For that reason, a tent was swiftly erected by enlisteds. This action also effectively kept observers—if there were any—from seeing who got aboard the vehicles in what order. Wing Commander Kaushal was everywhere, guiding the airmen with such vigor that in one case he actually shoved one aside and completed attaching the canvas to the frame himself.
Taj Radhakrishnan watched from farther inside the loading dock. He was pacing like a user waiting for his dealer.
Of course, this was just what Xavier Toutant saw as he and Rachel, Pav and Tea, Yahvi and Zeds slipped through the interior of the loading dock on their way to the ambulance garage.
Edgar Chang was waiting for them as they approached a van and a larger truck emblazoned with the logo of Prasad Stores, apparently a food supplier to Yelahanka. He was not wearing his customary suit and tie, but the more common khakis and white shirt of a clerical worker. He did not look Hindi, of course, but he looked less Chinese.
Xavier realized that Pav was also wearing the same clothing and had also had his hair trimmed. “Pav and I will ride in the van,” the agent said. “I’m driving. Pav and I, in fact, are the only ones who know our route.”
“Who’s driving this thing?” Tea said.
Chang pointed to a grim-faced Chief Warrant Officer Singh—Xavier’s associate during the transfer of Adventure’s cargo. Not that Xavier had any doubts that the man was a special agent, but here was proof.
He only hoped that he was one of the agents who could not be bought by their enemies.
“Are we fooling anyone, do you suppose?” Rachel said.
“Well, I’m confused,” Xavier said. Pav and Tea laughed, but Xavier was only half-kidding. There was the official plan, which involved a somewhat stealthy convoy of five vehicles heading up the Velur Bypass to National Highway 7 and Bengaluru International for a two-and-a-half-hour flight to Delhi. The carefully leaked story was that the Indian capital was a more appropriate temporary home for Adventure’s crew—and that superior medical facilities would be better for Sanjay Bhat.
Then there was the real, vastly more stealthy convoy that would leave Yelahanka by the main gate and head east to catch the Thanisandra Main Road, where it would turn south and eventually reach Hindustan Airport, the older facility now, according to Taj, largely devoted to flight test work.
From that point, the plans were vague and kept changing. Rachel and Pav, working with Taj and Tea and this Chang person, had made tentative plans for a flight to Shanghai, or possibly Buenos Aires—the destination kept changing, though the goal always remained the same: get as close to the Free Nation U.S. as possible, as soon as possible.
The giant flaw in any plan was Sanjay’s state: miraculously, he had not only survived but been stabilized. While he faced a long recovery and remained technically critical, he was expected to survive.
Chang had released a statement that exaggerated Sanjay’s condition, to justify the move to New Delhi. In fact, Sanjay would be staying right there at the Yelahanka Air Base hospital for several more days.
When it was safe, he would be flown to wherever the rest of the crew had come to rest.
Xavier didn’t much like the idea of leaving the engineer behind, but he liked the idea of all of them in New Delhi a lot less. He wanted to be in the U.S., “Free Nation” or not, to see for himself what it was like living under Reiver domination . . . and determine what, if anything, could be done about it.
And, more to the point, what was this big double-secret crazy Reiver project—what would it do? How could it be stopped?
The Adventure crew needed some kind of base of operations . . . some set of rooms with sufficient power and secrecy and nearby transportation where Xavier (lacking Sanjay’s skills) would get the 3-D printers up and running.
The garage was barely large enough to park two ambulances, though tall enough to allow the Prasad Stores truck access. Xavier had been inside the truck two hours ago, when Adventure’s cargo had been transferred aboard.
Now, the lift still lowered, the vehicle’s rear stood open, revealing that five chairs—each with a seat belt and chest restraint—had been added. “Are we going over rough road?” Rachel said.
“Probably,” Tea said. “We’re supposed to stay on highways, but even those might be potholed. And we won’t have visual cues, so sudden moves will surprise us.”
In addition to seats, there was a chest for food and drink.
“Where do we go to the bathroom?” Rachel said.
“We won’t be inside long enough to worry about it,” Pav said.
“Easy for you to say.” But she gave him a hug and was the first to climb aboard.
Xavier extended a hand to Yahvi, which was silly, since the girl was taller and far more lithe than he would ever be. But she accepted it.
And sneezed. Xavier’s sympathy for the girl, who had never experienced a cold and was obviously deep in the worst of it, was counterbalanced by his worry that she had infected him. He hadn’t had a cold during his time on Keanu; his immune system was surely as compromised as Yahvi’s.
And it wasn’t as though he was going to be able to wash his hands right this minute. He had to settle for wiping them vigorously on his trousers.
Tea Nowinski climbed up next, though the maneuver was obviously a bit of a strain. She made a face and rubbed her thighs. “I suppose I could have simply waited for the lift.”
Then Xavier followed. Standing up inside the truck, he felt cramped already. Four of the chairs were standard human size, but the fifth was a kind of lounger for Zeds. It took up three times as much room.
“I hope Pav was telling the truth about not being in here for long.”
Two airmen helped steady Zeds on the lift. It groaned for a moment and brought the Sentry, in his full suit, which still showed bloodstains from the attack, level with the rest of them. The alien ducked and clambered his way to the big chair.
“It feels as though we ought to take a moment,” Tea said.
“Like when you flew to ISS?” Rachel said. She turned to Yahvi, who was about to ask what her mother was talking about. “My father told me, and I know Tea lived through it. When they left Star City for the launch site, astronauts and cosmonauts were supposed to stop and sit for a moment, just to reflect and hope for a successful voyage.”
“It’s an old Russian tradition,” Tea said.
“But we’re in India,” Xavier said. He couldn’t help it. He wanted to be rolling.
“How do we perform this ritual?” By speaking up, Zeds effectively made the decision for everyone.
Following Tea and Rachel’s directions, Yahvi and Xavier sat on the floor, backs of their thighs touching their feet, hands on top of their thighs. Even Zeds, with a grace and speed that shocked Xavier, made it to the floor in a similar posture.
“Do we say anything?” Yahvi asked, reasonably.
“Just sit for a moment, eyes closed,” Tea said.
Xavier counted to five, all the while encouraging the universe and his mother’s Jesus to look fondly on their mission.
At that moment Rachel’s cell phone beeped and a text from Pav appeared: IGNITION.
They could hear the garage door open. Before they were settled in their chairs, the truck pulled out.
The ride was even less fun than Xavier imagined it, and far longer than the promised hour and a half.
It took all of them several minutes to get safely into chairs and braced after their Russian travel blessing. Tea, in fact, bumped her head. “Okay, this truck is not for me.”
They weren’t all secured until the truck stopped for several minutes. MAIN GATE, Pav texted.
Then they felt the truck picking up speed, turning first one way, then the other.
They seemed to be on open road. Xavier tried to imagine Chang and Pav in the lead van, guiding them through the predawn darkness, but the only image that came to mind was of a grim Singh hunched over the wheel.