"My name is Abey." She said in response to his greeting. Louque had the normal sharp features and dark skin of a Delgh. Unlike the average Delgh he was quite tall, Abey guessed one of his parents or grandparents was Sep'Talist as his eye color had a slight green tent instead of the normal dark brown all pure blooded Delgh had.
"That slope was tricky. The first teams down it had it easy. But that ground was far from solid and the more teams that go that way will probably cause the entire face of the slope to give way. I expect there will be more casualties in that one spot alone." Louque said in a matter of fact tone.
Abey counted the Amappu team and noticed there were only twelve students. "Looks like you've lost members as well."
Louque nodded in confirmation as he looked around at the rest of his team. "The first part of the Course was more treacherous than it first appeared. We lost one member to a severe knee injury and one to a concussion, both took nasty falls before we passed Retros Academy." Louque looked in the distance at the rapidly disappearing backs of her team for a moment. "We weren't the only ones. Several teams lost members in the first two houras, the medical craft filled the sky for the team's that were far behind the frontrunner's."
Abey was surprised hearing about the number of losses suffered by the other teams so early in the Course. "I had no idea it was that bad."
"I wasn't close enough to make out Environmental Suit colors, but I believe most early injuries were from Arcology based Academies." Louque said, causing several of his teammates to silently nod in agreement. "There's nothing fragile about Lanist physiology, but even with extended surface training, adjusting to planetary environments can prove difficult for them."
"Has your team figured out why the Course Directors split the teams for the first time this year?" Louque asked Abey, a slight smile creasing his lips.
She was puzzled by his question and could only shake her head in the negative as she watched him take a small sip of water from his suits water umbilical housed around his neck.
Louque glanced at her and flashed an easygoing smile. "I don't think many teams have figured it out, so don't worry. The first clue was the elimination of the weapons section of the Course. The second was the announcement of the teams being split in half." He looked at her expecting understand at what he'd said. Quickly realizing that she still had not grasped his point, he continued. "This is the most demanding Environmental Awareness Course...possibly ever. The Course Administrators decided to remove the weapons and by splitting the teams it gives each Academy one extra team member that can be dropped without eliminating the entire team."
Abey was stunned by his conclusion, but immediately realized the soundness of his logic. "How is it possible that you know the difficulty level has been increased?" Abey asked Louque skeptically.
Louque laughed easily at her question. "Actually I don't know for sure. But what's certain is there's a verifiable pattern to how the Course is altered every few cycles. Only the Course Administrators know the actual formula, but several groups of students at Amappu got together and analyzed several hundred cycles of Course Streams and one of our top projections was that Academy teams would be split into two. So we've been training under that and a few other scenarios for quite some time."
The conclusions he had presented to Abey made sense, and the longer she thought about it the more she was convinced his analysis was correct.
"I noticed that there were two paths possible at the slope." Abey tentatively ventured to Louque, his attention to detail had piqued her curiosity. She had gotten the feeling that she could learn something useful about the Course, if she could prompt him to talk a bit more. "My team considered taking the longer way down, but that would have placed us in the middle of the pack of teams once we reached the Checkpoint." Abey watched Louque intently as she spoke her next words. "What did Amappu's analysis say about that?"
Louque had a twinkle in his eyes as he looked at Abey. "Ah, you've seen it as well! That's the trick to this Course. It's more difficult because for the first time there are branching paths that teams can elect to take." The hint of comradery in his voice was unmistakable. "But at any given moment, no one will know which will give them the greater advantage. That's why the weapons were removed. This is the first Course that has total focus on abstract decision making and team dynamics."
As she walked along with her competitors, Abey was forced to reflect back on the sprint across the undulating hills at the beginning of the Course. "I understand what you're saying. Retros trained for team dynamics and finding solutions to each section of the Course." She paused once again, thinking back to Darleen's accident and what Tam had said to the team.
"Now you're starting to see the Course for what it is." Louque said with an open smile watching her expressions as she reviewed the earlier events from the day.
It was Abey's turn to look at Louque and examine him and then the rest of his team with her new understanding. "Everyone knows Amappu is the Academy with the strongest scientific focus, and now I see why. Tell me, what did your calculations say about where your team would place in the Course final rankings?"
Louque turned his head and looked in the direction the rest of Abey's team had continued running. Only the tops of their heads could be seen in the far distance. "The calculations we ran project that Amappu will finish the Course in eighth to fifteenth place." He said with a proud smile as the twinkle returned to his eyes. "We've predicted that Retros will finish around the fourth position. If you think about it, that means your team, with a bit of luck, could win this cycle."
Abey was stunned at his candor and his finalanalysis.
