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She recalled looking at her watch just before Alicia had given
her that shot, and the time then had been just after one.
Staggering to the bathroom, she splashed water on her
face and wondered briefly what had gone wrong. Shouldn t
she still be out cold, waiting for Alicia s and Sloat s arrival?
Alicia must have miscalculated the dosage. Well, if her luck
142 Lauren Wright Douglas
held for one more minute, she d be out of here. She found
some shorts and a T-shirt and pulled them on as fast as she
could. Jamming her feet into her old Reeboks, she grabbed
her wallet and ran from the room.
On the first floor, she hurried down the hall to Russ and
Toshio s room. Knocking softly first, she opened the door and
went in.
 Russ, she called urgently, flipping on the light switch
and shaking him.  Wake up! I need the keys to the jeep.
 Mmph, he muttered, sitting up and looking at her
dazedly, his red hair standing on end.  You need what?
 The keys to the jeep. And for God s sake, don t tell any-
one you saw me.
 What s going on? he asked, rubbing his eyes and sitting
up.  Are you all right?
 No, she told him.  That s why I m running away. Sloat
and Alicia Soto will be after me soon. They haven t yet gotten
their hands on my cavity program, and I don t think they ll
stop trying. Halfway to the door a thought occurred to her.
 If I were you two, I might disappear, too. Sloat knows we re
friends. He might think I ve confided something about the
program to you.
Toshio s head emerged from his bed s covers.  I agree,
he said to Russ.  Why don t we go and pay your caterer friend
a little visit? She did seem most eager to have you spend the
night.
 Yeah, Russ said to Toshio.  That s not a bad idea.
Then he turned back to Gail.  But how will we get in
touch with each other if we re all hiding?
 I ll call the hotel. What s your friend s name?
 It s Zoe, Russ said, scrubbing one hand through his hair.
 I know you can t tell me where you re going, but you will be
careful, won t you? And you will get in touch with us?
 You can count on it, Gail told him, closing the door
quietly behind her.
Osten s Bay 143
" " "
From the shelter of a clump of palm trees, she looked
out over the parking lot. Everything seemed normal. Taking a
deep breath, she ran for the jeep, feeling as though a hundred
eyes were on her. As she started the engine, she recalled the
gun in Alicia s hand. No, I didn t imagine all this, she told her-
self as she wheeled out of the parking lot and onto the gravel
road to the main gates. Incredible as it seemed, it had all really
happened.
Damn Alicia Soto anyway, Gail thought savagely. She
knew now who the mastermind of this whole operation had
been. So Alicia had read her research papers, had she? Gail
wondered how long that power-hungry witch had been plan-
ning things. She had first heard from Sloat in March, so that
meant the duo had been hatching this plot for at least six
months. Probably longer.
The coast road was deserted at this hour of the morning.
She put the jeep in fourth gear, put her foot to the floor, and
drove like a madwoman toward Osten s Bay.
She saw the other jeep at about the same time its driver saw
her. Against the rising sun, it looked like one of the Institute
jeeps. She changed lanes, set her jaw, and drove straight at it. It
began honking its horn but she ignored it. At the last minute,
it swerved off the road and she passed it in a swirl of dust. She
smiled triumphantly and moved back over to her side of the
road. Had she bought herself some time? She certainly hoped
so. On the next hill, however, she knew she was wrong.
The jeep, which she could now plainly see was blue, came
up the hill behind her like a rocket.  Damn! she shouted, and
put her foot down. But the balky Institute jeep refused to go
any faster. Inexorably, the gap narrowed between her and the
blue jeep. Five hundred feet, two hundred, one hundred . . .
144 Lauren Wright Douglas
Now it was right behind her. She twitched the steering wheel
to the left and moved over to block its path, determined not
to let it get ahead of her. The two vehicles crested the hill, and
the blue jeep pulled up beside her on the right. She was about
to pull the wheel back toward it in an attempt to force it off
the road again when she saw the driver. It was Marike!
Gail braked. The blue jeep shot ahead. Marike drove off
the road, jumped out of the jeep, and ran back shouting.  You
maniac! What were you trying to do kill me?
Gail looked anxiously back down the road toward the
Institute.  I was trying to lose you. I didn t know it was you. I
thought it was someone from the Institute.
Marike glared.  From the Institute? Why what s
wrong?
 I can t explain now, Gail said.  I just have to get away
from there.
 I don t know why I bothered to come back for you
intuition, I guess. I knew something was wrong when I stood
there outside your room making a fool of myself. I just knew
it.
 Yes, you re right, Gail said, again glancing down the
road.  I m in a whole lot of trouble. I need a safe place to
hide from Benjamin Sloat. And from his crony Alicia Soto of
DARDCO. But I don t think we should discuss it here.
 All right, Marike said.  You d better get in my jeep.
Drive yours back into the brush over there. With luck, no one
will see it.
Gail hid the Institute jeep as well as she could and came
running back. Marike s tires screamed on the asphalt as the
little jeep jumped ahead, and Gail hung on as they sped off
down the road.
 We could take a roundabout route, Marike explained,
 but the coast road to Osten s Bay is a lot faster. If we re lucky,
we ll get there first, and I ll just close the road. Then no one
can get in. We ll call Rolf Klee, and that will be that.
Osten s Bay 145
Gail nodded, but privately she wasn t so sure. Would a
closed road stop Sloat and Alicia? She didn t think so. And
Rolf Klee was only one man. Besides, what could Sloat and
Alicia be accused of? Gail had no proof for any of her claims.
No, they needed a better plan. But first, she would settle for
getting to Osten s Bay.
Gail saw the helicopter before Marike did. She would
have heard it long before she saw it, but the roar of the wind
past the open jeep made hearing almost impossible. The
bright orange helicopter, bearing DARDCO s letters and
logo, swooped over the jeep from behind and hovered over
the road at a height of ten feet perhaps thirty yards ahead.
 Shit! Marike yelled. With instants to make a decision,
Marike did what Gail herself would have done. She kept driv-
ing. At the last possible moment, the helicopter rose into the
air, and the jeep sped underneath it.
Gail looked back over her shoulder. The helicopter was
making a giant circle about a hundred yards behind them.
 It s no good, Marike, she said in dismay.  They can try that
as many times as they need to. Eventually they ll force us to
stop.
 I know, Marike said, braking for a particularly sharp
turn.  And the road coming up is too dangerous to drive
like this. We re almost at Karpata. Dammit, anyhow! Fifteen
more minutes and we d have been safe. Why do they want
you, anyhow?
Gail gripped the sides of the seat.  I prevented them from
stealing something of mine.
 The cavity program! Marike yelled.  I heard it on the
news. That s why I stormed over to have it out with you. I fig-
ured you d helped them make this great breakthrough. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]