After five days of hiking along the banks of the river, they had only traveled about fifteen miles. Ming estimated that they had crashed close to a hundred miles west of the highway and the intervening distances was rugged. The hundred miles was as-the-crow-flies, their hike would probably be at least three times that distance. Jake's feet were swollen and blistered, his back ached from carrying the heavy pack, and his arms were sore too. Ming could only hobble slowly. For every mile that they traveled, it seemed that Jake had to walk twenty. He had to go in and out of the forest collecting berries. Sometimes they had to leave the river banks and go into the forest to avoid rough patches in the river. Of course, there was no cell phone reception in that area and Jake wondered if his parents had concluded that he was dead yet. They just thought he was going to a job interview in the city.
At daybreak, Jake told Ming that they needed to rest for a couple of days and the older man agreed. That day, Jake was able to catch a raccoon which they roasted for supper. As the day wore on, Jake saw some smoke in the distance and they agreed it was worth spending another day to investigate. Perhaps there were hunters in the forest and perhaps they would have a satellite phone to get them rescued. Jake was excited that night; perhaps their ordeal would soon be over. Again, he asked Ming to provide an explanation for the interview and why he was back in the 21st century. Again, Ming refused to provide any information beyond what was relevant to their immediate survival.
Jake figured that the metallic stickers that Ming had worn to operate the holographic orb were another form of the headband that people in the 23rd century used as a brain operated computer interface. He figured that it could have provided Ming with the instructions on survival skills and showed him how to operate the plane using augmented reality. In spite of pleading, Ming refused to share any of his 23rd century technology or even tell Jake if he had more.
Jake left Ming behind the next morning and headed in the direction of the smoke. They had figured it was far more effective for Jake to scout things out quickly than slowly bring Ming along. Jake left most of their belongings at the campsite so they wouldn’t have to carry them. By evening Jake had found the spot and he found himself disappointed but still encouraged. It wasn’t a group of hunters in the conventional sense; it was a small camp of Canadian aborigines.
