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There was little sign of life, and far fewer abandoned villages or wrecked
cars. Jim thought the reason for that was that it had been a fairly sparsely
populated region before Earthblood, and the coastal
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EarthBlood highways wouldn't have been much use to refugees heading either
north or south.
"It looks real desolate," said Heather, standing on a pile of blankets and
peeking out of the side window of the trailer. "Seems to be a sort of bracken
on the hillsides."
Jim looked where she pointed. "Seen a few green shoots breaking through all
over. It really is beginning to seem as if the effects of the plant virus have
burned themselves out.
Maybe the Earth will come around again. Some people reckon there's a sort of a
life force in the planet itself. I heard it called 'Gaia.' They believe that
it doesn't matter what man tries to do, but that the planet is like a single
organism and it shakes itself like a dog ridding itself of ticks. And starts
all over again."
THE YOUNG SERGEANT loped up to the vehicle General Zelig rode in. "Road's
blocked, General."
"Rockslide?"
"More of an earthslide. Looks like about a million tons come down off the hill
farther up.
Can't see if there's any more waiting to drop. Clouds are too low."
"Another obstacle. Give me the possibilities, soldier, once you look around.
By hook or by crook, even if a foot at a time, we must move on."
THE SECOND big helicopter settled gently to earth with just the faintest bump
of the suspension taking up the weight. The engine was switched off, but the
main rotor continued to revolve for several long seconds.
Everyone unbelted and started to stretch, ready to disembark, making sure they
had tents and weapons and all the other equipment of the traveling strike
force.
Margaret Tabor's voice rose over the noise, bringing instant silence.
"Quick and efficient, please. I want the usual guards placed and I want lights
out an hour after sunset. It's my intention, if the weather cooperates with
us, to be back in the air again before first light."
"We got far to go, Chief?" called a voice from the dark belly of the Chinook.
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EarthBlood
"Answer is that we got to go all the way." She smiled as she received a
satisfying burst of sycophantic laughter. "Navigator tells me that we're only
an hour or so flying time from where we need to be. With luck, we'll have the
flies swatted and be on our way home shortly after dawn."
Her gung ho words were greeted with a ragged cheer.
"SEEMS LIKE the weather changes every five minutes." Nanci had pulled off onto
what had once been a picnic area overlooking a maze of shallow canyons. The
warning light had come on to indicate the threat of overheating, and she had
felt it safer to take a break.
The sun had broken through less than a quarter of an hour earlier, but now it
had become colder and a brisk easterly wind was driving flurries of fresh snow
across the scarred land.
Jim walked with Carrie and Heather to the damp-stained concrete building that
had housed a small visitors' center, as well as rest rooms.
The girl went inside, through the door with the small silhouette of a woman on
the outside. She came out again with startling speed. "There's two bodies
there," she said, face pale, eyes wide with the shock.
"Old or new?" asked her father.
"Old. Like Egyptian mummies. I didn't stop too long, but I think it was a
suicide pact.
One, the woman, looked like she'd been shot through the forehead. Other one,
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sitting by her, had a gun in his hand."
"Strange place to pick to do it." Carrie stared around her at the damp, dark
mausoleum.
"Think I'll go and take a leak in the cold outdoors."
Heather followed her. Jim paused at a peeling notice pinned to the main public
information notice board.
Owing to the present incidence of the plant virus, known by the popular name
of
Earthblood, in this region, the hourly nature walks and lectures have been
temporarily
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EarthBlood canceled. They will be resumed as soon as possible.
"Yeah," said Jim, allowing the glass doors to swing silently closed behind
him.
Chapter Thirty-Two
In the fading light of evening, Jim Hilton stated despondently at the vanished
blacktop a hundred yards ahead of them. "Probably a quake brought it down.
We'll have to backtrack and then cut farther inland." He bit his lip.
"Could've done without this sort of delay."
ZELIG'S lead driver called him forward just as dusk was beginning to fall
around the convoy.
"Something like a stream has been paralleling our left for some time,
General," he said.
"I see it. Looks like it's getting bigger. Overflowing. Think it might be a
storm drain. I
suppose it hasn't been cleared out since Earthblood and it's not coping."
"That's my worry." The driver broke off the conversation, tugging at the
controls as the front end slithered briefly away from him on a steep-cambered [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]