“Brilliant,” said Carrie. “Saved our lives, Mr. Sirak.”
“Call me Joe. Or Jeremiah. I’ll answer to either of them. Saved your life, did you say?”
“Sure did.”
He nodded, the smile vanishing as though someone had thrown a switch.
“Is that a figure of speech, young lady? Or do you realize that there is many a true word spoken in jest?” There was the briefest hint of the prophet Jeremiah in his words now.
“You mean that you think there’s real danger, Joe?” asked Jim Hilton, looking instinctively all around them. But nothing was moving in the wasteland of eastern California.
“Mankind is always in danger. We give birth astride a grave, don’t we, Captain Hilton?”
“Danger from what? From who? From where, Joe? You got the ears with your radio. Tell us what you’ve been hearing.”
Sirak ran a comb through his black hair. “I’ve heard too much. As soon as Earthblood became a matter of public domain, the airwaves began to hum. Then, when the deaths started, you couldn’t turn the dial without picking up a thousand calls for help. Aid the afflicted, they say. What could anyone do?” He stopped and dabbed at his eyes with an immaculate linen handkerchief. “The voices stopped quite quickly.”
“We picked you up when we were coming down.” Steve shook his head. “Christ, it seems to be only a couple of days ago. The very first time we heard about Earthblood.”
Joe sighed. “Now you can go from zero up to infinity and you hardly hear a squeak. Just now and again, you know.”
“You know anything of General Zelig, Joe?” Jim thought a moment. “Or Aurora? Or some outfit called the Hunters of the Sun?”
Joe glanced at his wristwatch. “I believe it’s time that I was returning home again to Barstow. You must look me up—5498 Cuchillo Boulevard. There’s a six-o’clock curfew in operation, and the men on the barrier enjoy their little, little power.”
“Didn’t hear the answer to my questions, Joe. That mean the answer was yes to all of them?”
“Affirmative.”
“Tell us.”
Sirak was beginning to perspire. “Don’t press me, please, Jim.”
“One at a time. Zelig?”
“Mentioned that name in the days when society was finally cracking up. Heard it since. That chopper that was shot down…”
“Yeah?” Jim touched the man on the arm. “Look, nothing’ll happen to you. I’m like a guy playing blindfold chess on a board with no pieces. If you can help us…”
“Never saw myself as being in the same section of the field as the Good Samaritan,” said Sirak, managing a worried smile.
“Aurora?”
“Some kind of center where a lot of military and some senators and folks have got together. Secret base is what it sounds like to me. Hear the name of Zelig linked to it.”
“Where?” asked Kyle.
“North is all I know.”
“Can you locate it more closely than just north?” asked Steve Romero.
“The car doctor’s done good, hasn’t he, Dad?” said Sly suddenly and loudly.
Joe Sirak smiled at the boy. “Neighbors of mine, years ago, had a lad like him. Such a sweet… No, I can’t place it for you. Though…”
“What?” said Jim, picking up on Joe Sirak’s hesitation.
“I wouldn’t wish to place my life savings on this, but I get the feeling from direction and strength of some of the signals, that it could be Washington State or Northern California, or just across the border into Canada.” He shook his head, fingers fumbling at the mother-of-pearl buttons on his vest. “Life savings! Listen to me. What’s a dollar worth nowadays? Can’t even wipe your backside on it. Light a fire with it. Life savings. Huh!”
“The Hunters?”
“Never heard that name. Not exactly. But Mr. Zelig… I mean General Zelig, and his men aren’t the only sort of organized group. There are others. Cold and efficient. Never give time for a fix on them. Broadcast from every which place.”
Jim began to feel uneasy.
Once when he’d been up on vacation with Lori and the girls, who’d have been only seven or eight at the time, they’d stayed at Many Glaciers Hotel in the national park.
He’d wanted to go backpacking for a couple of days, so he’d hiked off on his own. Lori and the twins had been perfectly happy to stay at the beautiful resort hotel, sunbathing and boating on Swiftcurrent Lake.