“You seem disappointed,” he stated.
“I liked his show, sir.”
The younger-looking man frowned.
“Is there no doubt he was in the car?”
“It will take some time to recover and identify the body parts. I am told there were four victims total. The doctor, however, had been instructed to signal only if he was.”
“Is there a chance he lied? They could have found out. Forced him to switch sides?”
“There’s always a possibility. However, I am uncertain Whales and his friends could have frightened Dr. Coughlin more than we did.”
The Chief Administrator fell silent. The old man was right, he knew, and yet… something was wrong. Whales had evaded both the police and the Seekers. It was hard to believe he would just walk into a trap.
“What of the rogue Sobak?” he finally demanded.
“One has been spotted retreating from the site immediately after the blast. The Guardians are in pursuit as we speak.”
“Where did he come from? Was he in the car?”
“It wasn’t specified. From the description of the explosion, however, I doubt even a Sobak could have been mobile, if he had been inside the vehicle at the time.”
“Why wasn’t he detected before the blast, then?”
The old man paused. “I cannot say. Perhaps he was.” He studied his superior’s face.
“You suppose the doctor could have been deceived instead of frightened, sir?”
“They can change shapes.” The Chief Administrator unclasped his hands and placed them carefully, palms down, on the desk. His assistant was thoughtful. It was a possibility. A strong one.
“Even if the doctor was tricked by the rogue, it still wouldn’t explain why the Guardians didn’t detect him sooner. The car would not have concealed—”
“That’s true… But something is wrong. I can feel it.”
As though to confirm his feeling, the old man tilted his head to the right, hand rising. His superior stared at him. Another transmission was coming in.
“There’s been a disturbance at the Waukegan facility,” the old man finally said. His boss waited. “Just before the explosion at Long Grove. Someone was trying to escape on the shuttle train with a hostage. It appears the security personnel have apprehended the subject. They are transporting him presently to the Long Grove compound.”
“Order the Guard back to the Tomb,” the Chief said abruptly. The older man’s eyebrows climbed.
“Order the Guard, sir?”
“We have jurisdiction here. They know that.”
“When it comes down to our people—”
“Don’t call them that.”
“—we do. In this case, however, we are talking about them pursuing a possible murderer of one of their own. With all due respect, we aren’t even sure—”
“Enough! You’re right as always. But we must do something. Can you prevent the broadcast? Or at least hold it until we make sure?”
“The materials have already been distributed. We could try and contact—”
“No. It won’t do.” He turned away, staring into the gray shutters. “How could they not have seen that?”
“They didn’t care, sir. They wanted the traitor. Whales was never more than an afterthought.”
There was another pause. Finally, the Chief Administrator turned, green eyes flashing.
“I want the human guards to keep to their posts. I want this thief and the hostage both detained. Double the prisoners’ security. No one leaves the building until our men get there. Two squads. I want the best. Search the building, including the tunnels. If Whales is found alive…”
“Understood.”
“And those with him.”
“Done.” The old man turned to go. His boss’s voice halted him in the doorway.
“After Whales’s death has been confirmed, kill the prisoners.”
“But the Sobak wanted them.”
“They’re human aren’t they? You said it yourself. Afterthought. Our people.”
The creeping hill, one of about fifteen grotesquely conspicuous mounds bulging out of the plain, hunched right above the road. The layer of dirt was thick, but even with the dirt and the fresh chemical carpet they called lawn and dwarf trees and snow, the smell remained. Buried under the dirt, the hills were enormous piles of waste. Human waste. Also buried there, although not as deep, was the beacon. From the shadow under the huge placard that read, “Rolling Hills Homes, Eco-friendly And Affordable, Coming Soon,” he saw the black edifice in the distance.
He waited, despite the stench. He waited, motionless, centered, calm, because he was the Seeker. The stench would not affect the scent he followed. It only fueled his fury.
The explosion surprised him. He saw the fireball rise, saw the shockwave rolling across the fields before the sound of the blast reached him. Then, moments later, he saw the traitor, fleeing from four of the Guard.
It was the one, he had no doubt.
The Guard were coming on wide. They were going for capture, not kill. Mechanically, he calculated the distance, angle and speed. He could intercept. He could cut in front, link with the Guard, and the chase would be over. He could look the traitor in the eyes and know he avenged a Sobak’s death. A Seeker’s death.
Yet he didn’t move. His gaze traveled back to the black building, a cloud of black smoke now above it.
His target did not pass him by. There’s been an explosion, and now the traitor was trying to escape, but neither of the thirteen cars that had driven up that road since he arrived left the matching trace. If it had been his target they meant to destroy in that explosion, they had failed. The human was still alive. And he’s coming to the black building, he suddenly knew.
He looked back across the field at the chase. He had lost his chance. The traitor was beyond his reach now. No matter. Four of the Guard would not let him escape. His target, on the other hand, had evaded certain death twice. There would not be a third time.
He descended half the slope, then leaped over the road, landing in a snowdrift under a tree on the other side. The road had been blocked by several humans who stopped their cars immediately after the explosion and presently stared and pointed at the cloud of black smoke rising into the sky. Behind them, lines of cars grew quickly, and so did the noise. All those involved were too busy shouting to pay attention to a snowdrift that suddenly exploded, spraying white powder in the lower branches of a nearby spruce. He wouldn’t care if they weren’t.
As he started towards the smoke, he remembered his order not to kill the human. A Seeker obeyed, but now they thought the human was already dead. His order applied only while the target was still alive.
Chapter Thirty-Two
After Ted, we found ourselves alone for a while. Which was good, because I didn’t think I could handle another encounter with someone who knew Dr. Wright. I had been worked up enough even before hearing about the Antichrist on the radio. Paul had laughed, but he probably would have laughed if the captain of the firing squad preparing to execute him had a wart on his nose or something. To me it didn’t sound all that funny. In fact, it wasn’t funny at all. By the end of the conversation with the security guard, I sweated so much, my high-tech make-up began to itch.
Once out of Ted’s sight, I scratched my face gently as we navigated the empty passages of Freedom Corp. offices in Waukegan, following the shortest way down. The way I had memorized from the map provided by Bogdan, who seemed to have a three-dimensional blueprint for every Freedom facility on the continent. I had no idea how he had come to obtain them. And all he would say about it was, “That’s what I do.”