in southern North Dakota.
“Tell it again!” the youngest occupant was pleading with the furry passenger riding in the back.
“Don’t pester Mr. Lynx, Adam!” his mother admonished him.
“Please, Mr. Lynx!” Adam persisted.
“You heard your mother,” Seth stated. He was seated across from the driver, Yama, while Gail and Adam rode behind them and Lynx was curled up with the luggage.
“It’s no bother, bub,” Lynx said to Seth. He smiled at the boy. “Like I told you, these two dumb cops came up to us and demanded to know what we were doing. I told ’em I’d just set up an air-pollution monitor. Didn’t I, Yama?”
“That you did,” the man in blue affirmed.
“Anyway,” Lynx continued, “they didn’t know if I was tell in’ the truth or not ’cause they wouldn’t known an air-pollution monitor from their… uhhhhh… elbow! One of ’em, though, keeps staring at me. I could tell he was going to place me, what with me being so famous and all. Aren’t I famous, Yama?”
Yama smiled and glanced over his right shoulder. He was delighted at how well Lynx and Adam were hitting it off, although the boy’s parents still entertained reservations about the G.R.D. Both Seth and Gail had protested against bringing Lynx along. Gail, in fact, had reacted strongly when she had first seen him; she had promptly fainted. It had taken Yama over an hour of intense persuasion before the Masons acquiesced and consented to make the trip as planned. “Yes, Lynx,” Yama answered, “you are famous. And exceedingly humble.”
Lynx ignored the remark and resumed his tale. “Sure enough, this copper makes me, and the two of ’em go for their guns.”
“Gosh! What did you do then?” Adam inquired, fascinated.
Lynx hesitated, reluctant to relate all of the extremely bloody details.
“There were only two of ’em. They didn’t stand a chance! I… took out… one and Yama got the other one, and before you could say lickety-split Yama and I were in our jeep and drivin’ like mad for the west wall. I tell ya’, midget, I never saw anyone drive like old Yama! I think we ran down over a hundred people by the time we got to the west gate!”
“Ahh! You did not!” Adam said skeptically.
“Smart little tyke, ain’t you? Okay. We almost ran over a hundred. We drove through the gate just as the thermo went off. And that’s all there was to it. The rest you know. We showed up at your place, picked you up, and bingo! Here we are!” Lynx gazed at the stark landscape. “Course, don’t ask me where here is.”
“Wow!” Adam said in awe. “You beat all those soldiers and everything!
You must be a great fighter!”
Lynx puffed up his chest a bit. “Well, yeah, midget, I guess I am.”
“Do you think you destroyed the Biological Center?” Seth asked Yama.
“I believe so,” Yama responded. “And probably a good portion of the Army as well.”
“If you didn’t get the Doktor,” Seth stated, “he’ll come after you with everything he’s got.”
“It might be the other way around,” Yama said.
“I don’t follow.”
Yama patted the pouch he was still carrying. “I may have the information my Family requires to deal a decisive blow against the Doktor.”
“I pray you have what you need,” Seth declared.
“I don’t have everything I need,” Yama mentioned.
“You don’t? What are you missing?” Seth inquired.
Yama looked in the rear-view mirror at his newfound feline friend. “A sturdy pair of earplugs.”