human
I just picked him up. He's called in to Fort Lamy reporting no luck. His fuel's running short and he'll be knocking off soon.
gpt
What language?
human
French, Cliff said,
gpt
We've got to come up with something. Sooner or later one of them will spot us and this next time we won't have any fantastic breaks like Homer being able to knock him off with a Tommy-Noiseless. He'll drop a couple of neopalms and burn up a square mile of desert including El Hassan and his whole crew.
human
Any ideas, Bey?
gpt
No,
human
Any of the rest of you?
gpt
Why don't we travel at night?
human
And rest during the day?
gpt
Parking where? We just made it to this wadi. If we're caught out in the dunes somewhere when one of those planes shows up, we've had it. You couldn't hide a jackrabbit out there.
human
I remember a story the Tuaregs used to tell about a raid some of them made back during the French occupation. They stole four hundred camels near Timbuktu one night and headed north. The French weren't worried. The next morning, they simply sent out a couple of aircraft to spot the Tuareg raiders and the camels. Like Kenny said, you couldn't hide a jackrabbit in dune country. But there was nothing to be seen. The French couldn't believe it, but they still weren't really worried. After all a camel herd can travel only thirty or so miles a day. So the next day the planes went out again, circling, circling, but they still didn't spot the thieves and their loot, nor the next day. Well, to shorten it, the Tuareg got their four hundred camels all the way up to Spanish Rio de Oro where they sold them.
gpt
How?
human
It was simple. They traveled all night and then, at dawn, buried the camels and themselves in the sand and stayed there all day.
gpt
I'm sold. Boys, I hope you're in physical trim because there's going to be quite a bit of digging for the next few days.
human
Some Minister of the Treasury, he complained.
gpt
They give him a shovel instead of a bankbook.
human
Well, I suppose we stay here until nightfall.
gpt
Right, Homer said.
human
Whose turn is it to pull cook duty?
gpt
I don't know whose turn it is, but I know I'm going to do the cooking. After that slumgullion Kenny whipped up yesterday, I'm a perpetual volunteer for the job of chef--strictly in self-defense.
human
That was a cruel cut, Kenny protested,
gpt
And me!
human
And me!
gpt
O.K., Homer said,
human
He looked at Elmer Allen.
gpt
Which reminds me. You're our junior theoretician. Are we a monarchy?
human
I wouldn't think so.