But Martin tackled him to the floor first, squeezing Jake’s wrist in a hard grip that immobilized his hand and the injector.
Jake struggled, but Martin was the bigger, stronger man. He turned Jake’s face to him with his free hand. “Listen to me, listen to me,” he said. “She would have died anyway without the sapling extract. You and Pavel were right about that. And she’s going to die now if we do nothing more. We’ve got nothing to lose. We’ve got to try the second injection.”
Jake pulled his face away.
“It’s all we’ve got left,” Martin continued. “OK?”
Jake’s breath was shaky. “OK.”
Pavel gave Susannah the second injection.
Her voice made a low, guttural sound. Her eyes rolled back in her head.
But five minutes later, she opened them and smiled weakly.
“What happened?” she asked. “We have some evidence that the trees were deliberately planted, right?”
Jake gently stroked her hair, kissed her on the forehead. “Excellent evidence. Corroboration well beyond the taste test. The best evidence in the Universe. Especially now.”