Cardenas sat on the sofa. For the first time in days she had an appetite. She felt George’s bulk settling on the cushions beside her.
“Smells good,” George said.
She took the lid off a platter of fish fillets and vegetables.
“Looks good, too,” George added.
“You’re hungry,” she said.
“Haven’t eaten since breakfast.”
“Help yourself.”
George didn’t wait to be coaxed. He lifted off his face mask again and dug in. Cardenas watched as fork and knife moved seemingly by themselves and chunks of dinner rose to his face, which seemed to be floating in midair. She found that if she looked hard enough, directly at him, she could see a faint flickering glitter, almost subliminal. Reflection of the ceiling lights scattered by the chips, she thought. But you have to know he’s there to see it, and even then it’s almost below the perception level.
“Don’t you want any?” George asked.
“No, you go ahead.”
“Eat the veggies, at least.”
“I’ll take the salad.”
The meal was finished in a few minutes. George put his mask on again and completely disappeared.
“D’you tell ’em you’re finished or do they send the maid back for the tray automatically?”
“I tell the guard. He sends for the maid.”
“Okay. Tell the guard you’re finished and ask him to take the tray.”
“He’ll send for the maid.”
“Tell ‘im you don’t want to wait for her. Make some excuse.”
Cardenas nodded, got up from the sofa, and went to the door. She could sense George’s body warmth as he padded along beside her.
She banged on the door with the flat of her hand. “I’m finished. Could you please take the tray?”
“I’ll call the kitchen,” came the guard’s muffled voice.
“I can’t wait! I’ve got to get to the toilet right away! I’m sick to my stomach. Please take the tray.”
A moment’s hesitation, then they heard the lock click. The door swung open and the guard stepped in, looking concerned.
“What’s the matter? Something in the —”
The punch sounded like a melon hitting the pavement from a considerable height. The guard’s head snapped back and his eyes rolled up. He crumpled to the floor. Cardenas saw his arms yanked up into the air and his body dragged into the room.
“Come on, now,” George whispered to her.
They stepped out into the hallway. The door shut, seemingly by itself, and locked. She felt his hand engulf half her upper arm as George let her down the hallway to the stairs. The house seemed quiet at this hour, although a glance out the windows showed that the cavern outside was still lit in daytime mode.
The downstairs hall was empty, but Cardenas could hear the sounds of conversation floating through from somewhere. Neither of the voices sounded like Humphries’s to her. They got to the foyer just inside the front door. Two young men in gray suits looked surprised to see her approaching them.
Frowning, the taller of the two said, “Dr. Cardenas, what are—”
George’s punch spun him completely around. The other guard stared, frozen with surprise, until he was lifted off his feet by a blow to the midsection. Cardenas heard a bone-snapping crunch! and the guard fell limply to the tiled floor.
The front door jerked open and George hissed, “Come on, then!”
Cardenas ran out of the house, up the path that wound through the garden, and through the hatch that opened into Selene’s bottommost corridor. She could hear George panting and puffing alongside her. Once they were through the hatch, George’s hand on her arm brought her to a stop.
“I don’t think anybody’s followin’ us,” he said.
“How long do you think it will take for them to realize I’m gone?” she asked.
She sensed him shrugging. “Not fookin’ long.”
“What now, then?”
“Lemme get outta this suit,” George muttered. “Hot enough inside here to cook a fella.”
His face appeared, then his entire shaggy head. Within a minute he stood before her, sweating and grinning, a big red-haired mountain of a man in rumpled, stained olive-green coveralls.
“That’s better,” George said, taking a deep breath. “Could hardly breathe inside that suit.”
As they started walking swiftly along the corridor toward the escalator, Cardenas asked, “Where can I go? Where will I be safe? Humphries will turn Selene upside-down looking for me.”