13:02 Saturday afternoon, 1 October 2072, Attawapiskat River, on the way to the Victor Mine, AMC

Whether unconsciously moving in response to his surreptitious glance, or reacting to avoid an obstacle, Chase causes the boat to jiggle in its course momentarily. The shadow does not respond accordingly, but moves in a smooth path. A moment later, it disappears.

13:02 Saturday afternoon, 1 October 2072, Attawapiskat River, on the way to the Victor Mine, AMC
Longshot curses in several languages, mostly her native tongue and French. The oddity of the shadow caused her to hesitate. She should have shot it, put the tracer on it. Instead she is left staring at the point where the shadow vanished, marking it on her mapsoft and saving the recording of the few moments before and after it disappeared provided by her goggles.
<<Stop ship, get to shore>> she tells Chase. She figures she could swim it, but the prospect isn't one she looks forward to. Even she would feel a chill in that water, and it would take forever for her to dry off, especially in company.

13:02 Saturday afternoon, 1 October 2072, Attawapiskat River, on the way to the Victor Mine, AMC

Chase pulls the boat around in a tight turn and pulls over to shore, close to where Longshot first noted soemthing to him. <<What is it?>> He draws a pistol and looks around.

13:02 Saturday afternoon, 1 October 2072, Attawapiskat River, on the way to the Victor Mine, AMC

Once the engine of the boat shuts down, the peace one can find only in the wilderness settles down on the travellers. The chill air is warmed only slightly by the already dropping sun in the south-west. A few birds, chicadees if Longshot recons correctly, flit through the pines, pecking at cones still on the branches and waging twittering wars that swirl and swoop through the trees. Eddies of the river susurrate around the boat, the main current being farther out.

All else is quiet.

13:02 Saturday afternoon, 1 October 2072, Attawapiskat River, on the way to the Victor Mine, AMC

So quiet, even a crazy, late season cricket can be heard.

13:02 Saturday afternoon, 1 October 2072, Attawapiskat River, on the way to the Victor Mine, AMC

Longshot and Chase search the shore and woods nearby, but find no evidence of the passage of anything near the size of the shadow Longshot saw. No tracks, no broken branches, not even any disturbance of snow from the trees and bushes.

With nothing to follow up, they resume their journey along the river.

15:30 Saturday afternoon, 1 October 2072, Victor Mine dock, Attawapiskat River

After yet another seet of islands in the river, a set of docks come into view, with a sign identifying them as belonging to the Victor Mine. As Chase negotiates the boat into the docking area, two security personnel appear from a hut by the docks and direct the boat to a particular tie up. One speaks to Chase. "Mr. Billman let us know you were coming. If you could just show us the boat requisition form, everything should be in order." Chase presents the document, and the security team waves you on land.

"There is a vehicle waiting for you. We have a map to guide you, but the road to the mine is well marked. All the administration offices are there at the mine."

15:35 Saturday afternoon, 1 October 2072, Victor Mine dock, Attawapiskat River

The vehicle is a Toyota off-road enabled pickup truck. It seats four and has ample room in the bay at the back for all the team's gear. There is a toolbox under the back seat, and a shotgun mounted on the back of the front seats. There is a forward-facing camera mounted on the rear-view mirror in the cab. A display shows video from a rear-mounted camera.

Longshot seems exceedingly miffed that she let her prey get away from her, and continues the rest of the journey in silence. The difference might be hard for people to spot, but anyone trying to strike up conversation with her would likely just get a very literal growl for their troubles.

Once off the boat and Chase has dealt with the formalities of the boat, Longshot drives her own vehicle down the boarding ramp. She ignores the provided vehicle and map entirely, deciding to blow off some steam as she simply zips down the trail, following the signs as she needs to, confident that even if she gets off the trail she'd be able to find her way back well enough. Her rifle rests on her back as she drives along, leaving Chase to try and catch up in the truck. Once she is sure he is out of sight, she even adjusts her mask some, allowing her face to show a bit, enjoying the crisp cold air against her... skin.

15:37 Saturday afternoon, 1 October 2072, Victor Mine dock, Attawapiskat River

One of the security guards looks at Chase. "She always like that?"

"Beats me. I just met her myself. Well, I'm in favor of the truck." He takes the keys and heads off down the road, driving slowly so as not to push Longshot. He stops on occasion to check out the scenery. He's not spent much time in the wilderness, and he knows once they get to the mine, it will be anything but. It also offers opportunities for Longshot to reconsider.

Longshot eventually reaches the mining sight, having only taken a couple of detours along the way. While it was mostly to enjoy herself, she didn't forget to keep an eye out for anything odd. By the time that Chase catches up with her, she has her mask on fully again to completely obscure her face, but she has made one notable change. Her tail is now showing. It can't help her when she is hiding it, and now that she is in the wild, she needs the help more than she needs the secrecy.

15:55 Saturday afternoon, 1 October 2072, Victor Mine access road

Chase is amused at Longshot's ambling along rather than riding in the truck. Then he catches on that she is looking around the countryside. Yeah, OK. Probably can hear better outside. He drops back a bit to keep the truck noise at a minimum for her, but raises an eyebrow and zooms vision in to make sure he sees what he thinks he sees, when Longshot lets out her tail. Ohhhhkaaayy.... Now I understand the cover-up.

[OOC: more to come]

15:55 Saturday afternoon, 1 October 2072, Victor Mine access road

Longshot comes over a small rise and sees the mine site spread out before her. Chase catches up in a moment and sees the same. Large buildings are spread throughout a compact site, and roads radiate out to a number of large open-pit mines. There is also one tall building that looks to be covering a mineshaft.

There are workers and vehicles going about the business of mining. A small group of people are gathered around the front gate to the site. Telescoping vision shows them to be marked with "Security" on their jackets. All have yellow helmets except one who has a white helmet.