"Anything else we can do to help?" Helen put in, seeing that he was now laying out his devices in a carefully planned order.
"Yeah," A.J. said. "Go away. Meaning no offense, just that once I start taking the readings the more people and objects in the area, the harder it's going to be for me to compensate for the signals. I have to sit dead still while the data's being gathered, and even so I'll probably be having an effect that I'll notice later."
"No problem, we understand." Helen and Jackie started off. "Let us know when you're done."
"Sure thing," A.J. replied absently, already staring at a display on his VRD unit. "Your problems are just about over."
Eric Flint Ryk E. Spoor
Boundary
Chapter 4
"What the hell is that?"
A.J. was taken aback by the vehemence of Helen's question. "Hey, cool down. And why are you asking me? You're the paleontologist. I just image what's there."
Joe shook his head, then bent down to A.J. and spoke quietly. "Look, I don't know what you think you're doing, but cut out the joking and give us the real data."
A.J.'s eyes narrowed. "That is the real data. Top of the line. Imaged in three different spectra, multiple wavelengths, filtered, neural-net-processed, compared with known data for verisimilitude, and data-fused and analyzed out the wazoo. If I wasn't doing this for you and my own entertainment, you'd be paying about a hundred grand for this little job-over and above expenses. That is exactly, precisely, and inarguably what is down there."
"But that's just… impossible," Joe said defensively. He gestured at the projected image before them.