“Any chance the soldiers are non-neuros?”
Dodge peered ahead, trying to see. “Can’t tell,” he said. “Neuro-headsets could be built into their helmets.”
“Get ready,” Tyler said.
In front of them was the white station wagon of Olivia and Brenda. They had left the stadium together. Bonded by circumstances.
The wagon slowed at the barrier.
Hurry up. Go through, Sam thought. They couldn’t crash through the barrier while there was still a car in front of them.
They never got the chance to try. A soldier standing beside the white station wagon glanced back at the Shelby, perhaps admiring the lines. He took one look at Tyler and his eyes widened. He peered at Dodge, then at Sam and Vienna in the backseat.
He quickly took a step backward, raising his rifle toward the car.
His other hand moved to his radio. “We’ve found them,” he said.
There was no opportunity for escape. In seconds, the car was surrounded by armed soldiers who made them all get out of the vehicle and kneel down in the roadway, covering them with their weapons while one of the soldiers moved the Shelby to the side of the road. Vienna was the only exception. She sat on the road, leaning forward, breathing heavily with her head in her lap.
Sam saw Olivia’s horrified eyes peering from the station wagon in front; then the car was gone, through the barriers and into Colorado. What must they think? he wondered.
Another soldier appeared from the overpass and approached.
“Arthur Dodgerson, Vienna Smith, and Sam Wilson?” the man asked.
Sam nodded. There was no point in denying it. Next, out would come the neuro-headsets. Then Ursula would have them in her clutches.
But the man extended a hand. “I’m Lieutenant Blair Wheeler, National Guard. A lot of people have been looking for you.” He turned to Tyler. “Special Agent Tyler?”
Tyler nodded.
“Follow me,” Wheeler said, and to Sam’s surprise, with a quick nod from Wheeler, the guns disappeared.
The soldiers had a command post in a small cafe just off the freeway, and Wheeler led them there. The walls were covered with maps on which lines and numbers were marked in heavy black ink.
Wheeler indicated that they should sit. “The neuros want you badly,” Wheeler said. “They’re searching for you everywhere. And if they want you that badly, then we want you just as badly. To stop them getting their hands on you. Any idea why?”
Sam looked at Dodge; then they both looked at Vienna.
“Tell them,” Tyler said. “They’re on our side.”
“Okay,” Sam said finally, and looked at Wheeler. “Do you know what is behind all this? The neuros? The war?”
“Some kind of virus,” Wheeler said. “That’s what they tell us. A neuro-virus spreads through the headsets, turns the users into zombies or mutants, something like that.”
“Something like that,” Dodge echoed.
“Not quite so dramatic,” Sam said. “But the story about the virus is … Well, it’s close enough to the truth.”
“So why have the neuros got their panties in such a bunch about you?” Wheeler asked.
“We’ve got the cure,” Sam said.
Wheeler looked around sharply. “You serious, boy?”
“He is,” Tyler said.
Sam said, “We’ve got a kind of antidote for it. A … software program. If we can get it out into the Internet, I think we can kill the … neuro-virus … and stop the fighting.”
He left out the part about knocking the world back to the Stone Age. About destroying the world’s computer networks, possibly forever.
“You’ve got the cure. And the neuros are trying to stop you.” Wheeler considered that. “You’re telling me that this disease don’t wanna be cured.”
“It’s a little more complex than that,” Dodge said. “But you’re basically right.”
“So why not just do it now?” Wheeler asked. “I can get you to an Internet connection just up the road.”
“No,” Dodge said. “The moment she—I mean the neuros—detect us on the Net, they’ll come after us with everything they’ve got. We need to go somewhere safe, secure, before we unleash it. Somewhere they can’t get to us.”
Wheeler looked at them closely. Vienna coughed weakly.
“Cheyenne Mountain,” Wheeler said. “That’s where you’re headed, ain’t it?” He nodded. “Makes sense. I’ll alert General Jackson up at Fort Carson. Tell him to activate his Emergency Response Plan and set up a defensive perimeter around Colorado Springs.”
He turned to one of the big maps on the wall.
“For all intents and purposes, we are in the middle of a civil war,” Wheeler said. “It exploded out of nowhere over the last week or so. Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa are pretty much ours. Some small pockets of neuros are holed up here and there, but they’re a nuisance rather than a threat. New Mexico and Oklahoma are still okay. Alaska is holding out, so are both Dakotas and both Carolinas, although North Carolina is under heavy attack from Virginia. Other than that, the country is neuro. Not everyone, of course, but the local government and the military, and that’s what really matters. The rest of the population are getting neurolized as fast as the neuros can process them. Stick a neuro-headset on your best friend, and he’s suddenly your worst enemy. The navy was very slow to take up neuro, so we got them on our side, although they can’t help us much here. Air force has gone the other way, all neuro. There’ve been some big battles, navy jets versus air force.”
“Who’s winning?” Sam asked.
“It’s about even,” Wheeler said grimly.
A soldier entered and saluted, then handed Wheeler a note. He read it quickly.
“Get it out of sight,” he said to the soldier, then screwed up the note and tossed it into a wastepaper basket.
The man left.
“The neuros have just broadcast a description of your Shelby. But no problem—we’ll hide it in the forest and give you one of our Humvees,” Wheeler said, and added, “They’re armored.”
A quiet, raspy sound came out of Vienna, who had not yet spoken, and Wheeler seemed surprised to find that she actually had a voice. “No,” she said.
“What’s wrong?” Sam asked.
“They’ll have the Shelby on satellite by now. They already know where we are. They’re already on their way.”
“What are you suggesting?” Dodge asked.
She coughed again and asked, “How long is it from here to Cheyenne?”
“Two, two and half hours,” Wheeler answered. “Two if you hurry.”
Vienna nodded. “I’ll take the Shelby. Head east, toward Kansas, Wichita, where the headquarters of the resistance is. They’ll think that’s where we’re going. It’ll buy you some time. Maybe an hour. Maybe two if we’re lucky.”
Dodge said, “No, Vienna, that’s suicide.”
She laughed but the laughing turned into a fit of choking and coughing, and it was a moment before she could speak. “We’re all going to die sometime,” she said.
Sam looked at the floor. He knew exactly what she meant, and so did the others.
“No,” Tyler said.
“It’ll buy you some time,” Vienna repeated.
“I know,” Tyler said. “But you’re not well enough to drive. Certainly not fast.”
