as he had been directed to do. As “Speedoo” by the Cadillacs began to play, he said to himself, “I can’t believe anyone can listen to this stuff, but what a helluva great assignment this is.” He then walked past the wine and searched the kitchen until he found two bottles of scotch. Smiling, he said, “This is big bucks a bottle stuff.”
Less than a half-hour after he left the diner, Williams was in the Ford and on his way to rendezvous with Fowler.
Fowler, meanwhile, had pulled everything back from his nest to the well-covered ATV and then returned to the truck. He was sound asleep when his cell phone rang at 3:33AM. He heard a password which only he and Williams knew. Both of them understood that trying to find one another in the dark would be impossible. Williams supplied coded coordinates for his location and tried to get some sleep.
Fowler found it impossible to fall back to sleep. As a result, he packed up everything and waited for the first sliver of light. He found Williams fifty-three minutes later.
Before saying a word, Williams reached into a cooler and handed Fowler a container of orange juice and “real” food. “Here are some sandwiches from Killer Two’s Diner.”
“Killer Two a real person?”
“He sure is. Owns a diner not too far from my place. He’s about six-four, pushing three hundred pounds and tried to make it as a wrestler years ago.”
“Why didn’t you bring him along?”
Williams laughed. Free to speak, he detailed everything from the spotting of the meteor to his rendezvous with Fowler.
Fowler said not a word throughout the monologue, but then fired a bevy of questions at Williams. Included was the most important, “If it’s alive, how the hell do you expect to find it?”
“If the General’s resources come up with anything, he’ll let us know.”
C HAPTER T WELVE
H ALFWAY DURING THE SHORT FLIGHT from Albuquerque to Las Vegas, Henderson said, “Stan, there is something you should know.”
“That I’m the luckiest guy on the planet?”
“You may not think that after what I have to say.”
The first thought in his mind was that she was having second thoughts about their relationship. His stomach began to churn and out came, “You’re dumping me?”
“God, that was dumb of me,” he thought. Looking closely at her, he could see that she was struggling to respond.
“No, Stan, that is the last thing I would do, but I’m afraid it may be you who wants to do the dumping.”
Ling’s first reaction was puzzlement; however, his mind cleared and he was became fairly certain what he had suspected was reality. “You and Bill have a past.”
“Has it been that obvious?”
“No, but little by little I figured it out. First, there was body language. Subtle, but nevertheless noticeable. More than that, when the General first brought you into the comm van, it was obvious that he did not know you prior to your arrival. Then, at the first meeting, there was no question that you and Bill knew each other. It wasn’t much of a leap to figure out that he must have asked the General to have you brought there. Therefore, he had to have known you and known you very well.”
Tears welled up in Henderson’s eyes. Difficult as it was sitting in the plane, Ling gave her a hug.
As they were checking in to the hotel, Ling suggested that they freshen up, have dinner and visit a casino.
“No,” she replied, “you are coming to my room. We will see about the rest later.”
“Let’s run through the plan again,” suggested Fowler as he was driving the truck with the ATV in tow en route to their quest to find Assassin. It was left to the General to see to the immediate retrieval of Williams’ Ford.
“The odds of my finding the meteorite were a helluva lot better than our finding Assassin, presuming it is still alive. Hopefully, if it is alive, it will have gone southwest into the hills after leaving whatever that was that vaporized. I don’t think I’ll ever
Less than a half-hour after he left the diner, Williams was in the Ford and on his way to rendezvous with Fowler.
Fowler, meanwhile, had pulled everything back from his nest to the well-covered ATV and then returned to the truck. He was sound asleep when his cell phone rang at 3:33AM. He heard a password which only he and Williams knew. Both of them understood that trying to find one another in the dark would be impossible. Williams supplied coded coordinates for his location and tried to get some sleep.
Fowler found it impossible to fall back to sleep. As a result, he packed up everything and waited for the first sliver of light. He found Williams fifty-three minutes later.
Before saying a word, Williams reached into a cooler and handed Fowler a container of orange juice and “real” food. “Here are some sandwiches from Killer Two’s Diner.”
“Killer Two a real person?”
“He sure is. Owns a diner not too far from my place. He’s about six-four, pushing three hundred pounds and tried to make it as a wrestler years ago.”
“Why didn’t you bring him along?”
Williams laughed. Free to speak, he detailed everything from the spotting of the meteor to his rendezvous with Fowler.
Fowler said not a word throughout the monologue, but then fired a bevy of questions at Williams. Included was the most important, “If it’s alive, how the hell do you expect to find it?”
“If the General’s resources come up with anything, he’ll let us know.”
C HAPTER T WELVE
H ALFWAY DURING THE SHORT FLIGHT from Albuquerque to Las Vegas, Henderson said, “Stan, there is something you should know.”
“That I’m the luckiest guy on the planet?”
“You may not think that after what I have to say.”
The first thought in his mind was that she was having second thoughts about their relationship. His stomach began to churn and out came, “You’re dumping me?”
“God, that was dumb of me,” he thought. Looking closely at her, he could see that she was struggling to respond.
“No, Stan, that is the last thing I would do, but I’m afraid it may be you who wants to do the dumping.”
Ling’s first reaction was puzzlement; however, his mind cleared and he was became fairly certain what he had suspected was reality. “You and Bill have a past.”
“Has it been that obvious?”
“No, but little by little I figured it out. First, there was body language. Subtle, but nevertheless noticeable. More than that, when the General first brought you into the comm van, it was obvious that he did not know you prior to your arrival. Then, at the first meeting, there was no question that you and Bill knew each other. It wasn’t much of a leap to figure out that he must have asked the General to have you brought there. Therefore, he had to have known you and known you very well.”
Tears welled up in Henderson’s eyes. Difficult as it was sitting in the plane, Ling gave her a hug.
As they were checking in to the hotel, Ling suggested that they freshen up, have dinner and visit a casino.
“No,” she replied, “you are coming to my room. We will see about the rest later.”
“Let’s run through the plan again,” suggested Fowler as he was driving the truck with the ATV in tow en route to their quest to find Assassin. It was left to the General to see to the immediate retrieval of Williams’ Ford.
“The odds of my finding the meteorite were a helluva lot better than our finding Assassin, presuming it is still alive. Hopefully, if it is alive, it will have gone southwest into the hills after leaving whatever that was that vaporized. I don’t think I’ll ever
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