Abey knew she had been away from her team long enough, even though she was tempted to stay with the Amappu students longer because she could tell Louque was eager to demonstrate more of his predictive prowess to her. "I had better catch up with my group." She said as she began sprinting away from Louque and the rest of the Amappu team.
"Travel with care, Abey!" Louque called at her rappidly departing figure.
Running at full speed Abey was able to rejoin the Retros teams with little effort, and it was less than half an houras from that point before the tents of the first Course Checkpoint were spotted in the further distance.
A short while later the Retros teams ran into the Checkpoint. There were eight tents, each large enough to comfortably hold fifty people, neatly laid out and set in organized rows of four with the openings facing one another, making a wide lane with space for many of dozens of students to freely pass between them.
Abey could see a few students from various Academies milling about near the tents and she immediately assumed they were taking advantage of the food craft service.
At each major Checkpoint students knew there would be an array of foods and supplements to replenish their bodies, as well as sleeping areas, should participants chose to rest before continuing the Course.
As team Navigators, it was Abey and Carra's responsibility to stop at the Scanning Station, located near the entrance of the Checkpoint. All navigators were required to check their teams in by swiping their Data Ports near a Streaming station. By performing the check-in, their Data Ports were Streamed an update for their Course maps. The update was mandatory, as it added the next Challenge zone all team navigators would need to successfully chart the next path for their teams.
Carlo stopped with Abey and Carra at the Scanning Station where a Course Attendant stood. The Attendant wearing his Course regulated orange colored Environmental Suit smiled pleasantly as the trio neared his post.
"How many teams have already checked in?" Carlo asked the attendant while waiting for Abey and Carra's Data Ports to finish their Stream.
The attendant reviewed his wrist mounted Data Port as it updated Abey and Carra's devices with Course relevant data. At Carlo's question he held up a single finger indicating he should wait a moment. Only after his device had chimed a signal that its task was completed did he speak to Carlo. "Team Reatros is currently in fifteenth position."
"What? There were only two teams ahead of us and five passed us when we had a medical emergency. How's that possible?" Carlo asked the attendant incredulously.
The attendant simply smiled presently at Carlo's question and shrugged his shoulders before returning his attention back to his Data Port. It was clear to Carlo that there would be no further information coming from the Attendant.
Carlo stared blankly at the Attendant for a moment before regaining his composure. "Are both teams checked in with maps updated?" Carlo asked Abey and Carra as he began walking away from the unhelpful Attendant.
Carra had a projection of the next leg of the Course map floating above his wrist mounted Data Port that he and Abey were examining as they followed behind Carlo. "We're clear to resume, Carlo." Carra said as he shut the projection down.
