Read Facsimile for Free Online Page A

black rock outcroppings, I swing my bike around in a wide arc in front of him.
    Dace slows his bike to a normal speed.
    “Stop here.” I gesture toward the rocks. “Best place to start looking for stuff.” I kill my engine and climb off my bike.
    Dace stops and pulls off his helmet before dismounting. I giggle. His dark hair is standing up all around his head, framing his face like spikes.
    “That bad?” He runs his hands through his hair, succeeding only in flattening it slightly. “So, what should I be looking for?”
    “I don’t know. You’re the scientist.” I slide off my own helmet, thankful my tight braid has kept my hair relatively neat. “There’re a few insect thingies that hang out around these rocks, and some lizard-type creatures. Thought you might be interested.”
    “Come out here often?” Dace pulls a small pouch from one of his bike bags.
    “Sometimes. There are these crystals I collect for barter. Not especially valuable, but pretty. Look like amethysts. Traders seem to like them.”
    Unwrapping some digital gadgets and small metal tools, Dace glances up at me with a little smile. “Crystals, huh. Do you tell these traders what they’re really worth?”
    “Not always,” I admit. “I mean, I don’t state they’re actually valuable.”
    “And you don’t say they’re not.”
    “Merida! You sound like my grandmother.”
    Dace’s eyes spark with humor. “Not what I was going for.” He examines one of his gadgets. “So, this Raid guy. Is he your boyfriend?”
    “Uhm, no. Well, maybe.” I rub at the side of my nose. “Guess it depends on what you call a boyfriend.”
    “Dating? Kissing? Stuff like that.” Dace walks toward the cluster of black rocks, holding up some type of digital device.
    “We hang out sometimes,” I say, not sure why I don’t want to admit to anything more. “What about you? Did you leave some girl pining for you back on Earth?”
    “Nah. Never had time.” Dace waves the device around then pulls it back and peers into the screen.
    “Time was really a problem?” I watch Dace with interest, wondering what he’s measuring.
    Dace glances at me with a rueful smile. “Okay, so it wasn’t only time. I just never met anyone who interested me that much. I mean, enough to want to spend a lot of time with them. And to be honest, I didn’t seem to fascinate the girls that much. I’m not, you know, really built or anything.”
    “I don’t think that’s the main … ” Dace holds up his hand and I snap my mouth shut.
    “Got it!” In front of him a small circle of light glimmers. Within that faintly illuminated globe darts a flying insect. “Don’t worry, it won’t be harmed.”
    “I’m not worried. Those things pester me to death when I’m outside. Kill it, for all I care.”
    “I don’t want to kill anything,” says Dace with a frown. “Have you ever really taken a good look at these creatures? They’re pretty awesome.”
    I move closer and stare into the sphere. The insect has the gossamer wings of a dragonfly, but its body resembles something else. “Looks like those seahorses from Earth. Pictures I’ve seen, anyway.”
    “Yeah, it has the biological structure of a sea creature. Weird, considering the lack of oceans here.” Dace swipes a finger across his digital device and the globe disintegrates. The winged creature flies away.
    “I thought you wanted to gather samples.”
    Dace taps the device with his forefinger. “I have it in here. This can analyze any living creature and download all its vital information without harm. All the info I need is stored for later study.”
    “Wow—must’ve cost a fortune.”
    Dace shrugs. “I worked several part-time jobs to buy my equipment. Saved up for a while.”
    I sit on one of the rocks that have tumbled off the larger pile. “Didn’t you go to school? I mean, I know we just study independently here on Eco, but I thought it was different on Earth.”
    “It is different—if you’re