Buck watched as the girl considered the five items in front of her. She looked up at him, and then back at the ground. She reached forward, picked up the smooth metal ball, and handed it to him.

"Is this right?" she asked.

"It is," he said.

He was sitting on a large flat boulder across from a little girl with dirty blonde hair. Her name was Malin, and she couldn't be more than ten years old. Buck only had one more test to administer, and so far she was doing very well. In his report, he would record her initial rating as a probable nine, possible ten.

It had taken him weeks to track her down. The Vagabonds moved around a lot, and tended to camp far from anything resembling civilization. He had almost given up three separate times, afraid of the beating his truck was taking out here in the Breaks.

A woman calling herself Seayla, who seemed to more or less look after Malin, told him that the girl had come to them two years ago, when her parents died. The Vagabonds said that no one was ever born to their tribe, but could only find them by fate. Buck thought this was probably a lie, but saw little benefit in arguing the point.

Buck did not care for the Vagabonds. He didn't like the strange outfits they wore, or their habit of piercing their eyebrows. He didn't like the elaborate kites they flew, their penchant for scrawling messages on rocks, or what he considered to be some very cavalier attitudes toward life, death, and everything in between.

When Buck tried to ask Seayla if she would consent to Malin coming with him if she passed the tests, she had looked annoyed.

"The girl can decide for herself," she had said.

When he tried to explain the yearly payment, and asked how he might find them to deliver it, she had looked disgusted, and made a dismissive little clicking sound.

That was fine with Buck. He could scratch that Remuneration Day off his calendar. That was just fine with him.

He would normally spend a few more days with Malin before deciding whether to administer the tests, but he had been informed that the group would be moving on soon. It was made clear that he was not welcome to accompany them.

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Buck looked at the girl.

"There's only one more test. Are you good to keep going?" he asked.

Malin nodded.

Buck opened a small box, and took out a little felt bag. He had to keep the final item in its special bag, or it would make him very sick, just carrying it around.

He saw Malin shift a little bit when he produced the bag. Her eyes never left it. That was a good sign.

"Hold out your hand," he said.

She did.

Buck turned the bag upside down, and shook a small stone into her hand.

"Make a fist around it," he said.

Malin closed her fist around the stone. Buck held the bag out under her hand.

"If you start to feel bad or anything, just drop it in the bag. All right?" he said.

She nodded.

After a minute, Buck told her to open her hand.

He had expected the stone to change color. The tests were going well, after all. He didn't expect it to glow a bright, piercing blue. The light was so sharp he had to turn away. This didn't happen often. Two or three times in a decade.

He was already altering his report in his mind. Initial rating of ten. Strong ten. Eleven a possibility. A probability, really. Buck didn't give twelves. There was too much at stake to throw around that number.

Buck had her drop the stone back in the bag, and put it back in the box.

"Did I pass?" she asked.

"You did," he said.

"What happens now?" she asked.

"That depends on you. I can leave alone, and everything stays the same. If you come with me, I'll introduce you to some other people, and they'll give you one more test," he explained.

"What happens if I pass?" she asked.

"You'll get to be a hero," Buck said.

"What happens if I don't?" she asked.

Well, that was the question, wasn't it? It was the hardest question a Searcher was asked, and how you answered it had a lot to do with whether or not the recruit came with you.

And whether or not you could sleep at night.

He liked this girl. He thought she was tough, and sort of wise and worldweary for a ten year old. Buck decided she could handle it straight.

"You'll die," he said.

She flinched, but only a little.

"Do you think I'll pass?" she asked.

"I do. But I've been wrong before. Not a lot, but I have. You should know that," he said.

Malin was silent for a long moment before she spoke.

"Let's go," she said.

"You're sure?" he asked.

She smiled for the first time since he met her, and leaned forward, lowering her voice to a whisper.

"In case you haven't noticed, these people are crazy," she said, drawing out the last word.

Buck laughed out loud.

She asked for a few minutes to say goodbye, so he walked back to the truck. There was a message painted on the rocks that hadn't been there before.

YOUR GODS LIVE BENEATH OUR GOD

A woman was kneeling in front of his truck, staring up at the sky. Buck asked if he could help her. He tried to at least offer her some water, her kneeling in the blazing sun and all.

Her head sagged toward him, she rolled her eyes all the way back in her head, and let out a moan that shook him all the way down to his ankles.

Buck swore. The woman kept moaning.

The things he put up with to make the world a safer place.

He really oughta get a medal.

Pinteres