Smash. Shards of glass everywhere.
โEnough, I quit!โ yelled Marcus, our most valuable developer.
Weโd been expecting trouble but not a bottle through the window. At least it wasnโt a Molotov.
โListen up everybody, you too Marcus. Weโre less than twelve hours from having this done. Then you can go home to your families, I can go back to base.โ
Not much of a rally cry. But maybe enough.
I felt for them, I really did. Weโd been holed up and kept in the dark for days, literally, as we patched the network software.
But the villagers knew we were here, and they mistrusted us. I blamed the idiot who paraded the bright bow tie as we walked in.
โRex, here boy. Everyone else – keep working. Iโll patrol outside.โ
As ferocious as the battle-scarred German Shepard looked, the team didnโt know she was a softie inside. Me too. Just some techie in the wrong place, shaking inside.
I feared the villagers would see right through us.
Either way, I just had to hold them off long enough for the wireless guys to finish their thing. So I could live to tell the tale and collect the danger money.
Years later, Marcus and I were holed up in Sydney airport, frantically trying to fix the baggage handling software.
I was starting to sweat blood. Things hadnโt been the same after Rex passed.
Suddenly Marcus looked up, saw my white knuckle desperation, and smiled.
โAt least the villagers arenโt throwing bottles this time.โ