“Lou!”
She ran to him and threw herself into his arms. She felt warm and soft and safe.
“Baby, is it ever good to see you,” he murmured into her ear as he held her. “You even smell great.”
“Lou, what happened to you? Where’ve you been? We heard… Oh, Lou, your face!” She reached up and touched his swollen jaw. It hurt, but Lou didn’t mind at all.
“It’s a long story,” he said, still holding her tightly. “For a while there, I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”
He kissed her, and then she gently pulled away. For the first time, Lou noticed she looked tired, strained.
“What’s been going on?” he asked. “Why’s the Institute been closed? Ramo said…”
“You’ve been at the Institute?” She looked startled.
Lou nodded. “Yep. Nearly got caught by a squad of guys who claimed to be Federal marshals.”
“They were marshals,” Bonnie said.
“But what’s this all about?”
Bonnie went toward the sofa, by the windows on the other side of the room. Lou followed her there.
Sitting, she told him, “The first I heard about it was yesterday, at the glider races. There was a Federal marshal looking for you. Then, when I got back to my apartment, there was another marshal waiting for me. I had to go with him to the Federal courthouse. Practically everybody in the Institute was there!”
Lou sank back in the sofa, realizing now why Bonnie looked strained.
“They let some of us out after a few hours,” she went on, her voice trembling a little. “But we were told not to go back to the Institute anymore. It’s been closed down.”
“Closed?”
Nodding, “Permanently, they said. I had to report to the employment center this morning. That’s where I’ve been all day. Lou,… what are they doing?” Her voice was starting to rise now, her tiny fists clenched. “Why did they close the Institute? What is it? What?”
He took her by the shoulders. “Hey… ease off now,” he said softly. “Take it easy. You’re okay. Nobody’s going to hurt you.”
“But they brought in Dr. Kaufman, and Greg Belsen, and just about all the scientists. All the technicians, all the secretaries and clerks… everybody!”
“But why? Did they give you any reason?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. Nobody seemed to know anything. They were just following orders.” She reached out and touched his jaw again. “But what happened to you?”
“I got away.” Lou told her about his night in New York, and this morning’s visit to the deserted Institute.
“What are you going to do now?” Bonnie asked.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I’m about ready to cave in. Only had a couple hours’ sleep on the jet—”
Bonnie stood up. Brushing a blonde lock from her eyes, she said, “I’ll fix you some lunch and then you can take a nap.”
She went to the kitchenette alcove and started touching buttons on the control keyboard. Lou slouched on the sofa, already half asleep.
“Lou… it’s like the world’s coming apart, isn’t it?”
He looked up at her. “Whatever it is, it’s bigger than the Institute. They had Kirby from Columbia at the UN building. They were going to take us to Messina—”
“The world capital?”
Lou nodded. “I guess the world government’s behind this. And they’ve got the Federal people here on their side. But why? What’s it all about?”
Bonnie took a pair of steaming trays from the cooker and placed them on the low table next to the sofa. She sat on the floor, next to Lou’s feet.
“Lou… if the world government is after you—then there’s no place for you to hide!”
“Maybe,” he muttered, leaning over the trays and picking up a fork.
Bonnie said, very softly, “Maybe the only thing you can do is give yourself up. After all, if it’s the world government, it must be something terribly important, whatever it is.”
“But what are they up to?” Lou demanded. “Why yank us in like we’re criminals? Why haven’t they told us what’s going on? They haven’t called in the local police. And they’re sure not giving us any chances to exercise our constitutional rights.”
Bonnie didn’t answer.
They ate in silence, and then Lou stretched out on the sofa for a nap. He dreamed of being chased through the streets of New York by gangs of kids and uniformed policemen. Somehow the streets became Messina, but the gangs still pursued him. And from a balcony above him, Felix leaned heavily on a frail railing, huge and black, booming laughter at the chase.
He woke up shouting. Bonnie was beside him, her hands on him, stroking him. He sat up.
“They… I…”
“It’s all right,” she said soothingly, “it’s all right. You were dreaming. Look, you’re in a cold sweat.”
Lou ran a hand over his eyes.
“Bonnie…”
She looked away from him and said, “Lou, while you were sleeping, I was thinking hard about this whole thing. You can’t run away forever. You were lucky to getaway last night without being killed. Sooner or later, they’ll either catch you or you’ll get hurt or killed.”
“Yeah, I guess so. But what else…”
Bonnie’s hands were clenched together in white-knuckled tenseness. Her face looked bleak.
“Lou,” she said, “I don’t want you to get hurt. I…while you were asleep I called the courthouse. There are four marshals outside in the hall. They’ve come for you.”
“You what!” Lou sprang up from the sofa.
“There’s no other way out of here,” she said There were tears in her eyes now as she stood beside him. “Please, Lou… let them take you in. They promised that nobody’s going to hurt you. Please…”
Lou stared at her. “Federal marshals, the world government, the Institute closed…and now even you, even you, Bonnie. Nobody in the world is on my side. Nobody! In the whole world!”
“Lou, please…” She was crying now.
The door opened and they walked in. Four of them. Big-shouldered, tight-lipped. Wearing plain, dark business shorts and tunics. Armed, everybody knew, with needle guns and more.
“Louis Christopher. I have a Federal warrant for your arrest.”
“Nobody in the whole stupid world,” Lou muttered loudly enough for only Bonnie to hear.
8
In a way, Lou felt almost glad that his running was over. It was like the time he had an inflamed appendix, but didn’t know it. For weeks he nursed the sullen pain in his abdomen, worried over it, but told no one. Until he nearly collapsed at the Institute and some of the other computer engineers physically dragged him to the clinic. From then on he didn’t have to make any decisions. And he found that he didn’t worry, either. The doctors did the deciding, and the worrying.
Now Lou sat in the back of a car, surrounded by Federal marshals. All the decisions were out of his hands. He stopped worrying, almost without realizing it. He was far from being happy, but for the time being he had nothing to worry over.
They drove to the jetport, past the terminal building, out to a sleek, white, twin-engined executive jet parked well away from all the hangars and commercial planes. The sky-blue insignia of the world government was painted on its tail.
Standing beside the plane, next to the open hatch, was the Norseman Lou had narrowly escaped from at the UN building.
He looked Lou over carefully as the Federal marshals escorted him to the plane.
“I see you made it through New York and then some,” said the Norseman. “Congratulations. We were afraid you’d be killed.”
Lou said nothing.
“Please, Mr. Christopher, my job is to bring you safely to Messina. No more adventures, eh? We’ll only have to come and get you again.”