Страница 36 из 56
"Calling Major Chin," said Doheny, hovering one hundred feet above Parlette Park. Controlled excitement tinged his voice with the thrill of the chase.
"Sir? I've got an infrared spot just leaving the pond.... Could be two people; this fog is messing up my imagine... Western shore. They're out now, moving toward where all the men are milling around... You don't? They're there; I swear it... Okay, okay, but if they aren't there, then something's wrong with my infrascope--sir... Yes, sir."
A
He saw the larger infrared source move away, leaving behind a second source smaller than a car but comfortably bigger than one man.. That jerked him alert, and he moved to the window to check. It was there, all right, and ...
He lost interest and returned to the infrascope. The cloverleaf-shaped source was still there, not moving, the right color to be four unconscious men. A man-sized source separated itself from the milling mass around the abandoned car, moving toward the cloverleaf source. Seconds later there was pandemonium.
Gasping, wheezing, ru
"Okay... We can... relax now."
"How far... to the Hospital?"
" 'Bout... two miles."
Ahead of them the white lights of Implementation cars faded behind a lighted dome of fog as they chased an empty car on autopilot. A yellow glow touched the fading far end of the walk -the lights of the Hospital.
The walk was a rectangular pattern of red brick, luxuriously wide, with great spreading chestnut trees planted down the middle in a pleasantly uneven row. Street lights along the sides illuminated old and individualistic houses. The chestnuts swayed and sang shrilly in the wind. The wind blew the still-thi
"We've got to get some clothes," said Matt.
"We'll meet someone. We're bound to. It's only nine."
"How could those crew stand it? Swimming!"
"The water was hot. Probably they had a sauna bath waiting somewhere. I wish we did."
"We should have taken that car."
"Your power wouldn't have hidden us. At night they couldn't see your face in a car window. They'd have seen a stolen car, and they'd have bathed it in sonics, which is just what they must be doing now."
"And why did you insist on stripping that policeman? And having got the damn suit, why did you throw it away?"
"For the Mist Demons' sake, Matt! Will you trust me?"
"Sorry. We could either of us use that coat."
"It's worth it. Now they'll be looking for one man in an Implementation uniform. Hey! In front of me, quick!"
A square of light had appeared several houses down. Matt stepped in front of her and stooped, hands on knees, so she could use his shoulder as a gun rest.
It had worked on four police in Parlette Park. It worked now. A crew couple appeared in the light. They turned and waved to their hosts, turned again and moved down the steps, hunching slightly against the wind. The closing door cut the light from them and left them as dim moving shadows. As they touched the brick, they crossed the flat trajectories of two hunting slivers.
Matt and Laney stripped them and left them propped against a garden hedge for the sun to find.
"Thank the Mist Demons," said Matt. He was still shivering inside the dry clothes.
Laney was already thinking ahead. "We'll stick with the houses as far as we can. These houses give off a lot of infrared. They'll screen us. Even if a car does spot us, he'll have to drop and question us to be sure we're not crew."
"Good. What happens when we run out of houses?"
Laney didn't answer for a long time. Matt didn't press her. Finally she said, "Matt, there's something I'd better tell you."
Again he didn't press her.
"As soon as we get through the Wall--if we get through the wall--I'm going to the vivarium. You don't have to come along, but I've got to go."
"Won't that be the first thing they expect?"
"Probably."
"Then we'd better not. Let's hunt down Polly first. We ought to keep the noise down as long as possible. Once your Sons of Earth come charging out, assuming we get that far, those doors will drop right away. In fact, if we--" At this point he glanced over at her and stopped.
Laney was looking straight ahead. Her face was hard and masklike. So was her voice, deliberately hard.
"That's why I'm telling you now. I'm going to the vivarium. That's why I'm here." She seemed about to break off ; then she went on in a rush. "That's why I'm here, because the Sons of Earth are in there and I'm one of them. Not because you need me, but because they need me. I need you to get me in. Otherwise I'd be trying it alone."
"I see," said Matt. He was about to go on, but-no, he couldn't say that. He'd leave himself wide open to be slapped down, and in this, mood Laney would do it. Instead he said, "What about Polly's big secret?"
"Millard Parlette knows it too. He seemed eager to talk. If he isn't, Lydia will get it out of him anyway."
"So you don't need Polly anymore."
"That's right. And if you've got the idea I'm here for love of you, you can forget that too. I'm not trying to be boorish, Matt, or cruel either. I just want you to know where you stand. Otherwise you'll be counting on me to make intelligent decisions.
"You're transportation, Matt. We need each other to get in. Once we're inside I'll go straight to the vivarium, and you can do, whatever you have to to stay alive."
For some time they walked in silence, arm in arm, a crew couple strolling home along a distance too short to use a car. Other crew appeared from time to time. Mostly they walked quickly, bent against the wind, and they ignored Matt and Laney and each other in their hurry to get out of the cold. Once a good dozen men and women, varying from merely high to falling-down drunk, poured into the street ahead of them, marched four houses down, and began banging on the door. Matt and Laney watched as the door opened and the partygoers poured in. And suddenly Matt felt intensely lonely. He gripped Laney's arm a little tighter, and they went on.
The brick walk swung away to the left, and they followed it around. Now there were no houses on the right. Just trees, high and thick, screening the Hospital from view. The barren defense perimeter must be just the other side.
"Now what?"
"We follow it," said Laney. "I think we ought to go in along the trapped forest."
She waited for him to ask why, but he didn't. She told him anyway. "The Sons of Earth have been pla
"You hope."
"You bet."
"What do you know about the Hospital defenses?"
"Well, you ran into most of them last night". A good thing you had the sense to stay out of the trapped woods, There are two electric-eye rings. You saw the wall; guns and spotlights all over it. Castro probably put extra men on it tonight, and we can bet he closed off the access road. Usually they leave it open, but it's easy enough to close the electric-eye ring and shut off power to the gate."