'Whattaya want me to do? Give ya a medal for bein' a good citizen?'
'I know about the Belgian soldier.'
Hoblenz looked at her through squinting eyes, spat on the sand, and said, 'Dutch.'
'Not Belgian?'
Hoblenz craned his neck to look out to the sea, jabbing his thumb through the air over his shoulder. 'Computer said Belgium doesn't have any submarines.'
'There's a submarine out there?'
'Yep.'
'How do you know that?'
''Cause they landed some people a while ago lookin' for their man.'
'In broad daylight?' she asked. Hoblenz sucked his cheeks in as he worked his jaw on something and nodded. 'They landed right here?' she asked.
'Yep.' He was chewing tobacco — his mouth was black with it. He spat again.
'How do you know they were looking for the soldier?'
'I asked 'em.'
'Did you tell them what happened?'
'I told 'em he was dead. They asked could they have the body back, and I arranged for a boat at noon.'
'Is that all that happened?'
He shrugged. 'They asked if I'd give 'em their satellite equipment back.'
'And what did you say?'
He snorted, and a smile passed briefly across a face otherwise devoid of humor. 'Take a wild guess.'
'Are there other submarines out there?'
Hoblenz looked down at his feet, growling out a chuckle that grated roughly as if from the throat of a heavy smoker. He raised a hand to rub the muscles in the back of his thick neck, then stretched his head to either side without a sound. 'Honey, I got me 'bout fifty good men. They may be from all over, an' there not an Eagle Scout in the bunch, but I can say with pride that not one of 'em is getting on them planes today. But as far as subs go, there ain't a goddamn thing I can tell ya. Or on aircraft carriers either. Now, we got a few old Stingers I talked Mr. Gray into pickin' up for about ten times what they're worth, and I might be able to go toe to toe with the army of Luxembourg. But as far as any other NATO countries go, he-ere's the island.' He waved his hand through the air in a broad sweep.
'What about… you know?' Laura nodded down the coast toward where the nuclear facility opened into the side of the mountain.
Hoblenz looked at her with an inscrutable smile before chuckling again and shaking his head. 'You want to nuke 'em?'
'No!' she responded, blushing. 'I mean, doesn't Gray have… something? Some high-tech thing that just incapacitates people or something?'
'There's no such thing, Dr. Aldridge. You either let 'em alone, or you kill 'em all. Ain't no thing in between.'
He was getting suspicious of her questions, she realized.
'Look, I came down here to make peace with you. I know you don't trust me, but I swear I've told you everything. If you have any other questions' — she held her hands open—'shoot.' She put her hand on her hips in imitation of Hoblenz's macho pose. When she looked back up, the skin around his eyes was crinkled. He was smiling for real this time.
'Well, now, I do have one question,' Hoblenz said, glancing at his men. They were returning from their sweep of the beach at a slow pace and were still a good distance away. 'Mr. Gray, do you think he's, you know, okay?'
Laura was puzzled. 'What do you mean?'
'I mean' — he spat again—'is he playin' with a full deck?'
Laura cocked her head. 'Are you asking me about Mr. Gray's sanity?'
'In yer professional opinion.'
She shrugged. 'But I don't have a professional opinion about Mr. Gray.'
He looked down at her without a trace of the smile remaining. 'Then what the hell have you been doin' these last three days?'
She shook her head, shrugging. 'I've been working on the computer like everybody else!'
'But you're a goddamn psychologist!' he said in a low and menacing voice. 'Jeez, you cain't tell me you ain't figured it out, Miss… Harvard! Why, a two-year-old could've put it together by now!'
'Put what together?' she practically shouted, determined not to be intimidated.
'Sweep that beach again!' he boomed at his approaching men, searing Laura. The soldiers eyed him for a second, then wheeled and headed back the way they'd just come.
She waited as long as she could and then whispered, 'Put what together?'
'I did the security check on you myself. I know who you are, and I know Gray didn't pick you — the computer did.'
She waited for more, but that was it. 'And?' she said in irritation.
He shook his head. 'You egghead types pretty much need a road map and compass when it comes to common sense, don't you?'
'Just lay it out for me, won't you, Mr. Hoblenz? Just what is it you're trying to say?'
He smiled and shook his head slowly. 'The computer didn't pick you out 'cause it was sick in the head! The damn thing don't even have a head! It's Gray! Cain't you get that into yer beach-ball-sized brain? The computer thinks Gray is crackin' up! It thinks he's gone over the edge! That the stress is too much for him! It brought you here to fix Gray, not the computer,' Hoblenz said in a growl that for him passed for a soft but urgent voice.
Laura just stared back up at Hoblenz. 'I thought you told Mr. Gray you don't trust me.'
'Well… I don't.'
'And you told him not to talk to me.'
'I did.'
'But why would you do that if you thought I was here to psychoanalyze him? Why would you tell him not to talk to me if he's having emotional difficulties?'
'I don't think Gray's going nuts. Mr. Gray's the sanest man I ever met in my life. I said the computer thinks he's going crazy. I was just tryin' to see whether you agreed, but it seems the question hadn't even occurred to you,' he said, barking out a laugh and shaking his head.
'Then why did you tell Gray not to talk to me? What could you possibly think might happen if he's so sane?'
He openly looked up and down her body, taking a slow and offensive inventory. 'Miss-y, you need a road map, a compass, and a goddamn motor.'
'Do you think it was a robot?' Laura shouted over the noise. The two motors roared, and the wind rushed by her ears. Hoblenz's boat crashed from swell to swell, rhythmically jarring her bones. He cast a glance over his shoulder at the two men seated by the motors in back.
Hoblenz held firmly on to the steering wheel, and Laura gripped the long handle in front of her seat. The hull of the speeding craft alternately rose into the air and crashed onto the water.
'Pretty much had to be,' he shouted back, turning the wheel and cutting a wide arc around a jut of land. From behind the thick jungle, Launchpad A came slowly into view.
'One of the Model Eights?' she shouted. 'The one they call 'Auguste'?'
Hoblenz looked over at her in surprise. He cut back on the throttle, slowing the boat as he headed toward the shore. Two vehicles were parked on the beach. Each had six huge, ribbed [garbled] rose almost as high as the roll bar. They were covered in a thick coat of gray mud. Four more soldiers stood spread out around the [missing]. Their backs were to the ocean, their rifles pointed toward the [garbled].
It wasn't the Dutch submarine that concerned Hoblenz's men. 'You've been doin' some snoopin',' Hoblenz said. He cut the engine a few feet offshore. Their momentum carried the flat rubber bottom onto the sand with a high-pitched rubbing sound. One of the soldiers in back jumped into the shin-high water with a rope.
Hoblenz himself put one boot into the water. He held out his hand to Laura. She ignored it and jumped onto
