The trek wasn't nearly as perilous as one might have at first thought. The desert at night can get pretty cold, true, what with the lack of cloud cover to keep the heat from radiating away into space. Nevertheless, the cold was insignificant to the heat that would have assaulted them had they tried to travel by day.<br/><br/>What's more, the view was infinitely more enjoyable, as well. In the far darkness, the silvery light of the moon and stars illuminated all the sands and rock. With no hills, no trees, and nothing to obstruct the visibility, the very earth itself seemd almost to be glowing with a pale, milky red whiteness. Such was the beauty of the desert.<br/><br/>Gerhard made mental notes of various places on the horizon. From his history lessons via his father, he found the various local vantage points and landmarks. Even then, however, the presence of the stars made navigation almost effortless.<br/><br/>Strangely, then, the group was moving too far north, too quickly. They would overshoot lumina by about 17 kilometres if they kept their present route. Gerhard didn't say anything, however, because that would put them squarely in the northern valleys, where his home was.<br/><br/>At the thought of home, Gerhard recalled the face of his daughter. He smiled at the thought of her, but it was a nervous sort of smile. Gerhard had made a promise to see her at least one more time before this was all over, but he had intended to hold off the meeting until after the fall of Lumina. There was more romance to it that way, he figured, and also more incentive to live and succeed.<br/><br/>Gerhard laughed, breaking the silence of the group. That was the only exchange of words until the next morning.<br/><br/>* * *<br/><br/>The group had settled down by a small dried up riverbed by morning, and divided up their time into shifts. They were already nearing the end of the desert, though the heat was still fierce and blazing. Small patches of grass could be seen, and whole fields of the stuff swayed silently back and forth, in the distance. There was also some trees, too, which bore good news for the availability of water.<br/><br/>It was Gerhard's shift for keeping watch while the other's slept. He therefore sat on a small mottled stump, and stirred about a can of rationed beans that needed just a little bit of salt. Gerhard's throat was dry, but not parched. He could hold out a bit longer before taking another drink of water.<br/><br/>As the time passed, Thea pushed her sleeping bag aside and stood up. She had been tossing and turning, trying to get to sleep. Still, Gerhard could tell it wasn't natural for her, especially not in the middle of the day. It would take at least another 24 hours before the fatigue got to her enough to fall asleep in broad daylight. He didn't tell her this, though. The group had travelled the desert in comfortable silence.<br/><br/>That was good. They didn't need to talk amongst themselves yet. Energy was more important at the moment than group love exercises. "Hm." As he thought of that phrase, an image of the Kama Sutra flashed into Gerhard's mind. His father had shown him a copy once, incomplete but more than complete enough. Thinking of that book, Gerhard grinned to himself.<br/><br/>"I'm going to see if I can catch anything." Thea said, "I'll use the radio if anything happens." She then walked off quickly, like someone afraid of being followed.<br/><br/>Gerhard cupped his hands over his mouth and hollered, "Be careful, Beautiful!" When she turned around and shot him a hostile glare, as he knew she would, he shook his head, pointed to his mare, and mouthed out silently, "The horse." Gerhard flashed a madman's grin, stretched from ear to ear.<br/><br/>Gerhard let about twenty minutes pass, and then abandoned his post, following after her. "I was getting tired of Lucas's Snore, anyway." He thought to himself as he looked around, and acquired his bearings.