‘Never,’ Corrina said anxiously. ‘They took me by surprise. I thought
maybe they were to stay at the Inn since we had new arrivals yesterday.
But they said they had come to see the hospital. When I told them how to
get there, they left straightaway.’
‘Were they black or white?’ Cameron asked. Maybe this wouldn’t be a
typical false alarm after all.
‘Half and half,’ Corrina said. ‘Two blacks, two whites. But I could tell
from the way they were dressed they were all American.’
‘I see,’ Cameron said, while he stroked his beard and pondered the
unlikely possibility of any of the Zone’s American workers coming into
the Inn to say they wanted to see the hospital.
‘The one who was talking also said something strange about his bodily
functions working fine,’ Corrina said. ‘I didn’t know how to respond.’
‘Hmmm,’ Cameron repeated. ‘Could I use your phone?’
‘Of course,’ Corrina said. She pulled the phone over from the side of
her desk and faced it out toward Cameron.
Cameron punched the manager’s direct line. Siegfried answered
immediately.
‘I’m here at the Inn,’ Cameron explained. ‘I thought you should be
apprised of a curious story. Four strange doctors presented themselves
here to Miss Williams with the wish to see the hospital.’
Siegfried’s response was an angry tirade that forced Cameron to hold the
receiver away from his ear. Even Corrina cringed.
Cameron handed the phone back to the receptionist. He’d not heard every
word of Siegfried’s invective but the meaning was clear. Cameron was to
get reinforcements over there immediately and detain the alien doctors.
Cameron unsnapped the straps over both his Beretta and the radio
simultaneously. He pulled the radio free and made an emergency call to
base while he started for the hospital.
Room 302 turned out to be in the front of the building with a fine view
out over the square looking east. Jack and the others had found the room
without difficulty. No one had challenged them. In fact, they hadn’t
seen a person as they’d made their way from the elevator to the room’s
open door.
Jack had knocked but it was obvious the room was momentarily empty
although there’d been plenty of evidence the room was occupied. A
television with a built-in VCR was on, and it was showing an old Paul
Newman movie. The hospital bed was moderately disheveled. An open,
half-packed suitcase was poised on a luggage stand.
The mystery was solved when Laurie noticed the sounds of a shower behind
the closed bathroom door.
When the water stopped running, Jack had knocked, but it wasn’t until
almost ten minutes later that Horace Winchester appeared.
The patient was in his mid-fifties and corpulent. But he looked happy
and healthy. He cinched up the tie on his bathrobe and padded over to
the club chair by the bed. He sat down with a satisfied sigh.
‘What’s the occasion?’ he asked, smiling at his guests. ‘This is more
company than I’ve had the whole time I’ve been here.’
‘How are you feeling?’ Jack asked. He grabbed a straight-back chair and
sat down directly in front of Horace. Warren and Natalie lurked just
outside the door. They felt reluctant to enter the room. Laurie went to
the window. After seeing the group of soldiers, she’d become
progressively anxious. She was eager to make the visit short and get
back to the boat.
‘I’m feeling just great,’ Horace said. ‘It’s a miracle. I came here at
death’s door and as yellow as a canary. Look at me now! I’m ready for
thirty-six holes of golf at one of my resorts. Hey, any of you people
are invited to any of my places for as long as you want to stay, and it
will all be on the house. Do you like to ski?’
‘I do,’ Jack said. ‘But I’d rather talk about your case. I understand
you had a liver transplant here. I’d like to ask where the liver came
from?’
A half smile puckered Horace’s face as he regarded Jack out of the
corner of his eye. ‘Is this some kind of test?’ he asked. ‘Because if it
is, it’s not necessary. I’m not going to be telling anyone. I couldn’t