Deep Green

Today was a bad day.

We took the jeeps deep into the Green Zone. We were in radio contact; Bob kept urging me to go farther. I felt fine, so I followed him. We got in sight of the edge of the Yellow. I started to get vertigo and stopped my jeep. Bob carried on.

He kept a running commentary as he got closer and closer to the Yellow. I was feeling sick, and wasn't really paying attention. He saw something ahead of him. It was definitely in the Yellow, not the Green, and he wanted it. He asked me if I minded him going into the Yellow. He said it could be the start of a promising branch of research. My condition was deteriorating; I said I'd prefer him not to go in.

We had an argument over the radio, me parked a hundred yards back. He was adamant. In the end, I threatened to go over his head. He relented. We drove back in silence, apart from his occasional complaints about the paucity of his specimens.

Back at station, I went straight to bed. Bob's not speaking to me.