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<p> “David,” she said, with a little too much enunciative precision. “He’s been looking for you. I can keep him from finding us for now, but I’m not sure I can do it for long. He’s very smart.”</p>
<p> “He’s looking for me?” I felt a surge of gratitude and relief, and then I remembered that it wasn’t a good thing. “Oh. Looking for me because he thinks I’m the wrong one. The fake Joa
<p> “Yes.”</p>
<p> “And where is he?”</p>
<p> She shrugged. “I said I could hide us from him, not keep track of him. It’s not that simple. You’d better get going.”</p>
<p> “Do you think this is going to work?”</p>
<p> Ve
<p> I swallowed, suddenly very cold. “What if it doesn’t work?”</p>
<p> “Eventually,” Ve
<p> We looked at each other in silence for a second.</p>
<p> “Go east,” she said. “We’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”</p>
<empty-line/>
<p> I love to drive, but this wasn’t driving, it was being trapped in a car with a crazy man (who kept muttering things in a language that I didn’t understand), a Dji
<p> It didn’t help his attitude at all. Ve
<p> I wondered what he’d been like before. Maybe Ve
<p> All politics. “Fu
<p> “Now it is,” she agreed. “You’re like a virus, you humans. You get under our skins.”</p>
<p> “Flattering.”</p>
<p> She frowned. “Was it? I didn’t mean it to be.”</p>
<p> I resisted the urge to explain sarcasm to her. Barely. “What about memories? Are you going to give me his since he’s human?”</p>
<p> She looked away. “Do you think you want them?”</p>
<p> “Just the ones about me.”</p>
<p> This time, she looked at me straight on. “Do you really want them?”</p>
<p> I realized then what I was asking for. Not just memories of me as Ashan saw me, but the things Ashan might have done to me. To other people I loved.</p>
<p> To my daughter.</p>
<p> I cleared my throat. “Let me think about it.”</p>
<p> She nodded. From the backseat Ashan said, in a low, harsh voice that didn’t sound like it got much use, “You can’t be saved, you know. Whether you die today or in fifty years, you still die.”</p>
<p> Cheery little fella. “I’ll take surviving the fifty years, if I have a choice.”</p>
<p> He smiled thinly. “You don’t.” His eyes were bright-not Dji
<p> I thought longingly about the Taser, then deliberately relaxed. “Can’t you shut him up?” I asked Ve
<p> She glanced over the seat at Ashan. “I don’t like to keep him unconscious all the time. It’s not good for him.”</p>
<p> “Like I care.”</p>
<p> Ve
<p> “Really? What a shock, you seem like such a regular kid.” I checked the map. We were making good time, and the lodge that Ve
<p> I was starting to feel pretty good about the possibilities when I felt the engine give the tiniest little hitch.</p>
<p> “No,” I whispered.</p>
<p> There it was again. Stronger. It sent a shudder through the car.</p>
<p> “No!”</p>
<p> The third time, the whole engine seized up with a clatter of valves. <i>Great.</i> “Ve
<p> But she wasn’t looking at me. I wasn’t even sure if she’d realized we were coasting to a stop at the side of the road.</p>
<p> “She’s found you,” said Ashan, and smiled coldly. “They may kill me, but I think they’ll kill you, too. And that would be worth my death.”</p>
<p> “Ve
<p> “He’s right,” Ve
<p> I couldn’t help but think that it was the threat to <i>Ashan</i> that got her interested, but I didn’t have time to think about it; something happened to the car’s engine, and it choked, growled, and caught fire again. The car leaped forward. I hastily shifted gears to accommodate.</p>
<p> “Maybe we should talk-” I began.</p>
<p> “No! Drive!” Some invisible force slammed the gas pedal down, and I struggled with the steering wheel as the tires screamed, propelling us down the road at a terrifying rate of speed. “Don’t slow down!”</p>