The car started up and Stewart turned it around without a moment’s hesitation. With a cloud of dust, he drove out of the town square and down the dirt road he’d arrived on.
Karl pushed his legs as hard as they could go. He didn’t take any time to review his options or to discuss the plan with Maynard. He just climbed in the truck, thanked heaven that the keys were inside, and took off after Stewart.
Chase
It had been decades since Karl had been in a vehicle that wasn’t autonomous. It wasn’t unheard of for people to still drive themselves, but the option was always available. In fact, almost all modern autonomous vehicles would take over if the driver was putting himself or anyone else in danger. There was no concern of crashing, as the computer could react thousands of times faster than the human mind could.
That’s why anxiety choked Karl’s throat as he pushed the accelerator down even farther. His fingers trembled as he clutched the steering wheel. His vision seemed to blur if he focused on the road too hard.
“Turn around, Karl,” Maynard said. “We can still get away.”
That’s not happening, Maynard. We’re going to stop him or die trying.
“I don’t like that one bit.”
That’s okay.
Karl looked over at his gun, which he had thrown into the passenger seat. He reached over and pressed the magazine release button at the top of the gun’s grip. There was a click, but the mag stayed inside. He gave the weapon a bit of wiggling until the magazine slid out about half an inch. Keeping his eyes on the road, Karl retrieved the magazine and set it in his lap.
The vibration of the tires made the task of reloading even harder than it was already, considering he’d only ever done it once before. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a loose handful of rounds. Karl dumped them into his lap as well, and took a wide turn to stay on Stewart’s trail.
“He’s outpacing us,” Maynard said.
Karl looked ahead at the cloud of dust between them and the traitor’s vehicle. It was growing thinner and more translucent, meaning it had had more time to settle.
The I.I. was right. Stewart was going to become impossible to catch soon as his modern car approached 200 miles per hour without strain. Karl was struggling to push his own vehicle past 100. It was just skirting 120 mph, but the truck shook violently with effort. It would only be a matter of time before he blew the engine.
He pushed the gas pedal to the floor even farther, digging it into the carpeted floor of the cabin. With a quick look down, he pinched a bullet from his lap and popped it in the magazine. It took a couple of tries, as the road had turned into a sort of washboard and shook some of the other bullets onto the floor.
With a quick glance up, he realized that Stewart had spun out into a shallow ditch. The traitor must be using manual driving, since an autonomous car would have never made such an error at high speeds.
Karl slammed on his own brakes to keep from plowing headfirst into the back of Stewart’s car. He used the moment to slide the magazine back into his handgun and take aim. Before he could draw a bead on Stewart, however, the car managed to claw its way out of the ditch and back onto the road.
I can’t hit him! Karl thought.
“Then don’t waste the bullet,” Maynard said. “If we’re set on chasing him, we have to run him off the road.”
If we can even catch him.
As the thought ran through Karl’s mind, Stewart was accelerating back to maximum speed. The dust the tires kicked up concealed the entire car, blotting out a good portion of the horizon. Karl followed after him with a less impressive start.
How do we stop him if he can consistently double our speed? Karl asked.
“Maybe you can shoot out his tires?” Maynard suggested.
This isn’t an action movie, Karl pointed out. I’ve barely even used this thing before. You saw me try to hit three stationary targets just a minute ago; what makes you think I can shoot out a tire?
“Then we’ll have to rely on an error on his part,” Maynard said. “The only way we’ll catch him is if he spins out again or crashes.”
An idea hit Karl.
Maynard, can you jump into his C.C.? he asked.
“From here?” the I.I. said.
Yes. Maybe you can blind him, or force him to swerve off the road. Do something that will stop him!
“You don’t think I’ve tried?” Maynard said. “With the way he’s speeding and the way you’re steering, I haven’t been able to get a good lock on him. It’s not like I can just jump in his general direction and hope the C.C. catches me. I have to open up a connection first, and I can’t do that with something as delicate and complex as a cerebral computer.”
Then we lose, Karl said. There’s no way we can catch him.
“We can still escape with our lives,” Maynard said.
I don’t have a life anymore, Maynard, Karl thought. As long as that man runs free and my story remains distorted, I will never be at peace. I will never be alive. I’d rather die than allow him to escape.
The I.I. kept his “mouth” shut while Karl turned to avoid a cattle guard. The engine was starting to make erratic sputtering noises. He knew the truck had mere minutes of life left if he maintained this speed.
When Karl was about to squeeze his eyes shut and give up, Maynard spoke.
“I can’t jump into his computer, but maybe I can commandeer the car’s computer,” he said.
Karl’s face lit up and hopelessness ceased its total seizure of his heart. A slight smile formed on
