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still wore Rook's jacket, and who still looked at the world with the lost
expression of a total stranger.
And yet, Scott thought, it wasn't really irritation Rook was showing.
Instead it was concern. Most traumatic-amnesia cases recovered in a few days,
but this woman had been a blank for a week now.
Scott sighed. "I'm glad you brought that up. Isn't it about time we gave
her a name of some kind?"
The Simulagent made a little questioning sound, aware that they were
talking about her. Rand smirked, "Hey Lunk! How 'bout you giving us a few
suggestions?"
Lunk looked upset; as he always did when anyone asked him to take a
lead. "I, ah, I bet Scott could come up with a nice name."
Scott had intended to say something else, but found himself asking, "Why
don't we call her Marlene?"
Rook's brows knit; she knew the story of Scott's fiancée's death. Lancer
broke in, "Why don't we just let her tell us when she's good and ready?"
Rook shrugged. "Until then, Marlene's as good a name as any."
But none of that solved the map problem. They discussed the situation
again, until Lancer rose from the table. "I want to look into a few more
things. I'll catch up with you later."
They watched him go. Rook thought, Why do I get the impression he just
made a decision? She heard a murmuring and saw that the young woman was
repeating the name Marlene to herself.
Maxwell was away on more of his unnamed business; and Carla invited
Lancer in, bringing him to the balcony overlooking the ballroom. She poured
some of the green tea she knew he loved, a true rarity in that part of the
world nowadays, and made him sit by the grand piano Maxwell had bought her.
Carla played a soft Minmei melody, her touch much more deft than it had
been two years before.
Lancer went to the open French doors, to stare at the snowcapped
mountains. "Carla, tell me: how does Donald Maxwell make his money?"
Her smile slipped, then was back in place. "You know the lyrics to this
one; would you like to-"
"What is Donald doing that you can't talk about?"
"I, I can't tell you."
He went and held her hands down so that the music stopped on a
discordant note. "Now listen to me: there's something terribly wrong about
this map business. Won't you tell me what it is, before somebody gets hurt?
And then we can leave this place together, Carla. Carla, tell me!"
She hesitated, but swayed toward him for a moment, her eyes on his, as
if some greater gravity had hold of her.
"I'll find us a place that will be much better for both of us," he
promised.
She stood to look across at the balcony's opposite windows, to look
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west. "Lancer, let's go that way! To the warm sea breezes and the sunlight!
I'll make you happy there, I swear it!"
"I've been down there, Carla. I'm being hunted, and so are the people
with me. And we have a job to do. The only way out for us is over the
mountains."
Her eyes dropped. In a very small voice, she confessed, "There's no way
across those mountains, Lancer. The Invid control everything. Everyone who
tries it dies, I'm sure of that now."
"Here's a copy of the map," Annie said in secret-agent tones, looking
around, slapping it into Scott's gloved palm. "The real map, the mayor's!"
She was hitching up the pink brushed-suede rucksack she had been wearing
when Scott first met her, the one that contained everything she had in the
world. Scott gaped at her.
"I, um, borrowed it from Eddie's father and photocopied it!" she gushed.
"I'm off now to Paradise with my new family. Eddie's mother and father are
so-ooo nice! You guys make sure you follow quick, okay? The route'll probably
change again in a coupla days, because the Invid are always changing their
surveillance. Bye, Scott! Bye, Marlene! Bye, everyone!"
She frolicked away, laughing giddily.
Scott, watching her go, unfolded the map slowly. Rand and Rook and Lunk
were ecstatic. The other team members went off to see to their vehicles.
Reflex Point was suddenly much nearer.
Scott looked at the map, matching it up with a hand held display that
showed aerial survey records from the memory banks of his Alpha. It didn't [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]