"Ten four."
" busy ?"
"Affirmative. "
"Squads said they saw nothing but the truck when they pa.s.sed."
"Busy now."
"What"s your ten twenty, roadblock?"
Mac looked at George again. ""They"re onto us."
George pulled the weapons from beneath the seat and Rayford"s walkie talkie from his pocket. "Jinnah, Irene, be advised. We"ll soon have company."
Mac clicked the GC radio b.u.t.ton a few times. "Repeat," he said.
"Your ten twenty, roadblock. What"s your location?" Chang froze. He had been nearly dozing, listening to Carpathia and Akbar"s sparring while they watched reports from the United North American States and the United South American States. He had not kept up with the Ptolemais project.
The local GC had traced Elena"s cell phone to the west side of the city, and it had remained in one location for more than an hour. Commander Nelson Stefanich and the survivors of the philosopher team were personally leading the raid on a pub in that area.
He phoned Mac.
"Talk fast, Chang. We may be in deep weeds here. "
"How far west of the city are you?"
"Not sure. I"ve had this thing floored, but I don"t think it goes faster"n fifty. They chasin" us?"
"Are you too far from the Co op to help them?"
"Depends. What"s up?"
"GC"s raiding the pub right now. You know the next thing to go will be the Co op."
"Any chance they got out?"
"Can"t imagine. I couldn"t warn them."
"I"m guessing we"re less than thirty minutes from our plane.
We"ll go back if you think we can help."
"Hang on, a report"s coming through. Judah ite underground discovered beneath pub. Firefight. Sixteen GC dead, and another dozen injured. Building grenaded and torched. Several adjacent buildings destroyed. No enemy survivors." While Mac filled in George, the GC continued to try to reach Mac on the radio, asking for some kind of a code. "We"ve blocked off both ends of the north road due to the raid, so wrap it up," they said. "Still need your all clear code."
George looked devastated and tried to grab the GC radio from Mac.
"I"ll give "em an all clear code."
"Take it easy, friend."
"This was my fault, Mac! What was I thinking, hanging on to that phone?"
"I wish we could have gone back," Mac said. "I"d like to have taken out a few of them myself. But our brothers and sisters are in heaven, and it sounds like they put up some kind of a fight."
"That"s it?" George said. "We"re supposed to feel good because I got a bunch of people killed and now they"re in heaven?"
"Need the all clear code now," the radio said.
"I ought to tell them it"s Psalm :," Mac said. "I know what I"d like to tell "em. Have the women stop and we"ll get those GC to tell us the code." "They"d probably give away where we are." "Not with the DEW starin" "em in the face. Let me get it out of "em, Mac. Please. I"ve got to do this." "Chloe, pull it over," Mac said. "Right now?" "Right now." "We okay?" "Temporarily." Mac"s phone chirped. Chang. "Stefanich and Plato and a bunch of GC are looking for the truck and the two GC squads. They"re heading west."
"Let"s make this quick," Mac said, jumping out as Chloe emerged and Hannah pulled up behind.
"Pop that trunk, Chloe," George said, "and Hannah, .et me have the DEW."
Chloe opened the trunk, and Mac shone a flashlight .n on the nearly wasted Peacekeeper. George pulled him From the trunk with one hand, and he lay crying on :he ground. "Blisters," he sobbed.
"Careful, please. Dr kill me."
"You"d like that, wouldn"t you?" George said, wieldng the DEW.
"See this?"
The man opened one eye and nodded miserably.
"This S What cooks your flesh, and there"s plenty pore juice in it. "
"Please, no."
George turned it on, and the thing whirred to life.
"Please! "
He aimed it at the man"s ankle, and the man stiffened, whining.
"Give me your all clear code."
"What?"
"You heard me. Give me the all clear or "
"It"s in the glove box! In my book!"
Chloe went to check. She brought back a small, black Bather ring binder. "It"s full of all kinds of notes," she ;aid.
George took it and dropped it onto the man.
"We"ve got to get rolling," Mac said. "They"re never going to buy the all clear from us now anyway. They"re on their way. "
"These guys are deadweight," George said. "Maybe we can slow the others by leaving them here in the road."
The man was ripping through the pages. He gingerly held the notebook up to the light from the truck"s headlamp. "It"s one one six four eight! " he said.
George dragged him onto the road while Mac brought the other from the other car. The men lay writhing. "Just kill us," the second one pleaded.