Earth Alert!
Page 7
CHAPTER VIII
An hour later (two of the twelve hours were gone) Julia was still free.She had weaved and twisted across the city. She had crossed andrecrossed the super-highways and the local speedways. She had fled upramps and through under passes.
She had no way of telling how near Walt was; or what moment and fromwhat direction death might strike. She did not believe that he couldreach out through space to snatch her life; if he tried teleportation,she was steeled to resist. The lifeless, glittering windows, the dullglare of overhead and curb lights, the shuttle movement of traffic, theheavy, motionless air--all these combined into bristling menace. Herfoot strained against the accelerator; her muscles ached over the wheel.
She hoped she had confused him. Now she streamed for the open highway.She settled the car into a traffic slot on the north-bound coastsuper-highway. She switched the car on automatic and tried to relax.
The road curved gently toward the west to pick up the coast line. Soonthe moonlit breakers hissed on white sand beaches. The ocean lay darkand mysterious toward the far horizon.
She prayed that Walt would not guess for long minutes that she had leftthe city; that he would lose more precious minutes locating thesuper-highway.
San Francisco was six hours ahead of her.
* * * * *
Walt was continually losing himself in a maze of Los Angeles streets.Ones that seemed to promise to deliver him cross-town to interrupt Juliain her erratic course twined away in improper directions. Occasionallyhe neared her. But she darted away each time: as if with the primevalinstinct of a hunted animal.
At last he stopped the car and cried to a pedestrian across the street:"Is there any place I can get a map of the city?"
"Ask inna filling station."
Walt snarled. And five minutes later he found the map. He memorized itcarefully; it required scarcely more than a minute. During that time, helet his body rest and relax. He threw the map onto the driveway. He grewincreasingly more confident of catching her as the information settledinto his brain. He visualized the map.
He was ready for her now.
She was already on the super-highway. He left the filling station. Hewas in no hurry. He was waiting for her to return.
It soon became apparent that she would not.
He grunted and spun his car in her direction.
He lost several minutes in a traffic jam downtown. He got on the wronglane in a clover leaf beyond the city limits. He had now passed beyondthe boundaries of the map he had memorized. He took the ridgesuper-highway instead of the one Julia had taken. After twenty miles, herealized his mistake and had to cut over. He bounced along an east-westroad that was so rough-surfaced he had to reduce his speed.
When he finally arrived on the proper highway he was almost an hourbehind Julia.
He concentrated on understanding the physical assembly of the engine infront of him. He could teleport parts from it; he could hold other partsmore tightly together by using the same power. But the engine was sovery complex. There was (he could tell) something there--in the engineitself--that kept the power from being utilized. He could not locate theblock.
He increased the speed by tightening the valves. But the requiredconcentration was too great to be long maintained. It exhausted him andforced him to rest for a few miles. Then he tightened the valves again.The car moved forward in a sudden burst of speed.
* * * * *
In San Francisco Julia stopped long enough for a sandwich--long enoughto gulp hot coffee--long enough to buy a box of "Wide-awakes." Shechecked airline schedules by phone.
The eastern flights were held up by weather over the Rockies. The nextstrato-jet to Hawaii was due to leave in thirty minutes; but she wouldhave to wait to see if any reservations were canceled before she couldbe assured of a seat. There would not be another plane south for an hourand a half. One was leaving just then.
She told herself that the airport would become a cul-de-sac unless shecould time it perfectly; she could not risk it.
She cruised the city until she had been there over an hour. She wasloggy and exhausted.
She was afraid to remain any longer. He might head her off; he mighttrap her in a dead end street. Once on the straight of way, therewas--at least--no danger of that. She left the city and headed northagain.
* * * * *
Walt arrived ten minutes before she left. He came to a stop at an allnight lunch. Invisible, he slipped through walls into the kitchen. Hestole food, returned to his car with it, ate it. He drove to a gasstation, keeping her position sharply in mind.
"Gas," he ordered the attendant.
The attendant began filling the tank.
"All the way full," Walt said. "I want a map of the city when youfinish."
The attendant brought the map. Walt unfolded it.
Julia had left the city. Walt was not going to be fooled this time. Buthe wanted to memorize the city just in case she did double back.
"Is there ... a larger map? Of this whole area?"
The attendant brought him a California map. He memorized that one. Hepicked out Julia's route. He verified it.
"Pay up, now," the attendant said. "I gotta car waitin'. It's fivesixty-seven altogether."
Walt reached through the rolled down window and seized the man. Hejerked him forward and down; and, with the same motion, slammed his ownweight against the inside of the unlocked door. The steel top of theopening door cracked the attendant across the forehead; he went limp.Walt let go of him, closed the door, and drove off.
By the time he sighted her car ahead of him on the highway, in the mistand fog of dawn, nearly eleven hours had elapsed since he had begun thepursuit. It had been only a half an hour before that he had located thegovernor and teleported it out of the engine.