Marie was being very quiet. Luke glanced in the mirror again. She was still watching him, her face showing hurt and confusion, on the verge of fighting back tears. Drawing a long breath, he turned his head to call over his shoulder. “Hey, everyone back there . . .” His tone brought immediate quiet. “There’s something you all ought to know.” They waited. “Roland and Hudro are both okay. They made it through the crash. The MOPAN got them to Bolivia. Roland called me from there a couple of days ago. There were reasons to keep it quiet. He was talking about trying to get back via New Zealand. I thought he might have changed his plans and met up with you people somehow.”
* * *
The traffic on I-405 south was noticeably thinner due to the gasoline restrictions. Laredo moved out a lane and accelerated gently past the limo. He watched in his mirror as it fell back a comfortable distance behind, then released the safety latch over the FIRE button. A red warning light confirmed that the circuit was active. He kept the Dodge well ahead and waited for a clear stretch in the traffic pattern.
* * *
Marie and Yassem were hugging each other in delight, Yassem smiling and trying to suppress a compulsion to laugh at the same time, Marie openly weeping. Vrel was speechless; Dee flung her arms around his neck. Luodine and Nyarl were grinning and smacking palms together in the way they had picked up from Terrans.
“You mean we can call them?” Marie said, finally managing to speak coherently.
“I don’t have the number here,” Luke answered from the front. “But sure, as soon as we get back to the house.”
“But . . . why couldn’t you have told us?” Wyvex stammered.
“I said, there were reasons,” Luke replied. “But they don’t matter anymore.”
* * *
Laredo pressed the FIRE button. A green light indicated positive function. Yet nothing had happened. The limo was still there in his mirror, a couple of hundred yards back in a gap behind a truck and a Chevrolet sitting close together. He shook his head bemusedly and pressed the button again.
Nothing happened.
* * *
Thirty miles farther south, traffic braked and swerved wildly to avoid the remains and falling debris of what, a few seconds before, had been a cream Cadillac moving fast in the direction of San Diego and the border.
* * *
In the trash bin outside the coffee shop by the gas station, the phone rang again for a while, then fell silent.
Back in the limo, Luke replaced the phone for what he decided was the last time. He had done all anybody could do, he told himself.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
AFTER A SCHEDULED STOP in Tahiti, Cade and Hudro arrived in Auckland without further incident. Neville Baxter, jovial as ever, met them personally with several other people from his company to make sure there was no hitch with the arrangement for them to enter the country as political refugees. They were granted temporary visas, and then Baxter took them to an apartment in Auckland that he had procured and placed at their disposal, recommending that they rest, relax for a few days, and adjust to the world as seen from the other side. After that, they could consider their options.
The first thing Cade did was call Luke in California to let him know that he and Hudro were safe. It turned out that Luke had some news for him too. “Vrel and those two Hyadeans that made the movie, they’re here. They arrived yesterday on a regular flight from Ecuador.”
“Hey, that’s great!” Cade exclaimed. He looked up. Hudro was staring at him from the far side of the room. “Vrel and Luodine and Nyarl are okay. They’re in California.”
“Yes, I heard.” Hudro got up and came across.
“That’s not all,” Luke said from the screen. “Are you ready for this? You guys weren’t the only ones to make it out of that chopper crash. Marie’s here too—a bit thinner than when I last knew her, but looking pretty good.” Hudro gripped Cade’s shoulder as he looked past him, squeezing hard enough to make him wince.