Always good, never great.BC did have higher aspirations this year. That team that had gone 8-4 had been made up of mostly sophomores and juniors, incl...ding Chad, the Sophomore quarterback. Chad himself had made steady improvement, as had his team, so there were glimmers of higher aspirations this year. Nothing major, though. The pre-season polls had them at 23rd, most prognosticators picked them for fourth or so in the 12-team ACC.The sense that things were different, though, started right off. Thus, several days before they were even in orbit, they were able to begin talking to the Edenite collective. Meiersdottir had insisted on primacy at the Gardener end, so it was she who initiated the first contact when they'd approached closely enough that the transmission delay would be at least tolerable."This is Amanda," she began her first transmission. "Is there one who hears me?" I hear, Amanda," came the reply after the time-delay dictated by their remaining distance from Eden. "We hear.. Hunter felt himself warming to the hunt. He called up his contacts and began ordering his research tools. In the late afternoon, Hunter went downstairs and walked three blocks to a bookshop to purchase a tourist book on London and the surrounding area.Weeks passed. Hunter went to Ohio twice for conjugal visits, as Penny called them. He did his best to keep in touch more frequently with his brother's family. He went to London three times, each time on a train through the Chunnel. On the last. The first bolts from the crossbows cut down two of the Comanche horses and tripped another one. This got the attention of the Indians, and they swerved away from the wagons.Keith and Sam continued to shoot at the Indians as long as they were within range, but quit when the Indians pulled about 70-80 yards away. This was far enough that the Comanches could see the bolts coming and have a chance to dodge, so it just wasn't an effective use of the crossbows. However, this did give the Comanches.