by Hannah Ross
"Daniel!" Rebecca gave him a reproachful look.
"What, Becky?" He turned to look at his wife. "You know it's true. If she's found under our roof we'll be up to our ears deep in sh—"
"Daniel!"
He sighed. "Sorry. But it doesn't change the facts. We might even be accused of a kidnapping."
Priscilla nodded. "You're right. By staying here, I'm putting you all at risk. I must move on. Just give me an hour to pack my things and I'll set out south or west. I'm only asking you not to tell anybody."
"Don't be ridiculous, dear," Rebecca said. "You can't just go on your own. What are you going to do, take lifts with random people who might be setting out on an expedition? You've been lucky so far, but it's too risky."
Priscilla had nothing to say to that.
"I’ll tell you what. We'll discuss our options over dinner and I'm sure we'll come up with something. Speaking of dinner, I really must check on the stew. Kate, would you mind giving me a hand?"
"Sure, Mom."
Daniel disapproved, but decided to let it go for the time being. "If anyone needs me, I'll be in the den doing some paperwork. There are accounts that need balancing."
"I'd better go too," Tim said. "Of course, you can count on me being silent as the grave, Nell, I mean, Priscilla."
"Thank you, Tim."
"By the way, Tony. I heard you were good with cars and trucks. My truck's been making this odd rumbling noise when it starts. And sometimes it won't start at all. Would you mind taking a look at it while I'm here?"
"Right, Tim. No problem."
Tony and Tim walked out, Rebecca and Kate disappeared into the kitchen and Daniel retreated into the den, leaving Priscilla and Ben alone. Ben kept his eyes down and Priscilla was acutely aware he had not said a word so far.
"Ben?" she said, her voice soft, wary.
"Yeah?"
"Are you… are you mad at me?"
When his eyes met hers, there was a frown on his face. "No, I'm not mad. Why should I be? I'm just… shocked, I guess. I wasn't expecting this."
"I really wanted to tell you. I just…"
"No, it's OK. I… I understand. I just still can't wrap my head around this. You're Dahl's daughter. That's crazy."
Priscilla felt her eyes begin to well up with tears, which she tried to blink away. "You understand why I ran away, though, don't you?"
"Yes. I think I do."
"And you don't think I should go back, right?"
Ben hesitated. "To be honest, I don't know what I would have done if I were you. But… if you feel you oughtn't to go back, then don't."
Priscilla shook her head. "Your Dad's right, though. They will find me here. And your whole family will be in trouble because of me. I need to go someplace else."
"I have an idea. I don't know if it's a good idea, but I think there's a place where nobody is likely to look for you."
Priscilla looked up. "Really? Which place would that be?"
He cleared his throat. "Our camp."
* * *
"I can't believe this. I can't believe this!"
"Kate…" Tony trailed off, squirming in extreme discomfort under Kate's accusing stare. "Please, just let me explain."
"Explain what?" she snapped, jumping up from an old three-legged stool. "That while we risked our hides to get that formula safely destroyed, you were planning to get your hands on the backup files?"
"It wasn't like that!" Tony threw up his arms in frustration. "I was there with you, remember? You couldn't have done it without me. Just hear me out."
Kate, indignant, sat down on the stool again, crossed her arms, and glared at him. "Out with it, then. Let's hear your riveting story."
He took a deep breath. "OK, I swear I hadn't planned this. It's just that after we did that, destroyed all the files to make sure the formula didn't end up in the hands of the White Tower, I started having some nagging doubts. Did we do enough? Maybe there were some other backups. There was Thelma Anderson. She worked for Professor Keller for many years and she was the leak source. She might have other documents or files she held on to. Journals. It was possible. So I sought her out. And I was right. She had saved one notebook of very rough first drafts. It wasn't an advanced version of the work, but the general direction was there. And Thelma needed the money. Her husband was sick and neither of them was working."
"So you decided to buy that notebook and sell it back to the White Tower."
"No! I'm telling you, it wasn't like that. At first I bought it to be on the safe side. I was going to burn it at once. But when I flipped through it, it occurred to me that the contents were only sketches. Nobody would ever be able to make anything of them."
"Oh, right." Her voice dripped sarcasm. "I'm sure you were in a good position to evaluate that, Mr. Nobel Prize Winning Scientist."
"No, I played it even safer. I only sold them half. Just half, you see? I was paid very generously and I figured it wouldn't do any harm. The agreement was that I'd get the rest of the money once I handed over the second part of the draft. But I was never going to do that. I dropped all contact with them after that first payment. It was enough to set us up very nicely."
"Tony, you're an idiot," she said in angry exasperation. "Not to mention a liar and a sneak."
"I did it for us! So we could have a better life! A future! Something to look forward to! I didn't want us to toil for thirty years just so we could afford some crummy apartment!"
"Well, see how great that's worked out." Her voice was icy. "Of course, one would have to be a genius to figure out that the White Tower wouldn't let you off the hook. Did you think they'd just say, 'oh, right, so you've decided you don't want to sell us the rest of the material. That's absolutely fine with us, Mr. Wayne. Have a nice life and enjoy the bundle you've made on us'?"
"No, I had a backup plan. I thought we'd be able to get away, and—"
"Yes. That's fabulous, Tony. I'm afraid I don't want to hear more. And I don't want this." She wrenched the diamond ring off her finger and placed it on a side table where it sparkled like a lonely star. "I don't want anything that was bought with the White Tower money."
"Kate," he said in quiet despair. "Are you… are you breaking up with me?"
She met his eye. "Please don't ask me that just yet."
He stepped forward and took her hand. "Kate, I know you have the right to be angry with me. Hell, I'm angry with me. And you're right. I don't know what I've been thinking. I guess I was just dazzled by all that money. But I regret it. I regret it all. I just wish I knew what to do now."
"I'll tell you what you'll do now. We'll go in to dinner with everyone and you'll tell them what you've done."
He looked horrified. "No! I can't do that! Your Mom will fry me alive!"
"Are you more afraid of my Mom than of the White Tower or the TIO?" Her mirthless laugh further shamed him. "You go in there and come clean, Tony, or I don't ever want to see you again."
* * *
The dinner table was laid out with a steaming pot of stew in the middle and all the plates at their proper places. Daniel, Rebecca, Ben and Priscilla sat in nervous silence, listening to the rise and fall of agitated voices that drifted from the direction of the guesthouse.
Ben looked worried. "Do you think everything's OK? They've been at it a while."
"Oh, I'm sure it's nothing, dear," Rebecca said, convincing no one. "Just a little lovers' quarrel, you know."
Daniel shook his head. "This isn't like Kate and Tony. I'll go tell them dinner's getting cold."
Before he could rise, the voices fell silent, there was the sound of footsteps on the gravel walk, and Kate and Tony walked in, he looking dejected and guilty, she obviously seething with suppressed anger.
"Is everything alright, dear?" Rebecca asked.
"No. It seems we have a problem." Seeing Priscilla's started look, Kate added, "Nothing to do with you. There's more."
Once the bomb was dropped, Rebecca's reaction was similar to Kate's. "Yo
u did what?" she cried out, jumping up from her chair.
Tony hung his head, his hands covering his face. "I didn't think the White Tower people would ever be able to make anything of what I had."
"Well, they have," Priscilla said. "I heard bits and pieces of stuff my father and Pearson spoke of. It all makes a lot more sense now. They're trying to reconstruct Professor Keller's work. They probably have a whole team of scientists working for them."
"And, of course, they have a limitless budget," Daniel added, frowning. "I'd say this whole game is way out of our league, but Tony, you're the one on the line here. They won't leave you alone, you know that. You must decide what you're going to do."
"I don't have much choice now, do I?" He sounded bitter. "If I don't give them all the materials I have, they'll find me and kill me."
Rebecca looked horrified. "You can't do that, Tony! You can't give the formula to Dahl. He already has enough power to corrupt the entire government system, even without hundreds of years of life free for distribution at his fingertips."
"Rebecca's right," Priscilla said. "You must destroy the materials, whatever the cost."
Slowly, Tony reached into his jacket, took out an old, dog-eared notebook with a faded cover, and laid it on the table. It looked entirely mundane and non-glamorous, and it was hard to believe it contained the secrets of eternal life. Tony stared at it as if mesmerized.
"It's still tempting, you know," he said. "Even knowing all the damage it could do. Sometimes I think of what Professor Keller did, and I can't help thinking he was nuts. How could he give up on such an amazing discovery?"
"It was for the best, Tony," Rebecca said. "And anyway, we'd never qualify for NOAGE. The White Tower has higher priorities than the likes of us."
"Let's get this over with, Tony. Throw it in the fire," Kate commanded.
As if in a dream, Tony picked up the notebook, walked over to the cast-iron stove and dropped it among the burning logs. For a while everyone was silent as the pages curled and blackened and turned to ash.
"That's it, then, I guess," Tony said when it was done. He looked lost. "I don't know what I'm going to do now, though. They're bound to be after me."
"After me as well," Priscilla said. "I'm going with Ben to his camp. You could come with us."
"That's a good idea," Ben said. "We'll hide you both. There are several camps around these parts, all isolated. You can stay in any of them or move between them if need be. It will be a lot harder for them to find you that way."
"I… I suppose it would be best to go into hiding, at least for a while. Thanks, Ben."
"Well, then," Rebecca said, "now you've decided on that, we can have an early dinner in peace, and then tomorrow morning the three of you can get an early start."
Kate shook her head. "I believe it's better if they go at once. For all we know, the TIO might have already tracked Tony down. Priscilla, too. They could be knocking on the door any moment. I'll take the car and head back to the Boundary tonight. It's better not to be here if they show up and start asking questions."
"But it's cold and will be dark soon," Rebecca said. "I really don't think the kids should—"
"Don't worry, Mom," Ben said, "it's a clear night. And besides, we'll have Tony to look after us." He offered a wry smile as he clapped his sister's boyfriend on the shoulder.
"Wait," Tony said. "How far is your camp?
"If we leave right after supper and keep a good pace, we'll make it by tomorrow afternoon."
"We have to walk all night and all day tomorrow?"
Ben grinned. "I suppose we could, but I figured we'd put some distance between us and here and then get some sleep. There are a few spots we can rest."
"Then Priscilla can use my sleeping bag," Kate said. "And Tony has his."
"And Ben can use mine," Daniel said.
"That's fine," Rebecca said. "But if you run into anyone searching for Priscilla, they'll recognize her immediately. Maybe not at night, but during the day or inside a house for sure. She needs to change her appearance."
"How can I do that?"
"If you didn't have such beautiful black hair, I'd suggest we bleach or color it. But it would take several applications of bleach over a couple of weeks to bleach out the black. There's another solution, though. I have two wigs, a blond and a light brown. You can try them both, but I think with your skin, the light brown will look best. Let's have a quick supper and then we can try them."
Dinner took all of twenty minutes, after which Kate and Priscilla followed Rebecca into her bedroom. A while later, Priscilla led the way out.
"Wow!" Ben said as Tony and Daniel shook their heads. "You look so different. Did you cut off all your hair?"
The women all gave him a Men! look before Priscilla said, "Of course not. It's pinned up underneath."
"Well, you look very nice. I hope you don't mind, but I packed all your stuff while we were waiting. But you might want to take a look around the loft just to make sure I didn't miss anything."
* * *
Ben and Priscilla waited in the garden, while Tony lingered on the doorstep to speak to Kate.
"Well," he said, leaning on the doorframe. "I guess this is goodbye, then."
Kate nodded. "You be careful out there, Tony."
"I'll try to get in touch as soon as I can."
"Maybe it's better not to risk it. For all we know my phone might be tapped."
Tony took hold of her hand. "Kate. I'm going to get you another ring. And this time it will be one I've earned honestly."
She shook her head. "For heaven's sake, Tony, it doesn't matter right now."
"It matters to me! You aren't giving up on me, Kate, are you? I mean, I know I shouldn't have done that, but—"
"Hey, Tony!" Ben called. "Are you coming or what?"
"You'd better go," Kate said.
"In a moment. Say you forgive me, Kate."
She sighed. "It's all just too confusing right now. There's a lot to take in."
"I know, but—"
"Come on, Tony! We're waiting!"
Kate gave him a slight nudge toward the door. "You'd better keep a quick pace for a couple of hours, until you're far enough from the farm."
He sighed and squeezed her hand one last time before turning around. "Goodbye, Kate."
* * *
"Daniel," Rebecca whispered as she donned her nightgown.
"What's that?" he muttered, only half awake.
"The house feels so empty now that all the kids are gone."
"Yes, well, at least we'll have some peace and quiet for a while."
"I hope they'll be alright."
"Don't you worry about them. They're tough nuts. They'll be fine. Now let's try and get some sleep."
They were close to dozing off when they heard the sound of car tires in the driveway and, a minute later, loud knocking on the front door.
"Do you think it might be Kate back again?" Rebecca said, sitting up.
"That didn't sound like her car. And there were two pairs of feet."
"Open up," a strange voice commanded. "This is Lieutenant John McBride from the TIO. We have a search warrant."
When he opened the door, Daniel saw McBride was accompanied by a man whose nametag declared him to be Officer Jacobs.
"May I ask to what we owe this very late visit?" Daniel asked as he stood on the doorstep with his arms crossed. Rebecca joined him, tightly belting her dressing gown against the night's chill.
"We're looking for one Anthony Wayne," McBride said. "Can you tell me how you're connected with him?"
"Tony is our daughter's boyfriend," Daniel said. Officer Jacobs took out a pad and scribbled a note.
"We've received information that Wayne is staying here on a visit."
"Tony was here," Daniel said, "but he and Kate went back home this evening."
"Your daughter's car was stopped and searched a couple of hours' drive from here. She was alone. What do you have to say to that?"
Reb
ecca stepped forward. "Kate's car was searched? On what orders? I doubt the lawfulness of it all. We are not within the Boundary."
"But you're still U.S. citizens," McBride said, unfazed, "so you're required to cooperate with the TIO. If you have any information that might be helpful, now is the time to come forward with it."
"What is Tony accused of?" Daniel asked.
McBride's face was impassive. "I'm afraid that's classified information. Rest assured we wouldn't be knocking on your door at this hour without a very good reason."
"Kate would be a lot better qualified than us to tell where Tony is," Rebecca said. "What did she say?"
"Your daughter claims she and Wayne set out from here together, but later quarreled and Wayne got off in Resurrection Town. We let her go, but found no trace of Wayne in Resurrection. Nobody seems to have seen him, either. Don't you think that's strange?"
"Not really," Rebecca said. "It was dark when they set out. And Tony might have caught a ride to…well, somewhere."
"Can you affirm that your daughter and Wayne had a disagreement?"
Daniel confirmed they argued. "That was before they set out. From what you say, they apparently had a later fight." He shrugged. "They're young. That's how they are."
Jacobs made another note.
McBride studied their faces for a long moment, but finally nodded. "Here's my card. If you hear anything of Wayne, be sure to call me."
"Excuse me, Lieutenant," Daniel said. "We like Tony a lot. He might be our son-in-law one day. We do feel we are entitled to know a bit more of what is going on."
McBride hesitated and finally said, "Wayne is accused of illegally distributing classified information. That's a very serious crime and if he's convicted, he'll likely find himself in very deep trouble. Your daughter as well, if she doesn't cooperate. So, Mr. Hurst, I'll repeat this again. If you hear anything of Wayne, call me at once. Now excuse me for bothering you at this hour. Good night."
Once the TIO men were gone, Daniel and Rebecca exchanged worried glances.
"They're on Tony's trail," Rebecca said in a hushed voice. "It's lucky they all cleared out."