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He wanted to turn on his brights and be able to see if anything else obstructed his path to the back of the station, but he didn't dare. By the time he could make out the shape of the place, he slowed to just a few miles an hour and crept along in the uneven dirt, bouncing, jostling, and-he hoped-not sending up too much dust. It was a starry night, and if the GC noticed anything blocking the sky, they were sure to come nosing around the back. Buck phoned Zeke. "I hear you," Zeke said.

"You hear me? From inside? That can't be good." "That's what I was thinking. You ready for me?" "Better come quick. Carrying anything?" "Yeah, one more bag. Figured I might as well not leave anything I could bring."

"Good thinking. Come on."

"Gotta open the spigot and turn on the timer."

"For how long?"

"Five minutes."

"Anything on the monitor?"

"They're just sittin'."

"Good. Let's go."

Buck knew he could come back the way he came, and though the ride would be pretty rugged, he estimated he could do as much as 40 mph. But in case the GC could hear the Hummer as well as Zeke could, he jumped out and started loading the car to save time.

The inside light stayed dark as he opened the door to get out, and he left it open. He opened the back door on the far side and crept around to start lifting. The first box was almost too heavy, and it was all he could do to not cry out under the weight. He heard Zeke coming up the stairs.

Buck lugged the box onto the backseat from the car door farthest from the station's back door, feeling every sore fiber from his recent ordeal. When he got back around the car to grab the other box, figuring Zeke could load the bag he was carrying and the one on the ground at the same time, he nearly ran into the young man, startling him.

Zeke grunted. Buck tried to shush him, but Zeke dropped his bag and lurched back inside, slamming the door. Buck heard him lumbering down the stairs. Now they were making way too much noise.

Buck yanked open the station door and called out desperately, as quietly as he could, "Zeke, it's just me! C'mon, man! Now!"

"Oh, man!" Zeke hollered. "I thought it was them! The timer's goin', the gas is spittin'. And they're comin', Buck! I can see 'em on the monitor!"

Buck turned and opened the back door nearest the station. He picked up the bag that had been waiting and the one Zeke had dropped and hurled them across the backseat. He left the door open and jumped behind the wheel, slamming his door and putting the Hummer in gear. Zeke barreled out and dove into the backseat, knocking one of the bags out the other side, where Buck had left the door open.

Buck floored the accelerator, but Zeke yelled, "We can't leave that bag! It's got lots of stuff we need!"

The door had started to close when Buck took off, but when he hit the brakes, it swung the other way and creaked against the hinges. "Get it!" he screamed, and Zeke scrambled over the stuff and out onto the ground, his foot dragging a bag out too. And here came the GC mobile around the station in front of Buck.

"Go! Go!" Zeke yelled, forcing himself into the backseat with both heavy bags tucked under his arms.

The door was still open, but Buck had to move. He gunned the engine and slammed into the GC car, driving it back against the station as his back door shut. The guards had weapons out and appeared to be reaching for door handles. Buck knew he couldn't outrace bullets, so he threw the Hummer into Reverse, floored it, and the monstrous vehicle climbed the hill of debris near the door.

Buck stopped at the top as they teetered some twelve feet above their pursuers. He shifted into Drive, and when the GC saw the vehicle start to move, they lowered their weapons and dove out of the way. The Hummer dropped almost vertically, ramming the hood of the little car and blowing both of its front tires. The engine gushed water and steam, and Buck could tell he had rendered the GC vehicle useless.

Rather than look for the guards, he merely backed up six feet, whipped the wheel right, and sped off into the night. Zeke had somehow gotten the door shut, but neither he nor Buck had time to buckle in. As the Hummer lurched across the plains at high speed, both men were thrown around like rag dolls, their heads hitting the ceiling, their shoulders banging the doors.

Buck skidded to a stop.

"What?" Zeke demanded.

"Buckle up!"

They both did and off he flew again. Fewer than five minutes later, as Buck found a route that would lead them back to Chicago, the sky behind them went from night to day in a massive orange ball of flame. A few seconds later the sound and the shock rocked the car anew. Buck, high from the adrenaline, knew how close they had come to dying.

Zeke, laughing like a child, kept turning in his seat and looking back at the flaming horizon. "Well," he said, cackling, "so much for that job!"

EIGHT

Mac and Abdullah sat sullenly in David's hospital room, whispering. "Thirty days?" Mac said over and over. "Hard to believe."

"No way of staying around here," Abdullah said. "Not that I'll miss it. Well, in some ways I will."

"I know I will," David said, coming to full attention whenever he heard footsteps in the corridor. "So much we can do from the inside that we'll never be able to pull off from the outside."

Mac let out a sigh that made him sound old and tired. "David, this may sound like I'm kissin' up to the boss, but you know I wouldn't kiss up to you if you were the potentate. But we both know you can do anything technologically. Get yerself healthy and do whatever you got to do to keep tabs on this place from anywhere in the world. Isn't that doable?"

"Theoretically," David said. "But it won't be easy."

"Somehow you've got this place bugged, sliced, and diced. Why can't you access computers here the way you did that buildin' in Chicago where we're all likely gonna wind up?"

David shrugged. "It's possible. I can't imagine psyching myself up to get it done. Not without Annie." David caught the glance between Mac and Abdullah. "What?" he said. "You know something you're not telling me?"

Mac shook his head. "We're just as worried as you. Makes no sense. No way she wouldn't let you know where she was, if she could." He paused and a twinkle played at his eyes. "Unless she locked herself in that utility room again."

David laughed in spite of himself. Annie was one of the most disciplined, buttoned-down employees he'd ever had, but one out-of-character stunt she pulled would hang over her head as long as she lived.

The way Hannah Palemoon knocked at the half-open door told David way more than he wanted to know. A sob rose in his throat. Mac stood and David nodded to him. "Come in," Mac said.

David tried to ignore the small, corrugated box in Hannah's hands and desperately searched her face for some trace of optimism. She approached slowly and set the box near David's feet. "I am so sorry," she said, and David collapsed inside.

His pain, his fatigue melted away, overwhelmed by grief and loss too great to bear. He groaned and drew his fists up under his chin, turning from his friends, rolling onto his side, drawing his knees up, and folding in on himself.

"Lightning?" The question forced its way past his constricted throat.

"Yes," Hannah whispered. "There would have been no pain or suffering."

Grateful for that, David thought. At least not for her, "David," Mac said huskily, "me and Smitty will be right outside-"

"I'd appreciate it if you could stay," David managed, and he heard them sit again.

"I have a few of her personal effects," Hannah said. David tried to sit up, feeling the cursed dizziness. "It's just her purse and phone, jewelry, and shoes."

David finally sat up and put the box between his knees. His breath caught at the charred smell. The phone had melted in spots. One shoe had scorched holes in the heel and toe.

"I have to see her," he said. "I wouldn't recommend it," Hannah said. "David, no," Mac urged.

"I have to! She's not really gone and never will be unless I know for sure. This is her stuff, but did you see her, Hannah?" The nurse nodded. "But you didn't know her. Had you ever seen her before?"