident with the Morganite, but they’d never found Mary. She’d only had a coat as protection against the bitter weather. Bess still prayed that she’d found a safe place.
If her thoughts showed on her face, Morgan didn’t notice them. “I learned, all right? And I can’t wait to show you. What detail are you on today?”
“Laundry.” They’d already gathered fresh snow before breakfast, piling it into a container and bringing it inside to melt.
“Oh, that’s perfect! Once you get a chance, just slip away for a minute. I’ve got to show you.”
“The laundry’s going to take a while.”
“I know, but this won’t! I promise!”
She chuckled, giving in to the urge to let his enthusiasm sway her. He could be almost childlike when he was excited about something. “All right. I’ll see what I can do.”
Later that morning, after they’d finished stringing the clothesline around the edges of the bio-dome, Bess pleaded the need for a short nap and stepped out into the camp area. Morgan was supposed to be out gathering wood, but she wasn’t surprised when she opened their tent flap and found him in there.
“Oh, you made it! That’s great!” Before she could even get her coat off, he grabbed her arm and led her back outside, shrugging into his own coat. “Come on, I’ve got to show you! It’s gold, Bess, pure gold!”
She stopped short, causing him to stumble. “Morgan, we are not mining this area. You know that.”
“Who said anything about mining? Come on!”
He pulled her well outside the camp’s perimeter, along a direction they hadn’t explored much yet due to its rocky terrain. The recent snow made the area slippery as well. “Honey, be careful!”
“Hurry up! It’s not far!” He was jiggling with impatience again.
“I’m coming.” She finished climbing up to his level, followed him around an outcropping, and then gasped. “Morgan!”
“I know. Isn’t it great? Like I said—pure gold!”
Bess knelt down by the stream, marveling at the trickling, liquid water that still flowed despite the freezing temperatures. Its course led away from camp, down the hill in another direction. “What is it? Is there gold somewhere along the way or something?”
He dropped down beside her. “I followed this, all the way to its end. It led to a river, Bess! A real river, and the equipment says the water’s pure. None of that scary charged stuff. We won’t have to melt so much snow anymore!”
This time, Bess’ smile was genuine. She should have known that he had learned his lesson. He wouldn’t have done anything foolish. Throwing her arms around him, she cried, “Oh, this is wonderful! What are you going to call it?”
“Well, I found it, so I get to name it: the Morgan River! Of course, I guess this would be the Upper Morgan River, since it probably runs out of the mountains to wherever, but people are going to remember this, and when they do, it’ll be with our names!” He fell away from her embrace, laughing as he swung his arms wide. “We’re famous, Bess!”
Mirroring his laugh, she sank down on a rock and looked again toward the creek. Gold, he’d called it. He was right. Fresh water was always a treasure, and rivers usually ran to the coast. This might even be their trail to New Pacifica. And Morgan, her Morgan, had found it.
He really was the best thing that had ever happened to her.