The radio crackled in response almost instantly, as the rich, deep voice of a woman came through. “Eric, is that you?”
“Mother? Yes, this is Eric. How is everything?”
The relief in Madeline Lloyd’s voice was evident even through the tinniness of the speaker. “Thank heavens. Where have you been?”
“Nicole and I had a slight run-in with a bear. We were kind of out of it, but—”
“A bear! Are you all right?”
“Yes,” he soothed. “It autographed my leg, but I’ll be fine. We think we can come to you tomorrow. What about Cliff? Did he finally show up?”
There was silence for a moment, then, “No, I—Wait a minute. Here is Dr. Abernathy.”
“Eric, this is Chet. What’s this about a bear?”
“Nothing serious. What about Cliff? Have you heard from him?”
“Yes.”
“What?” Eric demanded.
“They captured him at the dam.”
The air went out of Eric’s lungs in a sudden burst of pain. “Oh, no.”
“Yes. We’ve been monitoring the radio broadcasts from Shalev.”
“Was he hurt?”
“No. But—”
“But what?”
“An announcement came over the air about four this afternoon. All citizens of Shalev are to report to the soccer stadium tomorrow afternoon at one o’clock. All stores and businesses, except for critical services, will close at noon. Attendance is compulsory.”
“Attendance at what? What’s going on? And what has that got to do with Cliff?”
Again there was a pause. Then, “They’re putting Cliff on trial.”
Nicole watched Eric tear her long-sleeved, cotton blouse into long strips and bind them tightly around his bandaged leg. He finished and looked up. “Will you hand me my boots, please?”
“Eric, this is insane. You can’t use that leg.” Her voice was pleading, tight with worry.
His chin jerked up, and in the flickering light of the fire, his eyes were glittering, hard, bright. She flinched and finally crawled over to where his hiking boots lay next to his sleeping bag.
“Will you help me put on the left one?”
“No. I won’t help you lose your leg. I understand how you feel about Cliff, but you can’t—”
He leaned over, gritting his teeth against the pain, fumbling with his boot. Finally Nicole shook her head and knelt down in front of him. “I know why you feel this way, but there’s no way you can ride or walk. You can’t help Cliff this way.”
“I’ve taken another pain pill, and I’ll take more if necessary.”
“You can’t even be off the mountain by noon,” she pleaded, “let alone into Shalev.”
“Chet’s going to meet me at the bottom.”
“You won’t make it to the bottom! And if you do, then what? Don’t you think the Major is doing this to lure you down? Don’t you know he’ll be expecting you?”
“I hope so.”
She tied the boot with a vicious yank and looked up at him. “Spoken with the courage of a lion and the brains of a bean.”
His eyes surveyed her for a long moment. “I appreciate your concern, but Nicole, I’ve got to try. You know as well as I, this is no trial. It’s a public hanging, an execution. I’ve got to try!”
“Yes, I suppose you do.” She stood up and moved to her own bag, picked up her tennis shoes, and sat down to put them on.
In one lurching motion Eric was at her side and snatched her shoes away. “No, Nicole. Not you.”
She stared up at him, too stunned to speak.
“We have only one horse, remember? With the pack on it to carry the essentials I need, there isn’t room for two people. One of us would have to walk, and neither of us can do that.”
Suddenly she was frightened. “You can’t just leave me here.”
“As soon as I get down, we’ll call the Guardians and send them for you.”
She glanced quickly at the darkness of the surrounding forest. “Eric, no, please, not alone. I can walk with my cane. My foot is feeling better. I’ll keep up.”
He shook his head.
She jerked away angrily. “I’m going. Give me back my shoes.”
He moved away to the packhorse and stuffed her shoes into a small bag tied onto the pack. “No, you know you can’t walk very far.” He dragged the radio over and hoisted it up and tied it on the pack.
“Then at least call the Guardians now. Tell them where I am. Have them come for me.”
He shook his head.
“Why?” And then she knew the answer. “Eric, I won’t tell them about you. I won’t let them know what you’re doing.”
He finished tying the radio down and turned to face her. “Come on, Nicky, be realistic. That won’t work, and you know it.”
“It will. I promise I won’t give you away.”
He bent over the pile of gear, then straightened. “Here’s the hatchet. The flashlight is under my pillow. I wish I could leave you the pistol, but I may need it tomorrow.”
“Please, Eric. Please don’t leave me alone. I give you my solemn word I won’t tell them anything. Perhaps I can persuade the Major not to hurt Cliff. I can tell him that you let me go. Why won’t you believe me?”
“I do believe you,” he said as he hauled himself up on the horse. “But I know Travis and the Major too well. They’d have it out of you in two minutes.”
“But why are you taking my shoes?”
“I’m afraid you’ll try and follow me and get lost. Then they’ll never find you.”
“So much for promises,” she cried bitterly.
“Please sit down until I’m gone, Nicole. And tie Cricket up so she doesn’t follow me. She’ll keep animals away from the camp.”
“Please sit down until I’m gone, Nicole,” she mimicked. “Here are some things for your safety, Nicole.” Her voice sparked like the edge of a knife striking a whirling stone. “My, aren’t we just full of manners this evening, Mr. Lloyd? I’m sorry to have to abandon you, Nicole. I’ll leave you with a hatchet and a flashlight and my good wishes, Nicole. Of course, I must take your shoes with me, Nicole. Please forgive me, Nicole.”
The urge to cry or scream or hurl herself at him was so overpowering that for a moment she just stood there trembling. Finally she ducked her head and dropped to her knees. “Come here, Cricket,” she said, fighting to maintain control of her voice.
Eric reined the horse around. “I’ll have someone here shortly after we get down.”
She didn’t look up as she slipped a rope through Cricket’s collar. “Whatever you have to do to ease your conscience.”
“I don’t want Cliff Cameron on my conscience,” he snapped.
“Oh no!” she cried, her throat tight. “I can’t stop you from going, but don’t leave here with righteous piety swelling your breast. I told you I’d help you help him. Taking me with you now won’t make that much difference to Cliff Cameron. Cliff is just your excuse. The Major has won another round, and you can’t stand the thought of that. It’s the Major you’re really after, isn’t it?”
She had stung him, for when he answered, his voice was heavy with anger. “It’s the Major who has Cliff Cameron and two hundred thousand others under his electronic thumb.”
“Oh? Tell me, Eric, other than in numbers, how do you differ from him?”
In the dim and dancing firelight she could not read the expression on his face. For a long moment he just looked at her across the fire, and then he spoke softly. “Good-bye, Nicky.”
She leaped to her feet. “You brought me an eagle chained to a limb,” she shouted as the horse started away from her. “Did you do that to make me feel sorry for you? Well, it worked. So go, Eric. Go down and save the world. But while you’re going, just ask yourself one question. You have my shoes in your bag. How is that any different from putting a black box in the back of my neck?”
Nicole woke up with a start and groped for the hatchet before she real
ized it was just Cricket. The dog had stood up and crossed over Nicole’s feet to reach the end of her tether. With a sigh she slid the hatchet back under the sleeping bag near her head and lay down again. Eric had been gone for an hour and a half, perhaps two, and she still had five or six hours until light. It seemed an eternity.
Suddenly Cricket gave a low growl, and Nicole heard a crash in the brush across the river. In an instant the adrenalin pumped through her system, causing her heart to pound violently. Groping for the hatchet once more, she leaned forward, straining to read the night. Cricket exploded into a frenzy of barking as the noise sounded again.
Nicole leaped up, forgetting her foot, and gave a cry of pain as it nearly crumpled beneath her. She sank to her knees, the terror leaving her as suddenly as it had come. Gripping the hatchet firmly, she reached out and put her hand on Cricket’s back. “Be quiet, Cricket. Shhhh!”
And then she heard it, the voice floating softly on the night air, and the relief was as hot and as swift as the terror had been. “Nicky! It’s Eric. It’s all right. I’m coming in.”
“Eric?” Nicole whispered, unable to believe her ears. The hatchet slipped out of her fingers and hot tears of relief burned at her cheeks as she fumbled to untie the rope from Cricket’s collar. Like a shot Cricket leaped free and was gone into the night.
Finally Eric stopped across the fire from her and slid off the horse, his face drawn with pain and weariness. “Hello, Nicole,” he said softly.
“Hello.” Her voice surprised her. She had not shouted it nor had she thrown herself at him. He had come back and, at least for the moment, had ended the terrifying aloneness of the night, and she had merely said hello. She felt a quick burst of pride that she could demonstrate such control. “Did you forget something?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact I did.” Moving almost in slow motion, he untied the sack from off the pack animal, set it on the ground, and fumbled inside it. When he stood, he had her tennis shoes in his hand. “I forgot these.”
“Oh?”
He hobbled slowly around the fire until he came within two feet of her. She stood straight and unmoving, watching him closely. “I also seem to have forgotten a lifetime of teaching as well,” he said. “I would consider it an honor if you’d let me help you put these on.”
Though her eyes had suddenly misted up, she didn’t look away from him. “That isn’t necessary. I can do it.”
“Yes, I know, but I can’t think of any other way to say I’m sorry.”
“You came back. That says enough.”
“I should never have left. But if you’d like to put these on, I’ll go find the radio.”
“The radio? But you took it.”
“I know, but I dropped it off in the trees a short distance down river to lighten my load. Perhaps once you have your shoes on, you could throw whatever wood you have left on the fire.”
She stared at him, unbelieving.
He smiled briefly. “The bigger it is, the more quickly the helicopter will spot it.”
“What about Cliff?”
“I’ll start down again as soon as I’m sure they’ve picked you up. I know I have no right to ask anything of you, but would it be too presumptuous to suggest that when they arrive, you might tell them you escaped from me and don’t know exactly where I am?”
She nodded, blinking at the sudden burning behind her eyelids.
“You could tell them you hit me over the head with a club.”
Nicole laughed and brushed at the corner of her eyes with the back of her hand. “Yes, I guess I could say that.”
“Good.” He started to turn away, then swung back. “You wouldn’t need to tell them that you did it twice.”
“Twice?”
“Yes, once with a length of spruce—once with some very blunt words.”
Chapter 26
Nicole checked the time on her wrist computer, trying to ignore the quick flash of irritation. She had barely left the helicopter and been ushered into Central Control before the Major had slapped a new wrist computer on her arm. It was all done very cordially, but the Major’s underlying nervousness at her bare arm was evident.
They had not finished at Central Control until nearly 6:00 A.M. Then Travis had brought her home, and she had collapsed into an exhausted sleep for five hours. Now the dread of what was coming lay heavy on her mind.
Frowning, she limped to her closet, reached in, and had her dress uniform half off the hanger when she stopped. For a long moment she stood there indecisively; then, with a quick shake of her head, she put it back and took out a tailored, navy-blue blazer and gray skirt and dressed quickly. As she buttoned the last button and peered at herself in the mirror, the doorbell chimed.
“Come in,” she called loudly.
“Hi, honey,” Travis called through the shattered door to her bedroom. “Are you ready?”
“Almost. I just need to put on my shoes.”
“Would you like me to help you?”
The memory of Eric standing before her with her tennis shoes flashed into her mind. “No,” she called out quickly. Then more slowly, “No, I’m all right. I’ll be just a moment.”
Travis, in full dress uniform, looked trim and fresh, as though he had not been up half the night rescuing girls from mountain campsites. He stood up and started toward her as she came into the living room. “You look lovely, Nicole…” His eyes dropped to note her clothes, and his voice trailed off.
“But?” she supplied for him.
“But the Major said we were to wear our uniforms. He said so this morning, just before we left. Don’t you remember?”
“Yes, I remember.” Her eyes met his calmly.
“Then…” He was obviously flustered, but he quickly recovered. “Whatever. You really do look lovely.” He swept her into his arms, crutches and all, and bent down to kiss her. She stood motionless, accepting it dutifully.
“I am glad you’re back home.”
“Me too.” She pulled away. “My purse is there on the desk. If you’d carry it for me, I’ll see if I can’t get the hang of these crutches.”
“Of course.” He retrieved her purse and moved to hold the door for her. As she came alongside him she stopped and looked up, searching the depths of his face. “Travis?”
“Yes?”
“Is this really a trial, or is it to be a public execution?”
“An execution?” He gave a short laugh. “Of course not. The Major just wants the citizens of Shalev to see what happens to those who try to overthrow our society. Dr. Cameron will be punished but not executed.”
“Can you promise that?”
“I guarantee it. Now let’s get going, or we’ll be late.”
As they entered the dressing room under the grandstand of the stadium, Nicole stopped short. The Major stood nearly hidden in a cluster of blue and orange uniforms, but as she and Travis entered, a sudden hush fell over the room; then the group broke into a babble of welcome and congratulations. Clayne Robertson was the first to reach her. “Welcome back, Nicole.”
She pulled her eyes away from the Major, who was staring at her. “Hello, Clayne.”
“When I told Adrienne you’d been found, she cried. She’s been worried sick about you. The kids too. They remember you in their prayers every night.”
Her eyes softened and she smiled. “They’re sweet.”
“You up to a good dinner tonight, or do you want to recuperate for a couple of days first?”
“I’d like that. I’m going to Mount Pleasant tomorrow, to stay with my aunt and rest up. But after almost a week of camp food, Adrienne’s cooking sounds wonderful.”
His eyes dropped to her foot. “Eric do that?” he rumbled, his mouth tightening.
“No, I—” Suddenly she didn’t want to try to explain with everyone listening. “I had my shoes off and stepped on a sharp rock.”
“Good. I kept telling Adrienne that Eric wouldn’t harm you. I—”
“Nicole?”
; Clayne stepped back as the Major approached.
“Yes, sir?” Unconsciously she hitched the crutches back a little to make herself stand up straighter.
“Again, welcome back.” His eyes flicked down to her clothes and then back to lock into hers. One eyebrow raised slightly. “We’re so glad everything has worked out to bring you back safely.”
“Thank you, sir.”
He glanced at his wrist computer and turned around briskly. “It’s 12:55. Bring out the prisoner.”
Every head swung to face the corridor leading to the equipment room, where Cliff Cameron had been kept under guard.
Cliff emerged first, walking easily, his head erect. He was dressed in a navy blue suit, long sleeved white shirt with gold cuff links, and maroon tie. With his wavy gray hair and craggy features, he looked every inch the distinguished brain surgeon he had once been. A step behind him came another man, also in a suit and carrying a briefcase, and Nicole assumed this was his attorney. As they came out into the dressing room area and Cliff turned to face the Major, Nicole saw the fresh bandage at the back of his neck.
Suddenly he turned and saw her. A smile broke out across the somber face, and he stepped quickly to her. “Ah, Nicole. I heard you had gotten away from Eric. I’m glad. I haven’t felt good about that whole thing from the very beginning.”
Before she could respond, the Major cut in curtly. “Dr. Cameron, it’s time to go. If you would follow me, please.”
“Yes,” he said, his eyes still on Nicole. “As we used to say in the old days, ‘On with the show.’”
As the group walked out into the bright sunshine, the silence of the crowd was almost stifling in its intensity. For one quick moment Nicole wondered about Eric. Had he made it down? Was he here? But then she saw the numerous orange uniforms scattered throughout the crowd and posted at nearly every exit, and she knew he could not have made it in, even if he had made it down from the mountain.
The procession of prisoner, lawyer, and Guardians proceeded to the center of the field, where some risers provided a platform about thirty feet by thirty feet. Several rows of chairs had been placed in front of it. On the platform were three tables, one large and imposing, two smaller ones side by side in front of the big one. To the left of the large table was a single row of chairs. A television camera crew was perched on the one corner of the platform, filming as the procession approached.
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