He broke it off.
"You didn't mention-"
"I know. Be ready to move very fast."
They entered the canyon, sweeping it with the light. It was an oval-shaped place, its major axis perhaps a hundred meters in length. Several large rocks lay near its center. There were a number of dark openings about its periphery. The talus lay heavy at the foot of the walls.
"Go right. We'll circle it. Those rocks and the openings are the places to watch."
They were about a quarter of the way around when he heard the high, singing sound of another engine revving. Murdock turned his head and looked fifteen years into he past.
A low, red Swinger sedan had entered the canyon and was turning in his direction.
"Run!" he said. "She's armed! Get the rocks between us!"
"Who? Where?"
Murdock snapped the control switch to manual, seized the wheel, and stepped on the gas. The Angel leaped ahead, turning, as fifty-caliber machine guns blazed beneath the darkened headlights of the other vehicle.
"Now do you see it?" he asked as the rear window was starred and he felt the thudding impact of hits somewhere toward the back of the vehicle.
"Not entirely. There is some sort of screen, but I can estimate based on that. Give me back the controls."
"No. Estimates aren't good enough with her," Murdock replied, turning sharply to place the rocks between himself and the other.
The red car came fast, however, though it had stopped firing as he entered the turn.
The radio crackled. Then a voice he had thought he would never hear again came over it: "That's you, isn't it, Sam? I heard you back there. And that's the sort of car the Arch engineer of Geeyem would have built you for something like this-tough and smart and fast." The voice was low, feminine, deadly. "He would not have anticipated this encounter, however. I can jam almost all the sensors without its knowing it."
"Jenny ..." he said as he held the pedal to the floor and continued the turn.
"Never thought you'd see me again, did you?"
"I've always wondered. Ever since the day you disappeared. But it's been so long."
"And you've spent the entire time hunting us. You had your revenge that day, but you kept right on-destroying."
"Considering the alternative, I had no choice."
He passed his starting point and commenced a second lap, realizing as he began to draw away that she must no longer be as finely tuned as when he had known her earlier. Unless- '
An explosion occurred some distance ahead of him. He was pelted with gravel, and he swerved to avoid the fresh crater before him.
"Still have some of those grenades left," he said. "Hard to estimate when to drop them, though, isn't it?"
They were on opposite sides of the rocks now. There was no way she could get a clear shot at him with her guns. Nor he at her, with the cannon.
"I'm in no hurry, Sam."
"What is it?" he heard the Angel ask.
"It speaks!" she cried. "Finally! Do you want to tell him, Sam? Or should I?"
"I'd a feeling it was her, back there," Murdock began, "and I'd long had a feeling that we would meet again. Jenny was the first killer car I had built to hunt the wild ones."
"And the best," she added.
"But she went wild herself," he finished.
"How's about you trying it, Whitey?" she said. "Leak carbon monoxide into the air vents. He'll still look live enough to get you out of here. You answer any calls that come in. Tell them he's resting. Tell them you didn't find anything. Slip away later and come back here. I'll wait, I'll show you the ropes."
"Cut it out, Jenny," Murdock said, circling again, beginning to gain on her. "I'll have you in my sights in a minute. We haven't that much time to talk."
"And nothing, really, to talk about," she responded.
"How about this? You were the best car I ever had. Surrender. Fire off your ammo. Drop the grenades. Come back with me. I don't want to blast you."
"Just a quick lobotomy, eh?"
Another explosion occurred, this one behind him. He continued to gain on her.
"It's that virus program," he said. "Jenny, you're the last-the last wild one. You've nothing to gain."
"Or to lose," she responded quietly.
The next explosion was almost beside him. The Angel rocked but did not slow. Gripping the wheel with one hand, Murdock reached out and took hold of the pistol grip.
"She's stopped jamming my sensors," the Angel announced.
"Maybe she's burned out that system," Murdock said, turning the gun.
He sped around the rocks, avoiding the new craters, the light beam bouncing, sweeping, casting the high, craggy walls into a rapid succession of dreamlike images, slowly closing the distance between himself and Jenny. Another grenade went off behind him. Finally the moment of a clear shot emerged from the risen dust. He squeezed the trigger.
The beam fell wide, scoring the canyon side, producing a minor rockslide.
"That was a warning," he said. "Drop the grenades. Discharge the guns. Come back with me. It's your last chance."
"Only one of us will be going away from here, Sam," she answered.
He swung the gun and fired again as he swept along anther turn, but a pothole he struck threw the beam high, fusing a section of sandy slope.
"A useful piece, that," she commented. "Too bad you didn't give me one."
"They came later."
"It is unfortunate that you cannot trust your vehicle and must rely upon your own driving skills. Your car would not have missed that last shot."
"Maybe," Murdock said, skidding through another turn.
Suddenly two more grenades exploded between them, and rocks rattled against the Angel. Both windows on the right side were fractured. He skidded sideways, his vision obscured by the flash and the airborne matter.
Both hands on the wheel now, he fought for control, braking hard. Passing through the screen of detritus, slowing and turning, he caught sight of Jenny racing full bore toward the pass that led out of the canyon.
He stepped on the gas again and followed after. She passed through and was gone before he could reach for the weapon.
"Return to automatic, and you will be free for the fighting," the Angel said.
"Can't do that," Murdock replied, racing toward the pass. "She could jam you again then at any time-and get us both."
"Is that the only reason?"
"Yes, the risk."
The red car was not in sight when he came through into the pass.
"Well?" he said. "What do your sensors read?"
"She entered the gully on the right. There is a heat trail."
Murdock continued to slow as he moved in that direction.
"That must be where she was hiding when we came by," he said. "It could be some kind of trap."
"Perhaps you had better call for the others, cover the entrance, and wait."