“The west! I should have known the coward would try and sneak up on me from behind!” Silas glanced about nervously, feeling very vulnerable standing in the open. “Send out a LAV and squad of men immediately.”
“That is unwise, sir. We only have three armored wags remaining,” the major reported succinctly. “We lost one during the cave-in. It must have been parked near the edge and fell into the quarry.”
“Irrelevant! I want armor on the west road within the hour.” Licking his dry lips, Silas hunched his shoulders as if braced for the killing impact of a bullet. His face felt hot, and the center of his forehead ached with a stabbing pain as if he had been already shot. A great weariness filled the man, and in horror he felt himself starting to slip into the dream state that heralded his recurring nightmare. Only this time it was happening while he was wide awake!
Through sheer force of will, he banished the delirium, but a cold certainty now gripped his heart and Silas knew that his days of sanity were almost over. Soon, madness would rule his mind, and the scientist would no longer be able to tell reality from delusion. He would probably never even know when Tanner, or the major, took his life. Breathing hard, Silas looked into the deep quarry, knowing that a single step more would end his problems forever.
Just then, a stone broke away from the ragged edge of the ground and fell into the quarry, clattering and clacking as it bounced from boulder to boulder, finally disappearing into the shadowy dust clouds far below. A few seconds later, there was a splash as it reached the runoff pool.
Shuddering at the noise, Silas stepped way from the yawning stone pit. No, not yet. His death at this time would only damn North America to endless barbarism. Democracy had failed, the anarchy of choice and the chaos of freedom combining to create skydark and nearly ending the human race. Only the iron rule of science could save humankind from extinction. The Great Project had to be completed first, no matter what the personal cost. Then and only then could he allow himself to finally die and escape the growing horrors of his own damaged mind.
Limping about, Silas started for the LAV. “Come along, Major. We’re returning to the complex. That one-eyed bastard could be watching us right now through a sniper scope.”
“Impossible. The nearest trees for cover are two hundred yards away. The bushes on the hillside are even farther. He couldn’t hit the ground at that range. Not with a Winchester lever action, or a Kalashnikov. Told me yourself that was why you chose those specific long-blasters. Both are useless as sniper rifles.”
“And what if Ryan is here with his Steyr?” Silas whispered, sweat beginning to trickle down his face. “That is designed for extreme-distance shots under tricky conditions. Perhaps I should stay inside the bunker until this matter is resolved.”
“A wise move. Or tell me the entrance code to the redoubts,” Sheffield urged slyly, “just in case of an emergency.”
Pausing near the doors of the LAV, Silas Jamaisvous stared at the big sec chief. Proud and strong, he was the perfect human specimen, a more than worthy successor to the dying scientist.
“Maybe you are right,” Silas said slowly, and started to reach into his coat. Then he stopped and stepped inside the APC.
“Not here,” he said, taking a wall seat. “I will tell you in the lab. We must not be overheard.”
“Of course. As you say, sir,” Sheffield replied, not taking his eyes off the tiny sliver of the rainbow disk just barely visible tucked inside the breast pocket of the white labcoat.
RYAN SLOWED the Hummer as another wag appeared around a gentle curve in the road ahead of them. It was a predark truck in amazingly good condition, the tires sporting plenty of tread, the headlights intact, and not a speck of rust on the red-painted chassis. He could see two men in the front cab, and more in the rear. All of them seemed to have blasters.
“Stay loose,” Ryan ordered, adjusting the SIG-Sauer at his hip. “Don’t shoot unless they do first. Not everybody on this road is going to be a blue shirt.”