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He and Kurt pushed off in unison, raised themselves six inches and repositioned their feet one at a time

“Anything unusual on it?” Kurt asked, his oords sounding strained as they cam

“Didn’t … exactly … have time to study it,” Joe said “But it ”

They ain

“What?” Kurt asked, keeping his responses short

“If Jinn’s using his little beasties … to erode some dam … why did we … find them in the Indian Ocean … a thousand miles from land?”

Kurt allowed a portion of hismost of his concentration on the task at hand “Good question,” he said “Dams block rivers … Rivers run to the sea … Maybe the little bots were swept down to the ocean accidentally, after all”

He tried to think of dams that e major came to mind

They paused with their legs in a semilocked position

“Either way,” Kurt added, “we’ve got to get out of here Whatever this lunatic’s goals are, they’re not good for anyone but him”

By this point they’d reached the second section The joking and laughing stopped because the cli harder

Kurt felt his back and abs and legs beginning to burn He gritted his teeth and kept

“You okay?” he asked

“Yeah,” Joe grunted “Wouldn’t want to start over, though”

Kurt looked down His foot slipped a fraction, but he caught it by locking his knee and wedging his heal He could see his leg quivering and feel his calf cra up