Virginia frowned, considering his words. It was true enough that her father had enemies. A multitude of them, in fact, judging from his frequent complaints. But, if the police could not be relied upon . . .
Her voice was a bit shaky. “Then where—?”
“We must go to the plantation,” stated the Professor firmly. It was already keying in the instructions. Within seconds, the vehicle turned onto the highway which led to the plantation, and accelerated. The huge agricultural complex was located far to the south of the capital city.
Virginia gasped. “But—the Magh’ advance! On the Vid-news they said, and Papa was so angry, and . . .”
“Fortunately, they have held back the Magh’ advance. Do not be concerned, Miss Virginia! Your wise father foresaw this contingency also. I assure you that his plans for your safety were very well thought out. And now, I must ask you to simply have faith in me. Operating this unfamiliar vehicle will take all of my concentration.”
Virginia relaxed. Everything was very confusing, and unsettling. But if there was one thing that she did know, it was that she could trust the Professor. Absolutely. The Korozhet was a rock in the sudden shifting uncertainty of her once-ordered world. Thank heavens the Korozhet had been there, and had been unhurt. She shuddered. If the Jampad had spotted the Professor, they’d have killed it. For a certainty! The Professor had told her many times of the implacable hatred which the Jampad bore for all Korozhet.
She was tired, she realized. As usual, she had awakened early that morning. It was already late in the afternoon. Now that they appeared to be safe, she suddenly felt exhausted. Her eyes began to droop.
As she drifted off, her last conscious thought was of the Professor. Such a dear old fuddy-duddy. Like someone in one of her novels . . . Like a sort of “nice” version of Lord Bromford from The Grand Sophy.
* * ** * *
Virginia was jarred awake by the howling of a siren. She sat up sharply in the seat and craned her head around.
“They’re chasing us!”
A pair of motorcyclists were in hot pursuit. Police motorcyclists, or she misunderstood the flashing blue lights and sirens.
“Override! Full manual control!” barked the Korozhet. With a squeal of tires the Korozhet flung the wheel hard over. The vehicle leapt from the road and bounded across a muddy field, plowing through stalks of grain.
“But they’re police. Surely—”
“Suborned, Miss Virginia. Suborned! This is just what your father anticipated!” For a creature with a hard exoskeleton covered in flexible spines, who had never driven before, the Korozhet was astonishingly adept at handling the vehicle.
The landspeeder was designed for off-road work. The motorcycles weren’t. Within two minutes, the motorcycles were no longer in sight. Within five, even the sound of the shrieking sirens had faded away.
The fear and excitement were making Virginia feel awfully strange. She was reminded suddenly of the nightmarish trips to the ship’s surgery, back in that horrible fuzzy time before her soft-cyber implant. She felt . . . giddy. Very weak. Very confused.
Had she been shot? She couldn’t feel any pain, but she had read that wounds could be unnoticed at the time they were received. Shock, or something.
Her head lolled on the seat rest. Her eyes fell on the rear window but, this time, she was not peering intently at the motorcycles on the ground. Just gazing vacantly.
As consciousness slipped away, she caught sight of a tiny, furry face, too full of big eyes. Clinging under the back sunshade of the landspeeder, Fluff looked utterly terrified.
* * *
She awoke in darkness. The bed she lay on was extremely hard. Gradually her mind assimilated that it was no bed. A hard surface, slightly gritty in texture. They must have crashed!
Her first thought was for the Professor. Virginia began scrambling to her feet. But, instantly, her head crashed into an unseen surface above. Wincing from the pain, she collapsed back onto her knees.
After a moment, she began feeling around with her hands. The space she was in—whatever it was—seemed very small and cramped. Even in the darkness, she rapidly established there was no ball of prickles in here with her. There was just no room for anyone else.