“All right. If this goes sideways, you’ve just given me plausible deniability.” He winked at her, then ran to the garage door to open it. When it was up, he checked the skies one last time. There wasn’t a sound to be heard, save some robins chirping happily in the front yard.
Gut, don’t fail me now.
He pulled out of the garage, initially timid about being exposed. However, once he had the truck facing the driveway, he committed himself to the hustle. Minutes later, after screaming down the gravel path and getting back onto the main two-lane highway, Ted let out a long breath.
“See?” Emily said. “Your instinct was right. We’re on our way.”
He checked the rearview mirrors, alert for flying objects, or perhaps to see the house go up in a fiery blast, but everything remained as it was. They were back in the literal middle of nowhere, with grass and farmlands from one end of the flat horizon to the other.
Eventually, he released one hand from the wheel. “Can you do me a favor?” He pulled out his phone. “Text Kyla to let her know we’re doing okay, now that she’s had time to cool off. I’d love to hear she’s fine too, you know?”
“I do,” Emily replied.
She took the phone and began the process of texting. Once it was sent, she sat there watching it, waiting for a reply. A short time later, she held the screen toward him. “It says my message didn’t go through.”
He squinted to see the tiny words. “Eh, we don’t have a network connection. That’s all right. I think it will send it when we get a signal again. I can’t imagine there are many cell towers in this part of the world. I certainly can’t see any.”
They drove for another sixty miles toward the rising sun, but Ted turned right at a lonely intersection on the high plains.
“Another gut feeling?” she asked, still looking out her window at the nothing.
“I’ll keep everyone guessing, including me.”
For the next hour, he chose numerous other routes, going east, west, and south, but he arranged his turns to take them toward the southeast. His plan, such as it was, depended on skirting around the crowded city of Denver and come at NORAD from the south. If, by some miracle, David’s people figured out he and Emily had been in Minot, North Dakota, it wasn’t hard to fathom where they’d be heading if they were already in Fort Collins. It was great to know Emily had likely gotten herself on camera, so it could help the war effort overseas, but he knew it also raised their profile on the threat matrix of the invasion force.
For the time being, it was nice to be nowhere, and see nothing.
NORAD Black Site Sierra 7, CO
Victor removed his hand slowly, then turned her to face him. She locked eyes and somehow knew he was confused, not angry.
He spoke in muted tones. “What are you doing here? Are you trying to escape again? Don’t you know what they’ll do to you?”
“As I said before, this isn’t about you. This is about my friends. I’ve got to get help for them. Since no one in this place is going to give me the time of day, I need to find someone from the outside. I’m sure you can scare up a better girl than me for your love cruise.” She had no idea if it was true, but it seemed to make him stand back.
“I’ll help you,” he said matter-of-factly.
“Help me what? Get back to your room?”
He shook his head wildly. “No! I’ll help you by distracting the guards. We can do ‘get help’.”
Her brain searched for where she’d heard the phrase before. It was hard to locate, but the tumblers in her mind eventually fell into place, and it rolled out. “You mean from that superhero movie?” It was a way of approaching guards while begging for help, as if an emergency medical situation was in progress. When the guards least expected it, the heroes would attack. The scenario was goofy, but it struck her as even more outlandish the enemy boy would know it. “How do you know about American movies?”
“Are you kidding? I’m a movie buff. Ask me any movie question you want. I bet I can answer it.”
She leaned back on her heels, deep in thought.
“What?” he asked.
“Oh, it’s weird. I assumed you were from another planet or had spent your life in a barn practicing for the invasion of my country.”
“I’m not an alien. My parents were from California. And if there’s one thing the movies taught me, it’s you don’t trip up a, um, woman, who’s trying to rescue her friends.”
She didn’t want to find a deeper meaning to his change of heart. To keep him on task, she thumbed over her shoulder. “So, movie buff, how are you really going to help me with those guards?”
“First, take this.” He handed her a backpack. “It has food and water. For outside.” He then pointed to a side hallway about fifty feet back the way they’d come. “You wait over there. I’ll draw the guards to my room. It’ll be easy.”
“You brought me food?” she said with surprise. “You knew I was going to try to leave?”
He smiled a bit.
“And you won’t report me?” she continued with suspicion, even while accepting the pack.
Victor looked hurt. “Despite what you think, I don’t want to see anyone put to death because of me. That’s not what I signed up for.” He halted, before continuing in a more subdued voice. “Be a hero. Rescue the lady and stuff. I’m cool with all of it, but you should also know if I get caught helping you, I’ll be in a lot of trouble. If you do get away, I’ll pretend to not know anything about it. If you get yourself caught, do you think…”
He wasn’t exactly a model of super heroism, but
